Elements of Fiction in Kate Chopins Story of an Hour
Does love always lead to happiness?
Does love always lead to happiness? At first one may simply disregard that question because most would immediately think “yes, love always leads to happiness. What a silly question.” I love my dog, and she makes me happy. My parents love each other and they are happy. These statements may be true, but think about the question a little deeper. What happens when your dog passes away? Is that going to be a happy time? I would think not. It also would not be a happy time being stuck in a marriage filled with spiritual repression, Chopin reveals in her writing of “The story of an Hour”. In this short story Kate Chopin brings the reader to ask him or herself many thought provoking questions such as “Does love always lead to happiness?” through her use of the elements of fiction. Love does not always lead to happiness.
In the opening line of the short story, Chopin already begins to use irony when she writes, “knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble…” (1) This normal seeming sentence has a much deeper meaning than what it appears. The word “a” used by the writer hints that it is not physical heart trouble, but possibly spiritual heart trouble. The reader later learns this with certainty. In the second paragraph Chopin writes “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms.” Louise feeling “abandonment” after her husbands death is very ironic since later Louise feels freedom and the final capability to let go of her true feelings after being tied down by Brently Mallard for so many years.
Chopin’s almost continuous use of the elements of fiction portrays the much deeper meaning, love does not always leading to happiness, behind her writing and the roots of “The Story of an Hour”. “When doctors came they said she had dies of heart disease – of the joy that kills”. Chopin is using the last line “of the joy that kills” (1) sarcastically. Louise’s heart symbolizes her freedom. When Brently
Does love always lead to happiness? At first one may simply disregard that question because most would immediately think “yes, love always leads to happiness. What a silly question.” I love my dog, and she makes me happy. My parents love each other and they are happy. These statements may be true, but think about the question a little deeper. What happens when your dog passes away? Is that going to be a happy time? I would think not. It also would not be a happy time being stuck in a marriage filled with spiritual repression, Chopin reveals in her writing of “The story of an Hour”. In this short story Kate Chopin brings the reader to ask him or herself many thought provoking questions such as “Does love always lead to happiness?” through her use of the elements of fiction. Love does not always lead to happiness.
In the opening line of the short story, Chopin already begins to use irony when she writes, “knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble…” (1) This normal seeming sentence has a much deeper meaning than what it appears. The word “a” used by the writer hints that it is not physical heart trouble, but possibly spiritual heart trouble. The reader later learns this with certainty. In the second paragraph Chopin writes “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms.” Louise feeling “abandonment” after her husbands death is very ironic since later Louise feels freedom and the final capability to let go of her true feelings after being tied down by Brently Mallard for so many years.
Chopin’s almost continuous use of the elements of fiction portrays the much deeper meaning, love does not always leading to happiness, behind her writing and the roots of “The Story of an Hour”. “When doctors came they said she had dies of heart disease – of the joy that kills”. Chopin is using the last line “of the joy that kills” (1) sarcastically. Louise’s heart symbolizes her freedom. When Brently
Cited: ""The Story of an Hour"" "The Story of an Hour" N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.