Irony In Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Chopin, in her short story “The Story of an Hour,” features effectively implementing imagery, irony, and a powerful timetable, showing the reality of the bonds of marriage. She wants to highlight the importance of personal freedom, and the struggle underneath the surface of daily life.
Chopin opens her short story by demonstrating the irony of the Mrs. Mallard’s situation by using imagery. Chopin showed the irony through imagery, as Mrs. Mallard hit a sensory overload while she wept: she could see “trees...aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain….[hear] the notes of a distant song...and countless sparrows were twittering,” all while the “physical exhaustion haunted her body” (Chopin). Chopin uses this strong imagery of happiness and possibility in order to emphasize the conflict in Louise’s reaction. The contrast of the immediate weeping and the
blue skies shows her ability, unlike “as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin). The freedom that it meant for her, the fact that she wouldn’t be restricted was an overwhelmingly hopeful feeling. The imagery of the weather reflects the bringing to the surface the Mrs. Mallard while reflecting the depth of her conflicted desires.
As Louise continues through this hour, Chopin lays out the forming of her deep-seated yearning by using powerful diction. As Mrs. Mallard’s feelings turn from “too subtle and elusive to name” to recognizing the “thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was...as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” (Chopin). This specific choice of diction shows Louise’s unconscious yearning for freedom during the years she was married, as it forms with such intensity that she is completely powerless. This word-choice provides a clear image of Louise’s struggle, giving the audience a direct description of the overarching struggle. Chopin continues this diction as Louise repeats “over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (Chopin). This carefully chosen repetition show Mrs. Mallard nearly exploding with built up longing. Chopin continues to build how Louise feels, how she truly feels, with the emphasise on the idea, exploding out of her. The audience can clearly see the intensity of Louise’s reaction, through the impactful and carefully chosen words.
As Chopin digs into Mrs.
Mallard’s feelings, she uncovers the societal repression of the late nineteenth century. The husbands lived “in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (Chopin). Her husband is listed first on the death list, impling power and position. It also implies that Louise couldn’t do better status wise; yet there is still the missing, deep-rooted need Louise can’t help but crave. This point-blank statement about the misogynist views directs the audience to the purpose, the oppression of women by men. Chopin uses this information to emphasize just how powerful and critical freedom is to a human being, and just how much men have destroyed it.
Chopin continually emphasizes the reality of marriage and the struggle beneath the surface. In Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” she establishes the significance of freedom through imagery, irony, and the timetable of her story. Such choices form an ironic tone that emphasizes the potential desire of wives confined by the restricting rules of
society.