Story of an Hour- Analysis
ENG 107
Story of an Hour
Extract: “When the doctors came they said she died of heart disease–of joy that kills.”
Write a persuasive essay of between 500 – 700 words in response to the following question:
Early in the story we learn that Mrs. Mallard is “afflicted with heart trouble,” though her unexpected reaction to her husband’s death may suggest and alternative reason for her poor health. What was the cause of Mrs. Mallard’s death? Explain your point of view.
“A joy that kills”, not exactly the explanation you expect to hear for the death of a woman who had died at the sight of her husband. Then again, it may indeed depend on the cause of her joy. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman living in the 18th century and takes the reader on an emotional journey with her character over the time frame of an hour. Chopin reveals the oppressive nature of marriage in her time and puts forward her views on freedom and independence through the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. The death of Mr. Mallard allows Louise to feel liberated through her grief as she is now free to experience the true essence of life. Her dreams suddenly came tumbling down at the sight of her live husband walking through the door. The sight of this led her to her untimely death. But was it the overwhelming joy of seeing her husband that killed her; were the joy of a life that had just been so cruelly? I believe that the very thought of returning to her grave reality of life with her husband was the cause of her instant death.
In an analysis of the story by Myranda Grecinger argues that the story in many ways ‘mirrors’ the life of Kate Chopin. She states that;
“Kate Chopin’s father was killed in a railroad accident when she was very young, this is exactly the way that the man in the story is supposedly killed, however the man returning unharmed in the story is a fictional twist…”
This can be seen as a reflection of her childhood dreams when she many
Story of an Hour
Extract: “When the doctors came they said she died of heart disease–of joy that kills.”
Write a persuasive essay of between 500 – 700 words in response to the following question:
Early in the story we learn that Mrs. Mallard is “afflicted with heart trouble,” though her unexpected reaction to her husband’s death may suggest and alternative reason for her poor health. What was the cause of Mrs. Mallard’s death? Explain your point of view.
“A joy that kills”, not exactly the explanation you expect to hear for the death of a woman who had died at the sight of her husband. Then again, it may indeed depend on the cause of her joy. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman living in the 18th century and takes the reader on an emotional journey with her character over the time frame of an hour. Chopin reveals the oppressive nature of marriage in her time and puts forward her views on freedom and independence through the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. The death of Mr. Mallard allows Louise to feel liberated through her grief as she is now free to experience the true essence of life. Her dreams suddenly came tumbling down at the sight of her live husband walking through the door. The sight of this led her to her untimely death. But was it the overwhelming joy of seeing her husband that killed her; were the joy of a life that had just been so cruelly? I believe that the very thought of returning to her grave reality of life with her husband was the cause of her instant death.
In an analysis of the story by Myranda Grecinger argues that the story in many ways ‘mirrors’ the life of Kate Chopin. She states that;
“Kate Chopin’s father was killed in a railroad accident when she was very young, this is exactly the way that the man in the story is supposedly killed, however the man returning unharmed in the story is a fictional twist…”
This can be seen as a reflection of her childhood dreams when she many