Kate Chopin's Use Of The Open Window In The Story Of An Hour

In life, everyone has experienced the loss of someone they loved, and the way the greave can show their true motivations. In Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour” Louise Mallard is left without a husband but her form of grief is different than mosts.

Mrs. Mallard finds out that her husband has just died, "she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment." The character of Josephine is there to represent her conflict against society. As the story starts up, she as Mrs. Mallard turns to her sister Josephine and weeps in her arms after hearing the sudden news of her husband's death. This is her acknowledging the grief that society expects her to feel. Her openness to Josephine represents the acceptance that came with acting in accordance with what society expected. Mrs. Mallard displays her strength, “When the storm of grief … away to her room alone.” The fact that she does not bring Josephine with her implies the conflict that is about to take place." Josephine is the social norms, assuming that she is weak without her husband by her side. Mrs. Mallard's isolation from this assumption represents that she has strength and can stand on her own. This expected strength is confirmed as Chopin writes, "Josephine was kneeling … lips to the keyhole”, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! … before you make yourself ill." The closed door to Josephine shows her decision to close her

The differences in Josephine and Mrs. Mallard are evident in their reactions to the news of Mr. Mallard's death. Josephine cannot find a ray of hope in Mr. Mallard's death. She is overwhelmed with sadness. She is very careful how she tells Mrs. Mallard of her husband's death. Josephine uses broken sentences and veiled hints when telling Mrs. Mallard of Mr. Mallard's death. Josephine knows that Mrs. Mallard depends on her husband for everything. However, Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news is very different. Mrs. Mallard loves her husband. She is saddened by the news, but she is able to see into the future. She is able to see a future with color and brightness. Mrs. Mallard feels set free from bondage. She no longer sees a world of restrictions but a world of opportunity and adventure. Her husband's death brings revival to her soul. Chopin says, Mrs. Mallard is "drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window." The news of Mr. Mallard's death is tragic but brings very different reactions from Josephine and Mrs. Mallard.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, is a short story of overwhelming events that all lead up to Louise Mallard’s death. Louise Mallard, who has heart problems, is told by her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richard that her husband has died in a railroad accident only to soon find out that her husband is alive and did not have any involvement in the accident. Josephine and Richard both know of Louise’s heart trouble so, “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible” the news of Mr. Mallard’s death (1). Louise spent no time being in denial with the news; she immediately sobbed into her sister’s arms. Shortly after, Louise leaves her sister and Richard to be alone with her feelings in her room.

“There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory” (8). Louise Mallard, finally has accepted that she is a widow and that she has freedom and is slightly joyful. If only that had lasted long. “Someone was opening the front door with a latch key. It was Brently Mallard who entered...” (8). Brently Mallard was far from the accident. “He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; Richards’ quick motion to screen him from his wife.” (8). At that moment, Louise Mallard realized her newly found freedom was gone. “But Richards was too late.” (8). Mrs. Mallard had passed away at the sight of her husband and realizing that her freedom was gone. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills” (8). As a reader we know that it was actually quite the opposite and Mrs. Mallard died from the fact that her newly found freedom was gone. Imagery is an important part of this scene because the words that Kate Chopin uses and the detail and descriptive words help us to imagine the scene at which this story takes place. Imagery in this scene allows us to visualize Mr. Mallard coming in, with Josephine crying, Richards jumping quickly in front of Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Mallard

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 Story of an Hour”, a powerful short story to express the pursuit of freedom from one woman’s perspective. In this story, Kate Chopin creates a female character who has been suffering from heart disease and can’t handle too much shock in her life. A story about an unfortunate woman who receives her husband’s death news accidently. To express an idea of women’s freedom, the story is based on how she reacts to the news of her husband’s death and how her mind changed during the ordeal with the bad news. Chopin uses a bad news to start her story, the death news of Mr. Mallard plays an important role to develop the story. As a turning point of this story, how does Mrs. Mallard think about her husband’s death? She sees it as a window

In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the main character, Louise Mallard, is a wife who was informed that her husband had died. She was ill of the heart, so it was of upmost importance to break the news to her with immense care and tenderness. After finding out and reconfirming, Richards, a friend of the diseased, he quickly moved to be the first to inform the new widow. Ultimately, it was Mrs. Mallard’s sister, Josephine, along with Richards, who broke the terrible news. However, the story takes a surprising twist as the news of her husband’s death begins to sink into Mrs. Mallard’s consciousness. The realization of the full implications that come with being a new widow begins to open the mind of

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

Throughout the story, Chopin characterizes one of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as being independent, however, this does not occur until she locked herself in her room to “mourn” her husband’s death. Josephine, her sister, begs her to open the door, “that she will make herself ill.” In contrast to Josephine, Chopin expresses that Mrs. Mallard is feeling more alive than ever by stating “... she was drinking in a very

She illustrates the issue first through Mr. Mallard’s death that creates his wife’s mixed feelings of grief and happiness (Chopin 429). According to Mrs. Mallard, the positive part of the story resides in the fact that she acquires her freedom and self-esteem back long years after engaging in her marriage which she indirectly describes as a state of imprisonment with a person she has to be submissive to. The irony comes towards the end with the narrator mentioning “a joy that kills” (Chopin 429). When Mr. Mallard actually crosses the door, Chopin describes the wife so shocked by his return that she immediately surrenders to death from desolation and despair (Chopin 429). His sudden yet unexpected return washes away the brief moment of freedom she dreams of in front of the window, that leads her to take the initiative to strive for it after his death. Frustrated and determined to make a difference, Chopin’s intent for creating such a tragic story resides once again in her will to relate her personal struggles from being “restrained under Catholic dogma at home” (Snodgrass) to her writings about the “revolt against double standard” (Snodgrass). She also wishes to continue supporting women of her time by showing the struggles in their battles for freedom and independence from men’s

Another scene that shows irony was when after her realization of her new found freedom her sister, Josephine begged her to open the door because she feared that Mrs. Mallard, her sister, would be so tormented and distraught by the loss of her husband that she would cause herself to become ill. After telling her sister that she was indeed fine, she eventually exited the room. The emotions she carried with her as she made her exit was not feelings of grief nor of sadness for her loss, but emotions of triumph and victory. The

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is the story of a woman who does not experience typical grief over the death of her husband. This is a modern short story for many reasons, such as the ones we discussed in class. The emphasis on subtle characterization, implying of facts and psychological truths, emphasis on revelation, and dramatic irony are four elements that remain prominent throughout the story. The whole short story shows subtle characterization as opposed to a fast-paced plot. Mrs. Mallard is deemed a sensitive person when the story opens with, “..., great care was taken to break to her [Mrs. Mallard] as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.”

Mrs. Mallard is finally free from her husband’s shadow and has now become an individual person. She is standing in front of her window and spring has arrived as seen in the quote, “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. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.” (Chopin 14 ) In this quote, her husband’s death represents the end of winter and her new freedom represents spring. Mrs. Mallard has left the shadow of her husband to become a real

You never know if somebody close to you will die,you need to seize the day, and not waste one moment with your loved ones. In the story of an hour by Kate Chopin, the main characters Mrs mallard’s