Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

“The story of an hour,” by Kate Chopin focuses on the idea of freedom. This short story is about the protagonist, named Louise, who finds out that her husband has been in an accident and died. She has many feelings, but the one that she enjoyed the most was the freedom she would now have. “Hence, Brentley’s death is not tragic to her because it gives her own life back to her” (Rosenblum, 7). Her freedom is quickly taken away from her, when her husband walks through the front door. The theme is, even if the sense of freedom is there in your reach; it can quickly disappear. The story’s theme is developed by using plot, and symbolism.
Louise is the protagonist and is a round and dynamic character in this short story. While reading the story, the readers can get the sense that Louise had lost her personality, her freedom, or self-worth after getting married. She loved her husband but not as much as she loved being her own person. In the beginning of the story she has a heart condition and is struck with grief over her husband’s sudden death. She locks herself
in her room trying to dissect the situation that has been handed her. At first she cries because he was her husband, then she starts to have feelings of joy and freedom, which is a shock. She takes in the openness of the field and the blue sky with clouds that could represent her life in that very moment. By the end of the story she goes through three different changes, from a simple house wife that is told her husband had died, to a widow with endless amounts of freedom, to a wife that would die from shock of her freedom being taken away. Mr. Mallard is a flat and static character, there isn’t anything said about who he is or what kind of person he is. In a sense Mr. Mallard is the antagonist because he dies, which gives Louise her new freedom, but then he comes home and rips it away from his wife without even knowing what he has done, he is the reason his wife is dead. “When Brently Mallard suddenly returns home, however, Mrs. Mallard’s death is both literal and symbolic — in one hour, her freedom has been won and lost” (Harris, 1).
This story has some intense moments that keep you from changing the page. The exposition happens in the very beginning when Louise learns of her husband’s alleged death, where she takes in the news and falls apart in front of her sister. "It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences, veiled hints that revealed in half concealing" (Chopin, 115). The Louise heads up to her room where she can be alone, to ponder the devastating news that she has received. The rising action happens when she is crying and blankly looking outside she starts to have an overcoming feeling of freedom that takes her by surprise. "There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully" (Chopin, 115) "She said it over and over under her breath: 'Free, free, free!'" (Chopin, 116). The climax happens when her Louise walks down stairs with her sister in tow, and her husband walks through the front door unharmed and unknowing of the accident. "He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one" (Chopin, 116). And finally the resolution, is when Louise dies from because her freedom is taken away from her. Although the family believes it is from the overwhelming sense of joy from seeing her husband alive. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills" (Chopin, 116).
Throughout the story, symbolism is used to show the unhappy and constricting side of marriage.
For example, Louise looking out at the open field, the blue sky and clouds shows the readers that she is entering the calm before the storm. Also, the open window in Louise’s room can be interpreted that it shows all the new endless possibilities to her newfound freedom. "As she stares out a window she faces a scene of natural beauty and vitality that seems, at first, merely to contrast with her own bereaved suffering; soon, however, it becomes clear that all the imagery of "spring life" is not simply ironic but also suggests to Louise the possibilities of a new, more vital existence." (Evans, 2). Also, the way she described the sky and the rain shows us the way she was feeling too. “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her though the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air” (Chopin,
116).
When Chopin wrote “The story of an hour”, she used words that showed imagery throughout the story. She wanted her readers to have a visual of the story as it was read. She talks about the “delicious breath of rain” (Chopin, 5) which lets her readers know that it’s refreshing to have the rain wash away all of the bad. She also mentions a “distant song” and the “twittering sparrows” (Chopin, 5) which shows the readers that there’s music or someone is singing nearby, and the birds are alive and making noise. She accepts all of the refreshing sounds, smells and sights as an open invitation to her newfound freedom and happiness. Finally at the end of the story “Josephine’s piercing cry” (Chopin, 20) brings shock and devastation to Louise’s sister, husband and family friend.
“The story of an hour” is an incredible short story that presents a woman with heart trouble and her husband’s death. The use of imagery allows the readers to have a sense of what the author was trying to make seen. The readers can clearly see the story’s plot grows and changes throughout each paragraph. The author uses symbolism is unique in this short story because of the way the protagonist handles the devastating news of her husband’s death. Chopin shows that marriage can be constricting and can take away your sense of independence. And sometimes, your personal freedom is better than the typical marriage with love and care.