"Story of an Hour"

Marriage Sucks In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin utilizes irony to portray marriage as a negative and suffocating experience. In the story Louise Mallard is notified that her husband Brently has been killed in a railroad accident. Chopin uses situational irony to show how Louise is not distressed, but pleased, to hear of her husband’s death. Her realization that she will no longer be bound to another person excites her as seen through Chopin’s utilization of verbal irony. Chopin utilizes situational and verbal irony to describe marriage as a complicated and confining commitment that binds women to men for life. Chopin uses situational irony throughout the story to convey Louise’s lack of disappointment about her husband’s death. Around Louise’s house, “the tops of trees… were all aquiver with new spring life” (Chopin 288). The use of word “aquiver” and the phrase “new spring life”, which have connotations of liveliness and freshness, portray the scene as happy and bright. The expected weather on the day of a husband’s death would be gloomy and gray, while this day is bright and lively. This contrast exposes the irony of the setting in association with the events of the story. On this particular morning, “The delicious breath of rain was in the air…and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves” (Chopin 288). The phrases used in this passage such as “delicious breath of rain” and “countless sparrows were twittering”, create an image of a nice calm happy morning. This is also contrary to the expected atmosphere of the story given the circumstances of Louise’s husband’s death. The purpose of the irony is exposed when Louise cries that she is, “free, free, free!”(Chopin 288). Louise shows that she is truly happy about the fact she is no longer bound to a man that will control almost every aspect of her life. The verbal irony utilized at the end of the story exposes Louise’s extreme dislike for the restrictions of marriage. To Louise’s surprise her