An Hour Symbolism

“The Story of an Hour” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. In this story, there are a lot of symbols. They range from as little as an open window, to as big as heart disease. Symbols can be very crucial to literature, and the story’s meaning. The symbols in this story are very interesting to me. I do not think the story would be as meaningful as it is if they were not included. When Mrs. Mallard first goes up to her room, she is described as being, “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” (Chopin) into a “comfortable, roomy armchair.” (Chopin) I think that this chair is a symbol of her new life. At first, she sits because she cannot handle holding herself up any longer. Then she realizes that she is more comfortable in this new position than she ever was before. This is like her life. At first, she does
not know what she is going to do now that her husband is dead. After mulling it over for a little while, Mrs. Mallard realizes that this new life might even be more comfortable than her married life was. This chair is placed right in front of an open window. This open window is the second symbol that I want to talk about. Everything about this open window is a small symbol within the bigger symbol. The very first thing that Mrs. Mallard sees outside of the window is trees that are “all aquiver with the new spring life.” (Chopin) This is another symbol of the new life that Mrs. Mallard is starting to realize that she now has. She sees blue skies, hears someone singing and the sparrows chirping, and she can smell the “delicious breath of rain.” (Chopin) These are all things that symbolize happiness and freedom. Mrs. Mallard is finally free like the birds; she is finally happy. She is getting a fresh start, like the earth does in the spring Mrs. Mallard begins looking inside of herself. She finally realizes what the death of her husband means for her future. She continues repeating, “free, free, free…Body and soul free!” (Chopin) She realizes that she is no longer going to be oppressed by the institution of marriage, or by her husband. At this part of the story, Mrs. Mallard begins being referred to as “Louise.” This is just another symbol that she is becoming her own person. She is no longer being forced by the “powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature.” (Chopin) Josephine, Louise’s sister, is now worried about her. I assume that she has been locked in her room for a while at this point. She is afraid that her sister is making herself ill with grief. Little does she know, Louise is just now coming alive. She is “drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.” (Chopin)
The final, and I believe most important, symbol is the heart trouble that is mentioned in the very first line of the story.
This heart disease comes in to play again in the last line of the story. The doctor tells everyone that Mrs. Mallard dies of “the joy that kills.” (Chopin) She is once again Mrs. Mallard because her husband is not dead after all. It was all a big misunderstanding. I agree that Mrs. Mallard died because of her heart. I do not think that it was from joy, however. I believe that Mrs. Mallard died from a broken heart. When her husband walks through that door, she is all of a sudden back under her husband’s thumb. She is so excited for her new life, and now she has lost everything in a blink of an eye.
The symbols make this story. They help you to understand exactly what Mrs. Mallard is going through. It is sometimes hard to put feelings into words, but everyone can understand that an open window with a blue sky and chirping bird is a happy thing. Most people associate spring with a new beginning. I really enjoyed looking into the deeper meanings of all of the symbols in this short
story.