Preview

story of an hour

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
616 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
story of an hour
Samantha Ozdal
Mrs. Bland
English 112 9/18/2014 Story of an Hour

In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, symbols and imagery are used to to describe the new life appearing before Mrs. Mallards eyes. A trasformation happened when Mrs. Mallard spent and hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair”, in front of an open window, realizing the importance of her freedom (15). The author 's use of Spring time imagery to create a sense of renewal after Mrs. Mallard 's husband dies.

Kate Chopin uses her vivid use of imagery when Mrs. Mallard hears of her husbands death. “When the storm of grief has spent itself” introduces the weather theme (15). The image of a violent and dark setting denotees death and grief. Her reaction to her husbands death is what society would expect. Although, her acute reation shows that she is an demonstrative, emotional women. She may of stopped crying, but she knows that she will cry again when she sees her husbands body.

When Mrs. Mallard got the news of her husbands death, she immediately raced upstairs to set in her “comfortable, roomy airchair” (15). The armchair symbolizes the rest from the oppressive life she had and freedom from society 's expectations. Sitting in the armchair, she gazes out of the window and starts indulges in deep thought, which establishes her as an intelligent individual. The open window from which Mrs. Mallard gazes is symbolic for her freedom. Her attention to the blue sky, fluffy clouds, tree tops and the delicious breath of rain represents her newly found inner well-being. The writer 's use of language is well-chosen as it clearly portrays Mrs. Mallard 's true feelings. By capturing all the senses, the imagery created represents her new life and establishes her as a round character. The open window provides a clear and bright view into the distance of her own bright future, which was blocked by the demands of her husband.

As Mrs. Mallard left the room, "there was a feverish triumph in



Cited: 1. Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2001. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Kate Chopin’s 1894 work, “The Story of an Hour”, symbolism and figurative language are utilized to express the central theme of freedom. Mrs. Mallard believes the she has been granted freedom in the form of the death of Brently Mallard, and, ultimately, finds freedom from her unhappy marriage in death.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mallard is given the news of her husbands’ death from her sister, Josephine. She reacts just as anyone else would, she weeps immediately, and is stricken with grief. She falls into her sister’s arms for comfort. Then as she composes herself, she goes to her room alone. It is at this point that the story takes a strange twist. Mrs. Mallard sees the blue sky out her window. She feels the breeze flowing in from the outside. She smells the rain that was still in the air. We are told that she feels something coming towards her. She waits fearfully. It is “too subtle and elusive to name.” What could it be wonders the reader? Then it hits us unexpectedly. The thing coming towards her is her freedom. She whispers free, free, free. She is described as having a monstrous joy. Her husband would no longer repress her. She was free at last. She prayed that her life would be long, something that she had not wished for since her marriage.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Story of an Hour” is a two page short story written by Kate Chopin (born February 8, 1851 died August 22, 1904) (Larsson Donald, and Erskine Thomas 1), but despite its small size, it is filled with conflicting emotions and symbolism. The amount of well-hidden symbolism can make it very confusing, but it also gives the story an unlimited amount of meaning. At first glance, many may not realize that the sky is a symbol, or understand a kind “of joy that kills” (Chopin 128), and cannot comprehend the mental state someone must be in to fell “free” (129) from hearing of death of her spouse.…

    • 2338 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour' is a short yet complex piece describing the feelings of Mrs Mallard. This story is overflowing with symbolism and imagery. The most prominent theme here is the longing for freedom. Chopin focuses on unfolding the emotional state of Mrs Mallard which can be separated into three stages: quickly moving to grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate Chopin’s non-fiction work “The Story of An Hour” gives a detailed account of what Mrs. Mallard feels after heartbreak. Mrs. Mallard is inflicted with heart trouble as her husband dies. She feels there are freedoms and opportunities for her to take advantage of along with the grievance of her husband’s death. These complex issues are accounted for in her brief characterization of her last hour of life. Ironically her husband did not pass away, but she still creates a tragic ending.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Story of an Hour

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Story of an Hour: Discuss three examples AND kinds irony used in “The Story of an Hour.” Make sure to have one example of verbal irony, one of situational irony, and one of dramatic irony.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As the title puts it, “The Story of an Hour” is a story that happens in one hour. This story mostly revolves around one woman, Louis Mallard, who is used to develop many themes in the story. Some of the themes brought up have a different interpretation from what is normally known in the usual circumstances. The themes of freedom and death have been projected quite in a way that gives a reader another understanding different from what is already known. Other themes that are evidently seen are time, freedom and confinement, marriage and emotional regression. The title of the story also shows how so many things can happen within a single hour. In normal circumstances, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, guilt, and regrets, amongst other feelings depending on the course of death. In this story, death brings some of these feelings such as sorrow and grief. I argue however, that in this short story Kate Chopin uses death to demonstrate how death can not only cause pain and sadness but also bring joy, independence and freedom.…

    • 1379 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Story of an Hour

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Story of an Hour is a story about a woman who does not grieve, but is overjoyed by having no more husband to hold her back. The author shows throughout the story the feeling and the projected path by using various literary devices such as metaphors and the way they are dictated, as well as tone. These present the story in the way the author meant to, and are present to describe certain emotions, and create different scenes.…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A huge factor of the story is the characteristics of Mrs. Mallard which add to the theme of the story in several ways. One important characteristic is her youth. This is symbolic because it represents a fresh, new start at her life of freedom due to the death of her husband. Women were married at a young age and in a way lost their independence. Mrs. Mallard is described as being young and having “a fair, calm face” symbolizing the beauty and innocence. It would seem that Mr. Mallard repressed her, and now she is freed of an unhappy marriage and able to move on with her life.…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mallard's Oppression

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mallard death, Chopin shows the reader that Mrs. Mallard could not bear to abandon her new found freedom, and return to the life with her husband where she lives to satisfy him and him only. At the beginning of the story Kate Chopin informs the reader that Mrs. Mallard has “heart trouble” yet, lets it be known that she is young. When Mrs. Mallard gets the news that her husband, Brently, is dead she is frightened at the thought of being alone, "There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully” (Chopin 69). Yet, shortly after fear takes over Mrs. Mallard realizes she is free. The reader realizes her realization of newfound freedom through symbolism. “The story is set during spring, and Louise's "awakening" is symbolized by the rebirth of nature” (Themes).What occurs with the weather parallels what is occurring inside Louise’s head. While her short term grief occurs, the weather is stormy, but as she has her awakening the weather clears up. Imaging the future she will have now that her husband is out of the picture, Mrs. Mallard finally comes out of her room with gained selfhood and a strong sense of happiness. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mallard collapses and dies when she finds that Brently is still alive, and realizes that her happiness will indefinitely be taken away. Mrs. Mallard collapsing is just one instance in which the reader gets an emphasis on just how oppressive the Mallard marriage was. At the end the readers is informed that Louise…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Story of an Hour

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kate Chopin 's the "Story of an Hour" includes a vast amount of literary devices. Irony, foreshadowing, personification, imagery, symbolism, metaphor and repetition are some of the major literary techniques used by Chopin within this short story about a woman named Mrs. Mallard. Although the story covers only one hour in the life of the main character, the use of these various literary techniques present the theme of the story to the reader in a very entertaining manner.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Story of An Hour” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young nineteenth-century woman, Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences an epiphany about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the reader to cogitate a hidden meaning weaved into Kate‘s short story. Chopin had an idea that women felt confined in their marriages, and the idea is brought out through the protagonist’s initial reaction, excessive joy, and new perspective of the world following the upsetting news.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story of an hour

    • 868 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband’s death, she immediately starts crying uncontrollably in her sister’s arms. She does not get paralyzed by grief, as she knows many other women in her situation would do, “She did not hear the story as many other women have heard with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (ll. 11-12, p. 106). She knows she should grieve over her husband, but she can’t show the emotions which are expected of her, so instead she cries dramatically. When she is alone in her room, she unveils her true emotion, which is excitement over her newfound independence. This feeling of freedom suddenly hits her, and she can’t help but to say the words out loud "Free, free, free!" (ll. 1-2, p. 107). She is not a heartless person, and the excitement she feels is not caused by the fact that her husband is dead, it is caused by the possibilities that his death has given her. She knows she will cry at his…

    • 868 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life or Irony

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the symbols Chopin uses in the story is the open window. Following the news of the death of her husband, Ms. Mallard retreats to her room in despair. However, as she looks out the window to see blue skies, hear the sweat sound of birds singing, and flowers opening their petals to welcome spring, she begins to feel overwhelmed with a sense of warmth, lightheartedness, and hope for a future of endless possibilities and freedom she has so often sought throughout a demanding marriage. After a few minutes she said “free, free, free!” (541). The open window meant a new beginning to a life she hadn’t known before. She realized that she no longer answered to anyone. For Louise Mallard the window represents life, longevity, contentment and hope, while turning away from the window leads back to question and sorrow. Chopin’s use of symbolism depicting marriage allows the reader to view marriage as both loving, nurturing, and supportive, yet controlling and oppressive.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I saw symbolism between the “storm of grief” undergone by Mrs. Mallard and the description of the weather clearing as she went through her moment of clarity. At first it was dark and depressing, but when the worst had passed the descriptions of rain and freshness suggests a storm and recovery that reflect her emotions.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays