An Hour Symbolism

In Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, we see Mrs. Mallard trying to come to terms with her husband’s death, her short lived liberation, as well as her untimely death upon her husband’s return from the deceased all within an hour. Mrs. Mallard is a woman who is ruled by patriarchy as wells as someone who has never worked a day in her life. Throughout this short story we are given a variety of symbolism such as the renewal of life or being set free like the sparrow. Class status is also a significant aspect of the story.
One such instance is Ms. Mallard being treated as a child instead of an adult female. “…heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death…broken sentences; veiled hints
that revealed in half concealing…” (Chopin 647). Rather than be told her husband has died, she is told in Right away we are given a sense of how “fragile” Mrs. Mallard is deemed. Her Husband’s friend Richard as well as her sister Josephine treat Mrs. Mallard as a porcelain doll that could potentially break easily if not handled with care. She did not receive news of her husband’s death altogether.
Other symbols given are the weather and nature such as the sparrow, rain, the sun, the sky, and spring time.
“…before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life...breath of rain was in the air…singing reached her…countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves” (Chopin 647). Mr. Mallard’s death occurred during the time associated with the renewal of life. A time where the barren winter is left behind for spring to progress and bring forth life once more. Her window faces the same way the sun rises, meanwhile the sky is cloudy with a chance of rain. The sun signifies a new day. Each day the sun rises and sets, here her new life will rise while her previous one will set. The sky being cloudy can allude to Mrs. Mallard’s feelings of her husband’s death. The promise of rain, however, can vary. It can stand for the sorrow she is feeling, or it can mean with the promise of rain it will wash away all that is bad as well as her give her he opportunity to start anew. The imagery of the sparrow is signifying her freedom. Birds are generally born free. They do not live in a cage the way Mrs. Mallard’s marriage is to her. Birds can fly and go wherever they please, Mrs. Mallard cannot.
We can infer Mrs. Mallard is of a mid to high social status who married young with the following “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength...two white slender hands…And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not”
(Chopin 647-648). Mrs. Mallard has never worked a day in her life and has followed her duty of marrying a good man as was expected in this time period. Mr. Mallard was the one who worked, while Mrs. Mallard would stay home, tend to the house, and attend to her matronly duties as a good housewife.
We, the audience, can also see her marriage was arranged. It was common in this time period and culture for arranged marriages to occur. Women did not marry for love and some lucky few like Mrs. Mallard, may have an amicable marriage. For some their marriage could feel and seem endless. For instance, once Mr. Mallard died and Mrs. Mallard eventually realized she had her freedom back, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 648). Here she tasted and had a glimpse of the freedom she would have for the rest of her days. Free from her duties, free from societal norms and expectations, but most importantly, free from her arranged marriage. Just like the reference to the Greek Goddess of Victory, Mrs. Mallard arose from her bedroom. Not her marital bedroom. Not the bedroom she shared with Mr. Mallard. It was her room and hers alone. We see that in the following quote “there was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory” (Chopin 648).
The lack of Mr., for Richard and Ms., for Josephine may imply they are both single.
For Mrs. Mallard her identity depends on her husband. Her name throughout the story is only briefly mentioned twice. Both instances by her sister Josephine whose last name is never mentioned. Neither is Richard’s. Josephine only mentions Mrs. Mallard’s first name when no one else is around and when she is imploring her sister Louise to open the locked bedroom door. For example “Louise, open the door! ...What are you doing Louise?” (Chopin 648). Josephine believed her sister would be ill due to grief of losing her husband and was worried about her. Mrs. Mallard however was fine as her epiphany set in for once in her life she would finally be “‘Free! Body and Soul free!’” (Chopin
648). Furthermore, aside from all this occurring within an hour, there is various symbolism such as the weather signifying the changes to come. One of which was the weather reflecting Mrs. Mallard’s mixed emotions towards her husband’s death. Or that of the Sparrow being used to signify she was now free as a bird. As previously stated, she is now free as well from the societal norms pertaining to her social class. She may no longer have to stay in an arranged marriage, rather now like the goddess Victory, she can be triumphant in her new life as a free woman.