Character Analysis: The Story of an Hour
Mrs. Mallard’s Change of Behavior in “Story of an Hour”
“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin is a powerful literacy piece, where the main character goes through many emotional behavioral changes. Even though the story is really short, it is still very deluxe and complete and every word in it carries a much deeper meaning than we actually might realize. The main character of the story, Mrs. Mallard, experiences a horrible tragedy that makes her go through many different emotional behaviors. In the beginning, we find out that Mrs. Mallard is afflicted with heart trouble, and news about her husband’s death is brought to her “as gently as possible” (45). Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards, who bring the news to her, believe that Mrs. Mallard will be very sad and upset and think that once she hears the news she will become even more ill. Here, at this moment all the readers expect her to react this way, because this is normal behavior for a person who has lost someone. When Mrs. Mallard first gets the news, she is devastated and heartbroken. As evidence, “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment” (46). After weeping, and thinking about this tragedy, Mrs. Mallard was, “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (46). Her soul was in fear and pain because she didn’t know anything other than being someone’s wife. . But what we don’t expect to happen to Mrs. Mallard’s behavior is; for it to change to the complete opposite. Once Mrs. Mallard came into her room, it was introduced to us that “there stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair” (46). Here, we are being introduced to a different emotion. The author starts to turn the story from sad and negative, to more positive and reassuring. This is because from the sentence we see that, “a comfortable, roomy armchair” symbolizes comfort and security. And the “open window” symbolizes connection to the world, in other
“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin is a powerful literacy piece, where the main character goes through many emotional behavioral changes. Even though the story is really short, it is still very deluxe and complete and every word in it carries a much deeper meaning than we actually might realize. The main character of the story, Mrs. Mallard, experiences a horrible tragedy that makes her go through many different emotional behaviors. In the beginning, we find out that Mrs. Mallard is afflicted with heart trouble, and news about her husband’s death is brought to her “as gently as possible” (45). Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards, who bring the news to her, believe that Mrs. Mallard will be very sad and upset and think that once she hears the news she will become even more ill. Here, at this moment all the readers expect her to react this way, because this is normal behavior for a person who has lost someone. When Mrs. Mallard first gets the news, she is devastated and heartbroken. As evidence, “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment” (46). After weeping, and thinking about this tragedy, Mrs. Mallard was, “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (46). Her soul was in fear and pain because she didn’t know anything other than being someone’s wife. . But what we don’t expect to happen to Mrs. Mallard’s behavior is; for it to change to the complete opposite. Once Mrs. Mallard came into her room, it was introduced to us that “there stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair” (46). Here, we are being introduced to a different emotion. The author starts to turn the story from sad and negative, to more positive and reassuring. This is because from the sentence we see that, “a comfortable, roomy armchair” symbolizes comfort and security. And the “open window” symbolizes connection to the world, in other