Essay The Story of an Hour

The short story The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, describes a woman conflicted with the death of her husband and her outlook on life after his assumed passing. Through the story, Chopin shows the transformation of Mrs. Mallard from that of an ordinary wife to that of a woman cherishing her newfound freedom. Although Mrs. Mallard is deeply saddened at the news of her husband’s passing, she finally begins to feel a sense of relief and witnesses what it means for her as a woman. Just as she begins to fully cherish her life, she is horrified at the sight of her “dead” husband’s return and proceeds to perish. Through the use of imagery and syntax, Chopin illustrates the interchanging psychoanalytic perspective of an individual following a personal loss.

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” allows one to explore many ironic instances throughout the story, the main one in which a woman unpredictably feels free after her husband’s assumed death. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard’s bizarre story to illustrate the struggles of reaching personal freedom and trying to be true to yourself to reach self-assertion while being a part of something else, like a marriage. In “The Story of an Hour” the main character, Mrs. Mallard, celebrates the death of her husband, yet Chopin uses several ironic situations and certain symbols to criticize the behavior of Mrs. Mallard during the time of her “loving” husband’s assumed death.

The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.

These thoughts were a bit suspicious and frightful to acknowledge. As Mrs. Mallard sits next to her window she begins to contemplate what feelings are emerging from her, “There was something coming to her and she was wanting for, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name” (Chopin 653). This depicts the anticipation of change that is about to come into her life. Chopin describes it not as a physical object, but something she internally knows when it fact it blossoms into a new realization. With all these perplexed emotions she encounters from looking out the window to “patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds” (Chopin 653), these thoughts become the factor of releasing herself from her forbearing attitude into the new impression of individualism and

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is a brilliant short story of irony and emotion. The story demonstrates conflicts that take us through the character’s emotions as she finds out about the death of her husband. Without the well written series of conflicts and events this story, the reader would not understand the depth of Mrs. Mallard’s inner conflict and the resolution at the end of the story. The conflict allows us to follow the emotions and unfold the irony of the situation in “The Story of an Hour.”

Provided that the “open window” is a symbol of her identity, Mrs. Mallard longingly glares out the window hoping for freedom from her husband. With that being said, Mrs. Mallard had an uneasy relationship with her husband because she felt trapped behind her husband’s persona, as if she herself had to share his identity. Given that, Chopin states: “But now there was a dull glare in her eyes whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of these patches of blue sky”. Chopin utilizes imagery to give a visual image of what Mrs. Mallard is viewing; she recalls “rain, scents that filled the air, and colors, which implies the season of spring.

Kate Chopin's `The Story of an Hour' is a short yet complex piece describing the feelings of Mrs Mallard. This story is overflowing with symbolism and imagery. The most prominent theme here is the longing for freedom. Chopin focuses on unfolding the emotional state of Mrs Mallard which can be separated into three stages: quickly moving to grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom.

Kayla Burnett English 1302 Prof. Maharaj October 27, 2014 Essay 3 Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is a short story depicting an hour of Louise Millard’s life starting from the moment she was told of her husband’s death until her discovering her husband is in fact alive and well. In the story, the main character, Louise Millard, finds herself at the center of dealing with all of the emotions of death and her newly found independence in that particular hour of life. Chopin reveals the themes of “The Story of an Hour,” the oppression and lack of independence that married women in that day and age faced through the use of literary tools.

Although she tried to deny the emotion approaching her, when Louise looks out the open window she experiences a feeling of liberation. Chopin describes the liberation of the window by saying, “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (236). While looking outside of the window, Mrs. Mallard relates to nature’s new spring life as she now experiences new emotions of freedom from her marriage. Since Mr. Mallard’s death ends the confinement Mrs. Mallard feels, the open window demonstrates her now free, open life full of new opportunities. As Wimmer states in his article, “this 'openness,' then, is really itself a symbol of the boundless possibilities Louise can experience with her newfound independence.” She realizes she can live her

The last example occurs during and after Mrs. Mallard watches the “tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (Chopin 1). This shows that the character’s image of the world is already changed since she was informed of her husband’s death. In the twelfth paragraph, Chopin uses her character’s new perspective of the world to exemplify the confinement women felt. The character understood she had “no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself” (Chopin 2). Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts revolve around her limitations during marriage. She soon realizes that she would have “no powerful will bending hers” (Chopin 2). Mrs. Mallard was likely controlled her entire marriage; and now she is released from her husband’s dominance. Before opening the door for her sister, she was thinking about “all sorts of days that would be her own” (Chopin 2). The character looked forward to her new life ahead of her because of the new freedom she has gained; she thought about the future that involved her freedom from marriage. Mrs. Mallard eventually says a prayer to herself

When Mallard goes into her room to separate herself from her company, she suddenly sees the open window and begins to admire what lies on the other side. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air” (5). As Chopin so eloquently describes, the day outside of Mrs. Mallard's house is peaceful and scenic. Nevertheless, there is a contrasting image here as she is inside her house looking out the window. There is an implied symbolism as well as Mallard looks out the window to see the view and begins to sob for her husband's death. However, there is this feeling evoked in her as she gazes out the window of freedom. This sudden happiness drew into her as if she didn’t truly feel any remorse towards her deceased husband. It is almost as if the window was a portal to her newfound freedom. One can argue that Mrs. Mallard is evil and finds no sorrow in her husband's death; however, on the contrary, she did find sorrow and through that sorrow she found something that goes beyond her, tranquility in the feeling of

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short yet complex story, describing Mrs Mallard’s feelings. It focuses on the unfolding emotional state of Mrs Mallard after the news of her husbands death, and has overflowing symbolism and imagery. It is an impressive literary piece that touches the readers’ feelings and mind and allows the reader to have a connection to Mrs Mallard’s emotional process. Although the story is short, it is complete with each word carrying deep sense and meaning. It is written in the 19th century, a time that had highly restrictive gender roles that forbade women to live as they saw fit. Mrs Mallard experiences something not everyone during this time has the luck to have; the happiness of freedom that the reader only

Chopin was using spring in Mrs. Mallard’s case to symbolize the

by the social conflicts, but the really important point of the story is not winning or losing the struggle, but

The use of imagery is displayed heavily throughout the story to reflect the feelings of Mrs. Mallard following the news of her husband’s abrupt death. The setting outside her window is very descriptive and allows the audience to connect this imagery to the future that Mrs. Mallard is now seeing opening for her. As she is looking out of the window in her bedroom, she sees “trees that were all aquiver with new spring life” as well as sparrows “twittering in the eaves” (Chopin). This represents the joy and realization of a new life for Mrs. Mallard. She can now start over as a free woman instead of living as a man’s property trapped inside the house; this is where the woman’s place was during this period while only