Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay
The art of storytelling is one of an intricate process. When it comes to relaying a message the process in which this occurs varies between the artists of the craft. Kate Chopin has a literary style that is dependent on techniques such as Irony, Juxtaposition, and Symbolism to bring this short story to life and leave an impact on the reader. Through these literary devices Kate Chopin is able to add emphasis on her on beliefs and attitudes that alter the perception on female roles in the text and at the time this short story was composed. The Story of an Hour is engulfed in one giant juxtaposition after the other. “There were patches of blue sky…above the other in the west facing her window.” (Chopin line 20-21) The moment of disturbing news
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surrounding the death of Mrs. Mallard’s husband depicts an odd scenery for a time of supposed mourning. Rather, Chopin opposes the two stark ideas of death and spring and contours this with vibrant scenery outside her window that emphasizes the beauty of life itself. “She knew that she would weep again… and she opened and spread her arms out to welcome them.” (Chopin lines 41-45). In these set of lines Chopin details the personification of death grabbing and holding onto Mrs. Mallard and becomes one of internal and external embrace. Life and Death are juxtaposed as both are never “supposed” to be posed within the same sentence. This offset highlights the struggle Mrs. Mallard faces and the new found freedom she is exposed to. Within these very lines the widowed Mrs. Mallard becomes an individual and tears at the internal struggle she has kept all throughout her marriage. “And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not.” (Chopin line 51). Mrs. Mallard did not hate her husband, rather was finally set free. The internal struggle of remaining a bird in a cage is noted as she opens her wings as she is released from her burden. Chopin gives her female character the ability to breathe and stretch as she is released from her prison that is marriage. By juxtaposing particular scenes in the story Chopin allows the female characters to experience a level of independence that in this text and time period it was written as almost taboo to display making the internal success one that Mrs. Mallard had to conceal. Through symbolism underlying feeling and emotions that are not deliberately expressed by Mrs.
Mallard gain its own spotlight to build this meek character a backbone that Chopin purposely refuses to give her. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard… possible the news of her husband’s death.” (Chopin lines 1-2) the symbolism of the heart depicts Mrs. Mallard as weak hearted and that any devastating news will send her into shock and utmost depression at the loss. The spineless and almost pathetic ability to tell Mrs. Mallard the news without “breaking her heart” adds onto the societal gender assignment of women being overly sentimental creatures that need protecting in order to move on with their day to day lives. The euphemism of the heart trouble takes on a dual meaning in the prose as well. Not only does it highlight the physical illness that surrounds Mrs. Mallard and thus creates the tenderness other must exhibit towards this difficult matter; the heart does not mean the Western idea of love that is normally assigned to this organ. By calling it heart trouble it puts more emphasis on the idea of the marriage being a distressing occurrence on her heart and allows for the supposed love in the marriage to be dismissed easily. “What did it matter!” (Chopin line 51) The heart trouble now becomes one of an emotional kind rather than the physical kind that is assumed at the beginning of the text. Through Chopin’s extensive use of symbolism she allows her female role, Mrs. Mallard a deep and human quality that is normally not expressed in the Victorian era in which this was written. She allows Mrs. Mallard a deeper complex and emphasizes the psychological subjugation by the sexes that she cannot openly
express.
Throughout the text the implementation of irony highlights the internal struggle Mrs. Mallard has with her feelings. The newly gained freedom that arose from death itself is then immediately taken away when her “supposedly” dead husband who is far from dead. The sight of him leaves her in intense shock and the tables turn by taking her own life. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease -- of the joy that kills.” (Chopin line 73) Chopin’s ironic, short, yet curt description of her death reflects the idea that her death and freedom was a situational irony more than anything else. Chopin describes in great detail Mrs. Mallard’s new freedom and like that takes it in one single line, like a single breath. Chopin spends a great detail on making sure that the reader has a deep level of understanding on what Mrs. Mallard’s feelings are and through this curt sentence it plays on the irony of the whole short story. The irony that we get deep into Mrs. Mallard’s head and within an instant we are left to puzzle together what her thoughts were of her husband’s resurrection from death’s grasp. For all we know Chopin had this pure intention of keeping her death this brief to emphasize the fact that Mrs. Mallard could not take another second of suppression and her heart (physically and mentally) gave out.
The once weak and feeble character that is Mrs. Mallard evolves into a character free from bondage and is later killed from that very same subjugation that her heart cannot take; hence the title. The Story of an Hour expresses this kind of interaction through her heavy dependence of irony, juxtapositions, and symbols to build a story that involves deep levels of thought in order to get her biases and held beliefs out that Chopin cannot simply state. The development of Mrs. Mallard is molded on the idea of internalized development and the rhetorical devices allows for that growth which becomes her own demise. Chopin heavily depicts women in this internal struggle of subjugation in a period where patriarchy was at its highest which explains the devices used for Mrs. Mallard.
surrounding the death of Mrs. Mallard’s husband depicts an odd scenery for a time of supposed mourning. Rather, Chopin opposes the two stark ideas of death and spring and contours this with vibrant scenery outside her window that emphasizes the beauty of life itself. “She knew that she would weep again… and she opened and spread her arms out to welcome them.” (Chopin lines 41-45). In these set of lines Chopin details the personification of death grabbing and holding onto Mrs. Mallard and becomes one of internal and external embrace. Life and Death are juxtaposed as both are never “supposed” to be posed within the same sentence. This offset highlights the struggle Mrs. Mallard faces and the new found freedom she is exposed to. Within these very lines the widowed Mrs. Mallard becomes an individual and tears at the internal struggle she has kept all throughout her marriage. “And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not.” (Chopin line 51). Mrs. Mallard did not hate her husband, rather was finally set free. The internal struggle of remaining a bird in a cage is noted as she opens her wings as she is released from her burden. Chopin gives her female character the ability to breathe and stretch as she is released from her prison that is marriage. By juxtaposing particular scenes in the story Chopin allows the female characters to experience a level of independence that in this text and time period it was written as almost taboo to display making the internal success one that Mrs. Mallard had to conceal. Through symbolism underlying feeling and emotions that are not deliberately expressed by Mrs.
Mallard gain its own spotlight to build this meek character a backbone that Chopin purposely refuses to give her. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard… possible the news of her husband’s death.” (Chopin lines 1-2) the symbolism of the heart depicts Mrs. Mallard as weak hearted and that any devastating news will send her into shock and utmost depression at the loss. The spineless and almost pathetic ability to tell Mrs. Mallard the news without “breaking her heart” adds onto the societal gender assignment of women being overly sentimental creatures that need protecting in order to move on with their day to day lives. The euphemism of the heart trouble takes on a dual meaning in the prose as well. Not only does it highlight the physical illness that surrounds Mrs. Mallard and thus creates the tenderness other must exhibit towards this difficult matter; the heart does not mean the Western idea of love that is normally assigned to this organ. By calling it heart trouble it puts more emphasis on the idea of the marriage being a distressing occurrence on her heart and allows for the supposed love in the marriage to be dismissed easily. “What did it matter!” (Chopin line 51) The heart trouble now becomes one of an emotional kind rather than the physical kind that is assumed at the beginning of the text. Through Chopin’s extensive use of symbolism she allows her female role, Mrs. Mallard a deep and human quality that is normally not expressed in the Victorian era in which this was written. She allows Mrs. Mallard a deeper complex and emphasizes the psychological subjugation by the sexes that she cannot openly
express.
Throughout the text the implementation of irony highlights the internal struggle Mrs. Mallard has with her feelings. The newly gained freedom that arose from death itself is then immediately taken away when her “supposedly” dead husband who is far from dead. The sight of him leaves her in intense shock and the tables turn by taking her own life. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease -- of the joy that kills.” (Chopin line 73) Chopin’s ironic, short, yet curt description of her death reflects the idea that her death and freedom was a situational irony more than anything else. Chopin describes in great detail Mrs. Mallard’s new freedom and like that takes it in one single line, like a single breath. Chopin spends a great detail on making sure that the reader has a deep level of understanding on what Mrs. Mallard’s feelings are and through this curt sentence it plays on the irony of the whole short story. The irony that we get deep into Mrs. Mallard’s head and within an instant we are left to puzzle together what her thoughts were of her husband’s resurrection from death’s grasp. For all we know Chopin had this pure intention of keeping her death this brief to emphasize the fact that Mrs. Mallard could not take another second of suppression and her heart (physically and mentally) gave out.
The once weak and feeble character that is Mrs. Mallard evolves into a character free from bondage and is later killed from that very same subjugation that her heart cannot take; hence the title. The Story of an Hour expresses this kind of interaction through her heavy dependence of irony, juxtapositions, and symbols to build a story that involves deep levels of thought in order to get her biases and held beliefs out that Chopin cannot simply state. The development of Mrs. Mallard is molded on the idea of internalized development and the rhetorical devices allows for that growth which becomes her own demise. Chopin heavily depicts women in this internal struggle of subjugation in a period where patriarchy was at its highest which explains the devices used for Mrs. Mallard.