Story Of An Hour
“The Story of an Hour” is a short story written by Kate Chopin and first appeared in Vogue in 1894. The story takes place within the time span of an hour, hence the title, and is about the thoughts of a married woman who is told her husband has died only to find out an hour later that he is still alive when he walks in the front door. The story explores the range of emotions that the main character experiences within the span of an hour. Since this story was written after the death of Chopin’s husband, it may be possible that the author drew upon her own experiences and feelings in regards to marriage. Moreover, it is possible that Kate Chopin in her short story, “The Story of an Hour”, may have been voicing the feelings of many other women
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Louise Mallard, the main character, at first feels sorrow when she is told of her husband’s death, but then begins to feel an overwhelming sense of relief and freedom when she is alone. Similarly, Mrs. Mallard felt that her husband controlled her life, while he was alive. The author implies this sentiment with the following words, “There would be no 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, 37).
Next, the main character, Mrs. Mallard, experiences an internal conflict in “The Story of an Hour”. The internal conflict that she is feeling is one of loving her husband yet at the same time wanting freedom from the constraints of her marriage. The narrator makes us aware of her feelings in the following passage.
She knew she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her; fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened her arms out to them in welcome. (Chopin, …show more content…
Since, at the beginning of the story, the narrator informs the reader that Mrs. Mallard has heart problems by stating, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble…”(Chopin, 36). Later, when her husband arrives home and she realizes that he is not dead after all, the news causes her to have a heart attack and die. The other characters in the story assume that she died from such happiness at the sight of her husband that her weak heart stopped beating. The narrator states, “When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills” (Chopin, 38). However, the reader has been privy to the main character’s private thoughts through out the story. Thus, the narrator leaves it up to the reader to decide what it is that killed Mrs. Mallard. Did she die from joy or was it distress at seeing that her husband was still
Louise Mallard, the main character, at first feels sorrow when she is told of her husband’s death, but then begins to feel an overwhelming sense of relief and freedom when she is alone. Similarly, Mrs. Mallard felt that her husband controlled her life, while he was alive. The author implies this sentiment with the following words, “There would be no 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, 37).
Next, the main character, Mrs. Mallard, experiences an internal conflict in “The Story of an Hour”. The internal conflict that she is feeling is one of loving her husband yet at the same time wanting freedom from the constraints of her marriage. The narrator makes us aware of her feelings in the following passage.
She knew she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her; fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened her arms out to them in welcome. (Chopin, …show more content…
Since, at the beginning of the story, the narrator informs the reader that Mrs. Mallard has heart problems by stating, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble…”(Chopin, 36). Later, when her husband arrives home and she realizes that he is not dead after all, the news causes her to have a heart attack and die. The other characters in the story assume that she died from such happiness at the sight of her husband that her weak heart stopped beating. The narrator states, “When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills” (Chopin, 38). However, the reader has been privy to the main character’s private thoughts through out the story. Thus, the narrator leaves it up to the reader to decide what it is that killed Mrs. Mallard. Did she die from joy or was it distress at seeing that her husband was still