There are many different tones, themes, characters, and symbolism in the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin explains the story of a negative view of marriage by showing the reader with a woman who is overjoyed that her husband has died, also the characters in the story itself goes through multiply changes from fear to depression to finally freedom. The lone character, who goes through the most change be far throughout the entire story is the main character Mrs. Louise Mallard. This transformation doesn’t just help change the character of Louise Mallard, further the themes of the story and solidify the tones that the author are trying to set for the story.…
In Kate Chopin’s short tale, “The Story of an Hour”, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard seems to ride a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings about her husband, Mr. Mallard’s, death. The story begins by informing us of Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition which leads us to believe that the heart condition will affect the story. Many times in the story we see that Mrs. Mallard does not handle situations in the way most woman did in that time. She doesn’t seem to know how to really feel about the tragic situation of her husbands death. Mrs. Mallard goes through so many changes in such a short period of time that some readers would believe it is the amount of drastic changes that caused her to pass of a heart disease…
Chopin uses so much symbolism throughout this short piece to communicate the way that the character was feeling. The first was the mention of the open window that she looked out soon after hearing the news. This window is a direct reference to the freedom that Louise suddenly realizes upon hearing the news. She starts to see everything happy outside- from fluffy clouds to people singing. This is all symbolizing the new opportunity that she is beginning to see possible for her. The window was just the…
In Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” there’s tons of different ironic pieces and symbols throughout the excerpt. These symbols have a deeper meaning to the story than what meets the eye. Some of these symbols are the mentioning of Mrs. Mallard’s troubled heart. Her troubled heart plays a major role as the story take place. Mrs. Mallard staring out of the window where a sense of renewal revealing her knew found independent and freedom. Lastly the events in the story were leading her to find her own self-identity.…
Directly presuming Mrs. Mallards knowledge of her husband's death she states,”She did not hear the story as many women heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin, par 3). This quote from Mrs. Mallard exhibits her mixed emotions causing her to become conflicted between grieving for him or viewing the scenario in the optimistic manner as she is now free. As Mrs. Mallard continues to pace her room contemplating the situation, Chopin uses the inviting view of the world from the open window to quell Mrs. Mallard’s physical exhaustion; therefore, she realized the blue skies and trees were now solely reserved for her. Accordingly, the following symbolic scene suspended Mrs. Mallard in a deep thought to finally reflect on her position as she is no longer married. Her discovery concluded that she escaped the blanket of her husband's persistent will which furthermore compelled her to freely assert herself in this new world. Chopin affirms this as Mrs. Mallard, now known as Louise whispers,”Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin par…
At this time, Mrs. Mallard is overcome with joy from this idea of being free. She had not yet actually experienced the freedom but it was so close that she could taste it. I believe this is why Chopin chose an open window as a symbol. An open window is like an opportunity. You can see the blissful future that lies ahead but you have to leave your confines and go beyond the window in order to reach it. This is what Chopin meant when she wrote “No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window”. Mrs. Mallard realized that her husband actually made her miserable because he ultimately had control over her: “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature”. Mallard even clarifies that while she had sometimes loved her husband, it was not usually the case. However, since he was now dead, Mrs. Mallard would be free to live her life as she pleased. In the end, Mrs. Mallard never does make it beyond that open…
Mallard does acknowledge that she will cry at her husband’s funeral when she sees his “face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead” (Chopin 129). In the same paragraph she also acknowledge the future “that would belong to her absolutely” which she welcomed with arms wide open (129). This paragraph can give insight into two different perspectives, one perspective is that Mrs. Mallard is “arguing her case for the right to feel liberated” (qtd. in Evans, “Story” 99). She is arguing that she will remember her husband’s kindness before she indulges in her new found independence and bright future found from her husband’s death. On the other hand, this paragraph can also suggest yet another internal conflict “between competing perspectives within her own mind” (98). One part of her conflicting mind can be understood through words such as “tender hands” (Chopin 129) and “face that had never looked save with love upon her” which suggest she was contempt with her married life (qtd. in Evans, “Story” 98). The other part of her mind was gently introduced with “transition” (98) words such as “fixed and gray and dead” (Chopin 129). This part of her mind is the new single Louise Mallard, her real name, that is excited for the “years to come that would belong to her absolutely”…
Mrs. Mallard has heart problems, and she hears the news that her husband, Brently, has died in a train accident from her sister, Josephine, and her husband's friend, Richards. At first she starts crying thinking about abandonment, but that ceased when Mrs. Mallard goes to her room. She becomes filled with joy when she realizes that she is free. Louise and Brently love each other, but Louise still feels oppressed. Louise feels oppressed because Chopin lived from 1851-1904 and during those times women's rights weren't a priority. The wives were supposed to listen to their husbands and do as they said. The story never talks about Brently forcing Louise to do anything, but when Louise is being described, it states: "She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength" ( 516). Mrs. Mallard's lines on her face are caused by repression. She has a strength of being a woman and is able to handle being in a marriage. When Louise is sitting in her room staring out the window at the sky, she realizes she has regained her independence and is excited about it. She is free! She thinks about the future and feels a joy about living for herself and says a quick prayer that her life will be long. On page 517 it states, "There would be no powerful will bending hers…
Mrs. Mallard in the “Story of an Hour” and the girl in the “Hills like White Elephants” are tested by their lives. However, they vary in their function range of responses to their situations. Both stories reveals some major similarities in their lives as well as some dissimilarities in their characters. They both share some characteristics in common like they are helpless and worried. They love their partners but they are not much happy in their lives.…
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, was published over a century ago in 1894, but even with its age the story manages to be relevant in modern times. Upon first glance the short story is fleeting at only two pages in length and lasts for only an hour and due to this it could be seen as simple. This short story tells the tale of Louise Mallard, who has heart issues, learns from her sister Josephine that her husband, Brently Mallard was killed in train accident. Upon hearing this terrible news, she immediately started to cry before retreating to her room. In her room Louise Mallard goes through a profound awakening. Sometime later, Josephine goes and gets Louise from her room and upon going down the stairs; Louise is shocked to see her reportedly dead husband coming into their home. Mrs. Mallard suddenly dies, which doctors attributed to her heart troubles. Although at first this story seems simple, but surprisingly “The Story of an Hour” is a deep and symbolic story, full of irony and feminist themes of freedom and self awareness.…
When she portrays Mrs. Mallard as " young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength." (paragraph 8, line 1), she is telling a lot about the protagonist before the death of her husband. The words "whose lines bespoke repression" expose the fact that Mrs. Mallard has felt oppressed by her marriage, and the "certain strength" with which the writer describes Mrs. Mallard may make reference to the power the protagonist has had in order to be able to bear her marriage. In addition, in describing Mrs. Mallard behaviour after she has learned the news about her husband, Chopin uses metaphors, such as " she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window." (paragraph 18, lines 1-2), to illustrate the happiness Mrs. Mallard is feeling now that Mr. Mallard has passed away. Another example of Mrs. Mallard behaviour can be seen in…
The author, Kate Chopin uses marriage to show how powerless women were compared to men during the late eighteen hundreds in her short story entitled, “The Story of An Hour “. At the beginning of the story the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard has a heart condition. Due to her illness, her sister Josephine and her husband's friend Richards has the hard task to tell Louise that her husband Brently Mallard has died in a train wreck. During this first hour Mrs. Mallard experiences the sorrow of her husband's death and the loneliness she would feel, but also the conflicting and exciting feelings of being able to feel alive and the freedom she will have in the future being alone without her husband.…
In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard who “was afflicted with a heart trouble” goes through a lot of mixed emotions after hearing that her husband died in a railroad accident. Kate Chopin uses symbolism, figurative language and irony properly to describe Mrs. Mallard’s feelings and emotions through the story. Mrs. Mallard also feels that she has been trapped in a marriage where she was prisoner of her husband and realizes that it is time for her to live for herself without repression.…
Louise, “whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of the blue sky,” began to paint a vivid picture of the outside to represent her dull life becoming more clear. (Chopin, 148) Chopin uses the settings outside the window to emphasize on the happiness that the character starts to feel. Although her husband died, her character finds her independence thinking about the rest of her life, and her heart condition seems to be a minor detail in the story…
An open window in literature is a sign of transformation or change (www.go.view.usg.edu). From the window, Louise sees a blue sky, fluffy clouds, and treetops. She hears people and birds singing and smells a coming rainstorm. Everything she experiences through her senses suggests joy and spring-new life. When she ponders the sky, is when she feels the first hints of happiness. When it says in the story, “But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.”(Chopin) The open window provides a clear, bright view into the distance and Louise’s own bright future, which would now be uninterrupted by the demands of her husband. As it said in the story, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.”(Chopin) Therefore, it was not surprising that when Louise turned from the window and the view, she quickly loses her freedom as well.…