Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

The Story of an Hour, written by Kate Chopin, is dramatic story of the taste of freedom. The social context of the story gives the reader a glimpse into the eyes of an average woman back in the nineteenth century. The plot is furthered through the symbols that are in the description of the character and setting. This woman, Mrs Mallard, is seen as a deceitful woman if seen through the scope of the twenty first century. The Story of an Hour accurately portrays the difficulties of being a wife in the nineteenth century by showing the relief that is achieved by becoming a widow. This story was written in 1894, a time in which women were treated as property and were given no rights in society. Mrs. Mallard was just one of many of these common cases. After she is told the news of her husband’s supposed death she goes to her room and whispers “free, free, free” over and over again, in disbelief that she is set free from her husband and now able to accomplish whatever she wishes. If a slave has no master he is set free, sadly this is a similarity between how women were treated. Having the plot occur in the late nineteenth century, gives the
Mallard’s room, giving many details that can be further explained to give layers to the story. In the story the narrator says Mrs. Mallard sit facing an “open window”, where she sees “the open square before her house”. The author repeatedly uses the word open to stress the point of her new found freedom. She also describes saying “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds.” This symbolizes her breaking through her old life as a follower and making her own path. Also, in the beginning of the story the narrator mentions that she has heart trouble. This foreshadows her death in the end by heart attack. The author may have had deeper intentions as she wrote this story, but the surface description alone gives a shocking