In the short story "The Story of an Hour," writer Kate Chopin shows how the main character, Louise Mallard, experiences a change in perception of her life. Throughout Louise's life, she has always been living in the shadow of her husband. She has never been able to decide for herself, and she has always been a slave to her own house. Chopin shows how Louise comes to realize these `downfalls' of he life and how she envisions her future before everything turns disastrous in the end.
Mrs. Mallard (Louise) has always lived in the shadow of her great husband, Brently Mallard. He is clearly an important figure in the community, as upon the news of a railroad disaster, "Brently Mallard's name [lead] the list of `killed' " (The Story of an Hour, para. 2). This does not allow her to be herself. She will always be the wife of Brently Mallard, never Louise Mallard. With his death, however, a new concept of freedom quickly reaches her: freedom. "She said it over and over under her breath: `free, free, free!" (para. 11) This change in perception of her life allows Louise to feel she finally has control of her life; anything could now be possible.
Being in the shadow of her husband meant not being able to decide for herself. She was always more of a possession rather than a person. The thought of freedom excites her, "and the cursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body" (para. 11). This excitement shows how Louise is thinking of a promising future for herself. Having a sense of her own identity means "there would be no one to live fir her during [the] coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right o impose upon a fellow creature" (para. 14). This entices Louise to whisper, "Free! Body and soul free!" (para. 16) Her body is now free from the possession of her husband, and her soul is free from the house in which Bentley owned.
Throughout Louise's life, she has always been a slave to her house, and moreover, her room. Everything she knows is in her room; the room is her identity. Upon the news of Brently's death, she moves to her room alone to reflect upon the situation. There, she stands before an open window, gazing at "the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life.
“Story of an Hour”, written by Kate Chopin presents a woman of the nineteenth century who is held back by societal constraints. The character, Louise Mallard, is left to believe that her husband has passed away. She quickly falls into a whirlwind of emotions as she sinks into her chair. Soon a sense of freedom overwhelms her body as she looks through the window of opportunity and times to come. She watches the world around her home run free as nature runs its course. Louise watches the blue sky as a rush of “monstrous joy” shoots through her veins (Chopin). She experiences a new sense of freedom. Although she sometimes loved her husband, his “death” breaks the chain that keeps her from experiencing a truly free life. Thoughts over times to
Brently opens the door at the end of the story, and Louise is surprised to find her husband alive. She was shocked and died of a heart attack. Ironically, the doctor declares “she died of heart disease--of the joy that kills” (Chopin). In the movie we saw, it was different. Louise was kept in the house because Brently is afraid that she might die or because he is afraid that seeing the world could give her an idea to rebel against him.
“To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.”(Lao Tzu). In Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour”, it tells of a heart trouble married woman, Louise Mallard, who learns that the man she loved and married, Brently has died. Mrs. Mallard’s behavior and emotions have shocked her entire family as she finds it a joyful and powerful event that may change her life for the hour that she has remaining to live. Mrs. Mallard considers his death as a freedom that she has yet longed for over so many years. As many readers begin to express their judgment towards Mrs. Mallard, the aspects of personal relationship may seem to convince those that maybe she was a bit selfish with her response. In the agony of a bitter marriage, “The Story of an Hour” portrays the reality of being in love, being married and finally having female independence.
In “The Story of an Hour,” after Louise is informed of her husband’s death she goes to her room. From her room Louise describes what she sees out the window as a new spring life representing her new found freedom. Then she sits down and during that time discovers her freedom.
Louise left the country to go stay with Albert Hardy and his family in the city, so she could attend school. Louise was very lonely growing up, her mother died when she was an infant and her father never showed her much love. When moving to the city she found herself to be even lonelier than before. Although she was living with the Hardy family which consisted of Mr. Albert, his two daughters, and his son John Hardy. Louise craved some type of companionship. Louise had a plan to make John Hardy her new companion, she
The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.
She seemed to have felt free for the first time in who knows how long. “She was drinking in the very elixir of life through the open window.” [18] Louise’s seemed to be getting a fresh start at life and she seemed so relieved to be able to enjoy it. Her marriage sounded problematic in her eyes. She could have been a house wife who grew bored after countless years of the same song and dance. I see marriages all the time that seem to have “stood the test of time” and both the husband and the wife seem miserable. The death of Brently may have opened up a door to a new life that Louise was anxious to
In the beginning of "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard is just a typical wife. It is not until she hears of her husband's death that she then simply becomes Louise, now an individual, no longer overshadowed by her husband. Following her husband's death, Louise feels she will no longer suffer a "powerful will bending her" (14), thus indicating she had lacked a voice in the marriage. Chopin clearly indicates this lack of freedom and individuality in Louise's marriage stating, "[. . .] that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature." (14). This statement reflects how men and women oppress each other, denying one another freedom and a sense of identity. This is in line with the common view that women lost their individuality because their, "legal existence had been extinguished by the status of marriage." (Robson). Next, we learn that Louise actually begins to accept, even enjoy the notion of a life by herself, as Chopin writes the years "that would belong to her absolutely [. . .] she would live for herself." (14). Louise woul...
Louise felt repressed in her marriage to her husband, in a sense she wanted to be free from him.
Louise has turned into a little girl that must depend on man to take care of her. Louise pleads with Brently to go to the gardens of Paris. She begs like a child begging for something that is impossible to give. Brently must lock her up in their home to protect her from her curiosity and need to see the world. The filmmakers do not give her the commonsense to realize the dangers she would face in seeing Paris and all the other places she would like to visit. Louise remains the little girl in the flashbacks and Brently has replaced her dead father as the soul keeper of her world. Brently must protect her from the world and herself. She is made to be completely dependent on him from her everyday needs to being her only window into the outside world. There are no female positions of authority in her life. Aunt Joe is left in the background and Marjorie must ultimately answer to Brently. Louise is left to see men as the only authority in her life. She herself as a woman must feel powerless to the will of men. Brently even chooses the destinations of their daily visits to far off and exotic places. These excursions are Louise's only escape. Brently is made to be her captor and savior at the same time. Her fate is completely dependent in his yet she is given no control of either.
Key Elements:The story of an hour · Plot: Standard plot. A woman who receive the notice of her husband's death, and when she begins to felt freedom her husband appear again and she can't accept it and fall died. · Characterization: Few characters a. Mrs. Mallard or Louise: Mallard's wife. Was afflicted with hearth trouble.
Kate Chopin provides her reader with an enormous amount of information in just a few short pages through her short story, “The Story of an Hour.” The protagonist, Louise Mallard, realizes the many faults in romantic relationships and marriages in her epiphany. “Great care [is] taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 168). Little do Josephine and Richards know, the news will have a profoundly positive effect on Louise, rather than a negative one. “When she abandoned herself,” Mrs. Mallard opened her mind to a new way of life.
For women, the 19th century was a time of inequality, oppression, and inferiority to their male counterparts. A woman's social standing depended solely on her marital status. For these reasons many women were forced to lead a life of solitude and emotional inadequacy, often causing depression. In Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour," setting plays a significant role in illustrating the bittersweet triumph of Mrs. Mallard's escape from oppression at the ironic cost of her life.
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” focuses on a woman named Louise Mallard and her reaction to finding out about her husband’s death. The descriptions that the author uses in the story have significance in the plot because they foreshadow the ending.
Kate Chopin's story, "The Story of an Hour", focuses on an 1890's young woman, Louise Mallard. She experienced a profound emotional change after she hears her husband's "death" and her life ends with her tragic discovery that he is actually alive. In this story, the author uses various techniques-settings, symbolism and irony- to demonstrate and develop the theme: Freedom is more important than love. Chopin uses settings to convey particular moods, character qualities and features of theme. Firstly, the author uses time setting to reveal Louise' inner desire and her restrictions.