The Open Window In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

One primary theme in “The Story of an Hour” is the bittersweet agony of marriage and it is portrayed through the symbol of the open window. When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband’s death, she initially reacts in a manner in which one would assume a grieving wife would respond. “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.” (Chopin 556). However, once she retreats to her bedroom, she finds herself overcome with a much more invigorating feeling as she begins to whisper “free, free, free!”. When Mrs. Mallard entered her room, Chopin describes an open window next to a very comfortable arm chair. Mrs. Mallard sinks into the arm chair where she begins looking out of the open window. I think that Chopin used Mrs. Mallard sitting in the armchair as
a symbol of how people become comfortable in marriages without realizing how unhappy they are. That is, until they see what life beyond the confines of an unhappy marriage holds for them. Mrs. Mallard finally looks out of the window to see the joyous picture that life has painted before her. She could see the green tops of trees budding “with the new spring life”, a “delicious breath of rain was in the air”, she could hear someone singing in the distance, and “sparrows were twittering in the eaves” (Chopin 556). In the distance, she could see blue sky beyond the clouds. This symbol runs parallel to how Mrs. Mallard is feeling. She is starting to see beyond the confines of her marriage and the ‘tragedy’ of losing her husband in order to notice the freedom that lies ahead of her. There is even a line that states “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin 556).
At this time, Mrs. Mallard is overcome with joy from this idea of being free. She had not yet actually experienced the freedom but it was so close that she could taste it. I believe this is why Chopin chose an open window as a symbol. An open window is like an opportunity. You can see the blissful future that lies ahead but you have to leave your confines and go beyond the window in order to reach it. This is what Chopin meant when she wrote “No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window”. Mrs. Mallard realized that her husband actually made her miserable because he ultimately had control over her: “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature”. Mallard even clarifies that while she had sometimes loved her husband, it was not usually the case. However, since he was now dead, Mrs. Mallard would be free to live her life as she pleased. In the end, Mrs. Mallard never does make it beyond that open
window. Instead, when she realizes her husband is still alive, the agony of her marriage comes rushing back and it is too much for her to bear and she dies.