Story Of An Hour Language Analysis

What Is, Is Not “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman’s grief and relief at the notice of her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard had recently become a widow after her husband’s supposed death by accident, and she struggles internally from conflicting feelings. In the end, she seems rather relieved, and moves on from his death rather quickly, but Mr. Mallard’s sudden emergence brings Mrs. Mallard to death’s door. Chopin’s particular use of diction foreshadows the ironic ending because it uses verbal irony, repetitive structure, figurative language. As a matter of fact, verbal irony is used whenever Mrs. Mallard feels or states something negative; however, she contradicts herself by pointing out the good points of those bad moments. For instance, the mood is dark after she is told of the death, but the tone used to describe the scenery is peaceful and beautiful (Chopin). In any case, typical word choice would portray the dark atmosphere that correlates the misfortune, but the diction demonstrates how happy Mrs. Mallard feels even as she grieves. Moreover, the mood is meant to be portrayed as dark, but the tone is light which supports the idea that something good can go against itself. Furthermore, using verbal irony throughout the story
To illustrate, the narrator explains the death of Mrs. Mallard at the end of the story, “-died of heart disease-of joy that kills” (Chopin). It explains how she died from happiness and love, even though it is constantly stated that she was so joyful at the idea of being free from her husband. Consequently, Mr. Mallard’s death brought Mrs. Mallard freedom and anguish, but his living existence gave her joy and death. Thus, figurative language gives the reader insight and a twisted representation of Mrs. Mallard’s feelings about her and husband’s existence