Story Of A Hour Literary Analysis

“The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin is about woman who heart problems and what happens when she learns the sudden death of her husband. She has an unknown desire to be independent, which she finally feels through her stages of grief at her husband’s reported death. Mrs. Mallard has a internal conflict because of her desire to be independent VS society’s role for women feelings of being oppressed through her marriage VS. a desire for freedom.

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.

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour,” emotionally illustrates the hour in which a young woman with a heart condition finds out her husband has been killed in a mining accident. In the beginning, she grieves over the loss of her husband, but she soon becomes relieved and joyous when she realizes that she is now free. However, her husband returns after having been far from the mines for the day and her heart problems return and she dies. Kate Chopin was an early feminist author and was well acquainted with death after losing many siblings as a child, her husband (who left her a large amount of debt), and her mother with whom she was very close. As a means of therapy, Chopin took up writing and her ideas about feminism and death are very clear. In “The Story of An Hour,” Chopin uses multiple symbols and an allusion to a Greek god to illustrate and support the idea that male oppression harms the souls and lives of women.

Setting in a story can create certain moods, influence the way we feel about a character, and change the reader's perceptions. “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman named Mrs. Mallard, who learns of her husband’s death. This tragic news causes a range of emotions and internal conflict for the main character. The century, season, and room, in which the story takes place, prepares readers for the overflowing emotions and gives clarity to the character’s frame of mind. Kate Chopin uses the setting to help set the structure of the story.

I chose to do my analysis on the short story, “The Story Of An Hour”. The themes I see in this story is the quest for identity/coming of age, romantic/love, birth, and death. It is about a woman named Mrs. Mallard. She was an elderly lady and had a heart complications. Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards had to break the news to her that her husband, Brently Mallard, has been killed in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard was sorrowful and sobbed in her sisters’ arms. After her grieving process, she wanted to be alone, so she went to her room and locked herself in. As she sat in the window, she seem to be calmer and accepted her husband’s death. She was not distressed of what had happened. She began to say the words “free” and her heart

The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin is the tragic story of a woman whose newfound position as a widow gives her strength. She develops a sense of freedom as she embraces her husband's death as an opportunity to establish her own identity. The tragedy is when her newfound identity gets stripped away as the appearance of her husband reveals that he is still alive. The disappointment from this tragedy kills her with a heart attack symbolizing the many conflicts that she faced throughout the story. The conflicts the character faces within herself and society show that the social norms for women were suppressing to their strength and individuality as human beings.

The story unviels its theme at this point: Mrs. Mallard, for the first time in her life, experiences a new-found freedom. Instead of dreading the future without her husband, "she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely". She could now live her life and be absolutely free of the imposing will of her husband: There would be no one to live for her during the coming years; she would live for herself. There would be now powerful will bending hers in the blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature.(15)

How would one feel to hear the news of a significant other or loved one who has passed away due to an accident? The news is heartbreaking and rather unimaginable. “Sorry to say but your husband has died due to an accident.” No one wants to hear those words or go through the painful time. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin’s, the death of her husband meant freedom and happiness. Chopin’s uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the story in order to depict the theme of freedom and happiness.

The open window in the bedroom symbolizes Mrs. Mallard’s feelings of being alive and free, and the opportunities

In the Victorian era women were treated unfairly. Women did not have any freedom or independence. In two stories I read called “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, had a setting taking place during the Victoria era. Both readings assimilated on the feministic interpretations of women repression and liberation. The stories had women characters that felt trapped in their marriages and wanted to be free. The women lived in a men dominant society and were treated inferiorly to their husbands. In “The Story of the Hour” a woman name Mrs. Mallard felt trap in her marriage that she no longer wanted to be in. She struggled with her marriage because she wanted to have her own identity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a nameless woman

Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" presents a young married woman named Mrs. Louise Mallard, who has a "heart trouble"(26). Suddenly, Mrs. Mallard receives a news that her husband, Brently Mallard has died in a train accident. She weeps and ascends to her room. Within a short period of time, she is able to fully come to terms with her husband's sudden death. Instead of mourning over his death, she feels joy and excitement. She can now act as herself and has the freedom she is longing for. Ironically, her husband comes home alive and she dies of the realization that her freedom and identity will be taken away again. The imageries that Chopin uses help the readers imagine Mrs. Mallard's excitement and the new life waiting for her.

In the short story “The Story of an Hour,” the author Kate Chopin writes about a wife with heart trouble that loses her husband in a railroad disaster. The text tells us that the wife, Louise Mallard, has an internal conflict due to her unhappy marriage. There are many times the text reveals this internal conflict. There are many examples of symbolism throughout the story. After finding out her husband is dead, Louise goes up to her room alone.

Freedom and control are concepts everyone wishes to possess, but some struggle to obtain them. For example in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the main character is told that her controlling and repressive husband has died in a train accident. At first she sobs like a small child and hides in her room, but she soon realizes she is free to live a life for herself. With her newfound happiness, she returns downstairs right as her husband, alive and well, is walking through the front door. Mrs. Mallard is said to have died “of a joy that kills” (qtd. in Meyer 16). Another example of a struggle to obtain freedom is in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. The main character, Emily, is controlled by her father. After her father passes away she is desperate for a loving relationship. Her last

Mrs. Mallard feels tied down and trapped in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8). Once Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband's death, she knew that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (paragraph 14). There now would be no husband who believes he had the "right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature"

Mallard is happy at the idea of freedom again, it also tells you why she is happy about freedom. This is telling you that basically her thoughts did not matter to her husband. Everything she did, or thought was because he told her. He told her what to think, and he told her what to do. So the idea of freedom makes her happy because she does not have to deal with that