Story Of An Hour Theme Analysis
Running head: Theme and Narrative Elements 1
Theme and Narrative Elements
Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story: The Story of an Hour
Tanya Patterson
Prof. Emily Benson
September 15, 2014
Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story: The Story of an Hour
The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin in 1894 the reader should zone in on the main character Mrs. Mallard 's thoughts and not so much on the excitement of the story but the ending. The insights of different literary elements such as the point of view and tone make this short story omniscient and subtle yet cruel that all contribute to the multiple themes.
According to Journey Into Literature, "a theme is an idea, or message, that lies behind a literary work, the …show more content…
What is driving the action?" (Clugston, 2014). When answering any of these questions, the main theme deals with a dysfunctional marriage and other minor themes including communication, freedom and confinement, time, and mortality. The reason for the dysfunctional marriage comes from males dominating the women of the 19th century and how they were prisoners to their husbands. Women were expected to stay home to cook, clean, and take care of the children. The woman was only a mean of a man 's pleasure and reproduction. She had no rights, no opinions, no sentiments no emotions (Radek, 2001). If they did work and it was not too often and the pay and job was always less compared to a man. There was no mention of true love since marriage was out of convenience, monetary comfort and status during that era. Communication is essential and its delivery because when Mrs. Mallard was told of her husband 's untimely death on a train and then to find out that he was not dead after all, was more deadly than how you tell it versus what actually happened. Be careful with delicacy and preparation when delivering a message to a sick listener with a heart condition or it can cause further damage. Freedom and …show more content…
In this story the description of Mrs. Mallard in a lifetime of emotional torment, dawning comprehension. liberating, that ended in ironic detachment. Mrs. Mallard brushes off the idea of love and marriage for the wonderful and glorious idea of at last freedom. The other characters around her such as her sister Josephine and Richards which is the husband 's friend though she was crying her eyes out over the death of her husband and she was actually relieved to be a free woman. At the end, it was understood that she died from sudden shock of seeing her supposedly dead husband alive after all "joy that kills" (23). The only piece of the puzzle that is left unanswered for sure is what really killed her and the narrator left that up to the reader to
Theme and Narrative Elements
Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story: The Story of an Hour
Tanya Patterson
Prof. Emily Benson
September 15, 2014
Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story: The Story of an Hour
The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin in 1894 the reader should zone in on the main character Mrs. Mallard 's thoughts and not so much on the excitement of the story but the ending. The insights of different literary elements such as the point of view and tone make this short story omniscient and subtle yet cruel that all contribute to the multiple themes.
According to Journey Into Literature, "a theme is an idea, or message, that lies behind a literary work, the …show more content…
What is driving the action?" (Clugston, 2014). When answering any of these questions, the main theme deals with a dysfunctional marriage and other minor themes including communication, freedom and confinement, time, and mortality. The reason for the dysfunctional marriage comes from males dominating the women of the 19th century and how they were prisoners to their husbands. Women were expected to stay home to cook, clean, and take care of the children. The woman was only a mean of a man 's pleasure and reproduction. She had no rights, no opinions, no sentiments no emotions (Radek, 2001). If they did work and it was not too often and the pay and job was always less compared to a man. There was no mention of true love since marriage was out of convenience, monetary comfort and status during that era. Communication is essential and its delivery because when Mrs. Mallard was told of her husband 's untimely death on a train and then to find out that he was not dead after all, was more deadly than how you tell it versus what actually happened. Be careful with delicacy and preparation when delivering a message to a sick listener with a heart condition or it can cause further damage. Freedom and …show more content…
In this story the description of Mrs. Mallard in a lifetime of emotional torment, dawning comprehension. liberating, that ended in ironic detachment. Mrs. Mallard brushes off the idea of love and marriage for the wonderful and glorious idea of at last freedom. The other characters around her such as her sister Josephine and Richards which is the husband 's friend though she was crying her eyes out over the death of her husband and she was actually relieved to be a free woman. At the end, it was understood that she died from sudden shock of seeing her supposedly dead husband alive after all "joy that kills" (23). The only piece of the puzzle that is left unanswered for sure is what really killed her and the narrator left that up to the reader to