The story of an hour: Response 4

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Recommended: Symbolism in the story of an hour

In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin a woman, Louise Mallard, makes a startling and disturbing realization about her true feelings. After she is informed by her sister Josephine that her husband Brently had been killed in a train accident, Louise instantly breaks down and sobs into her arms. She then goes upstairs to her room, and stares out the window as a sudden apprehension comes to her: she is now free, her own person, and she does not have her husband to hold her back anymore. She becomes overwhelmingly excited about what her new life could now be, and the moment she goes back downstairs with Josephine, Brently walks through the door unharmed. Before Louise sees, Brently’s friend Richards and Josephine attempt to shield her eyes from the shocking development. They fail, however, and Louise dies on the spot from her heart disease.
From the beginning of “The Story of an Hour”, Louise seems to be portrayed as quite a frail woman. Though she is young, we find out that she already has “a heart trouble” which could correspond with some sort of problems in her marriage....

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