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Analysis of a story of an hour
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Recommended: Analysis of a story of an hour
There are many stories with twists and turns, and you never truly know what happens until you live it yourself. One story that has a twist in the plot is The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin. The story is about a lady whose husband is believed to be dead; but, in all actuality he is not. In addition, she is happy that he is dead until she finds out that he is alive. The theme is how she gave up on life until she heard the death of her husband, she then had her life to look forward to until she finds out he is alive and it shock her so much and she died. In the story the plot was twisted around. Mrs. Mallard has heart problems and when she learns that her husband has been killed and she was really sad, but when her sister left, she thought to herself and felt happy. She then said “free, free, free!” However, her husband opens the door and when she sees him her heart pumped too fast because it pushed over the top with joy, but in my mind, I believe she died because it was so much grief knowing he was still alive. Therefore, in many stories the plot can become twisted and the outcome can change drastically. I believe the title’s meaning is devastating because it shows you what could happen in just sixty minutes. One moment her husband was alive, and then he was gone. Firstly, Mrs. Mallard experiences what women have felt and endured for many generations and it shows how they all rendered into silence because of the tragic accident. Also, this story shows you what can happen to someone in a short period of time and not knowing how the other person feels about you when you are diseased. Therefore, you should live life to the fullest and never take you life for granted because you could be next. The author’s tone changes because of a... ... middle of paper ... ... Lastly, women back in that era was defined by their social roles like taking care of your husband and if you are wealthy women you were more restricted to things. However, our era women are treated equally as the men. Therefore, women now in days can do whatever they please because they have no restrictions on them like they had in the 1800’s. The story shows you how an unexpected twist in the plot can affect the whole out of the story. The story is about a woman, who has heart problems, and she learns about his death, and when she finds out he is alive she dies of joy the doctors think. Also, this story shows you how women were treated back in the 1800’s. The USA has changed dramatically over time because women are treated equal. Therefore, the moral is to never not expect the unexpected, and all ways treat others with respect because it could hurt you or others.
Mrs. Mallard’s husband is thought to be dead, and since she has that thought in her mind she goes through many feelings
Mallard walks in the door. He was not on the train that he was always on, so he did not die, and it was only speculation from Richards that he had died. Mrs. Mallard was in shock when she saw her ‘dead’ husband walk through the door, and she died right then and there. The doctors said that she died from the “joy that kills”(Pg. 280). But it seems that is not true because she became glad that her husband had passed away. This story is narrated in the omniscient third point of view, so it is not in any character's point of view. There are only four mentionable characters, Mrs. Louise Mallard, who is the main character of the short story. She has a weak heart and had her husband presumably die, but then she was secretly glad that he had died. The next character is Josephine, she is Mrs. Mallard's sister who broke the news of Mr. Mallard dying to her sister. There is also Richards, he was the first person to learn of Mr. Mallard's death over a telegram, he also told Josephine, who then told Mrs. Mallard. And lastly, the final character is Mr. Mallard, the man presumed to be dead. He only appears in the home at the last second of the story and his wife dies because of the shock of
A very dull and boring story can be made into a great story simply by adding in something that is unexpected to happen. When the unexpected is used in literature it is known as irony. An author uses irony to shock the reader by adding a twist to the story. The author of “The Story of an Hour” is Kate Chopin. Her use of irony in the story is incredibly done more than once. Irony is thinking or believing some event will happen but in return the unexpected or opposite occurs. Kate Chopin uses two types of irony in this short story. Situational irony refers to the opposite of what is supposed to happen, and dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader knows something that the rest of the characters in the story do not know. Kate Chopin does a great job in placing irony into this short story and makes the reader understand that the unexpected happens in life.
Kate Chopin wrote a short piece called “The Story of an Hour” about a woman’s dynamic emotional shift who believes she has just learned her husband has died. The theme of Chopin’s piece is essentially a longing for more freedom for women.
As the title puts it, “The Story of an Hour” takes place in the span of an hour. The title of the story also shows the possibility of occurrences within a single hour. This story is mostly centered around one woman, Louis Mallard. In conventional circumstances, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, guilt, regrets, along with other feeling depending on the cause of death. In “The Story of an Hour”, sorrow and grief are a product of the recent happenings, however, these feelings are coupled with joy and independence. Kate Chopin uses this story to convey death as a joyful circumstance whereas conventionally it is portrayed as sorrowful.
'The Story of an Hour' is one of Kate Chopin's most famous short stories. There is a great deal of marital instability in the story by Chopin because most of her well-known stories and novels deal with a woman who wishes for freedom or a marriage that is out of balance. In 'The Story of an Hour,' Chopin deals with an ironical twist; it is that the wife in the story, Louise Mallard, does not realize she is displeased with her marriage until she is told that her husband has been killed in a train accident. For an hour, Louise believes her husband's death and sets about planning her future in her mind; when she discovers the rumor of his death is not true, she dies of a heart problem at the end. The common argument in the story is that whether Louise dies of happiness or sadness about her husband's news. There are many ironies, echoes and foreshadowing occur throughout the story such as weeping, celebrating and dying. The theme appears one way, but in actuality, it means another way. Kate Chopin uses Louise Mallard to reflect events and feelings in her own personal life in 'The Story of an Hour.'
Mrs. Mallard was at first overjoyed with freedom because her husband was supposedly “dead,” yet at the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard comes face to face with Mr. Mallard. A whole new wave of emotions overcame Mrs. Mallard as she laid eyes on her husband instantly killing her from “a heart disease-of joy that kills.” It is ironic how Mrs. Mallard is overjoyed about her husband’s death, and she ended up dying because she found out he was alive instead. Her joy literally was killed, killing her on the inside as
Women weren’t given the same rights as men. No one ever considered their opinions, or heard their desires and feelings. However, in “Story of an Hour” one of the major themes is freedom. Once Mrs. Mallard receives the bad news of her husbands death she is upset, but that doesn't last. She becomes a woman free from male dominance. In the end she discovered that Mr. Mallard isn’t dead, and she dies of what the doctor says was her heart disease and joy. I see this story as a female struggle.Women were never superior to men back then, and Mrs. Mallard shows us that when she dies because even her short fantasies of freedom weren’t real.
She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long,” he life was now her own to live and she was overjoyed to experience it. Sadly, the moment Mr. Mallard walked into the house, a mix of powerful emotions hit the supposed widow. All at once, a part of her is happy that her husband is alive, but part of her is distraught that her newfound freedom has been revoked. The combined effort of so many different emotions results in the triggering of Mrs. Mallard’s heart disease and the
Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist or main character, was the wife of Mr. Mallard and she had a heart condition. When the news came that her husband died, her sisters made sure they delivered the news to her in a cautious manner; the news was that her husband died in a tragic train accident. Initially, she was heartbroken about the news, but she then concluded she would be able to experience happiness. Mrs. Millard was overcome with grief, but afterwards all she could whisper is, “Free! Body and soul free!”
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.
...ng her back. She was even thinking of the years to come and how she would spend them. She actually liked the idea of it. The idea that those years to follow she'd live for herself and no one else. Nothing to hold her back anymore, no more hesitation. The dramatic irony in this short story is the scenes directly following the situational irony. When Mrs. Mallard died not of heart disease that was clearly stated in the beginning of the short story, but because of the surprise of her husband’s return alive and very much healthy. The shock that her new found freedom was only within the time span of one hour. That very freedom was only worth such a short duration of time and it was not even well spent.
self conflict of the story. “The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.” (7) This is when Mrs. Mallard starts to feel joyful that her husband is dead and that she could be free.
She became delighted, not because she did not love him or vice-versa, but because she would now be free. As this story took place in the 1800’s when woman did not have rights and freedoms like today. After coming to conclusions with self-possession she leaves her room. Not long after this her husband she thought was dead walks through the door. At this moment Mallard falls dead.
The first reader has a guided perspective of the text that one would expect from a person who has never studied the short story; however the reader makes some valid points which enhance what is thought to be a guided knowledge of the text. The author describes Mrs. Mallard as a woman who seems to be the "victim" of an overbearing but occasionally loving husband. Being told of her husband's death, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." (This shows that she is not totally locked into marriage as most women in her time). Although "she had loved him--sometimes," she automatically does not want to accept, blindly, the situation of being controlled by her husband. The reader identified Mrs. Mallard as not being a "one-dimensional, clone-like woman having a predictable, adequate emotional response for every life condition." In fact the reader believed that Mrs. Mallard had the exact opposite response to the death her husband because finally, she recognizes the freedom she has desired for a long time and it overcomes her sorrow. "Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering." We can see that the reader got this idea form this particular phrase in the story because it illuminates the idea of her sorrow tuning to happiness.