Preview

The Story of an Hour Litrary Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
418 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Story of an Hour Litrary Analysis
The Story of an Hour Women freedom in Marriage
In Kate Chopin’s 1894 story “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Malloard is shocked because of her husband death news, and it turns out with the excitement of her future freedom. Chopin reflects how women are controlled by their husbands because of that Mrs. Mallard feels happiness when she hears her husband death news. Then, the story ends with unexpected situation which is her husband come back home alive, and her happiness disappear. In that situation, her weak heart cannot control her reaction then she dies. In this story Chopin describes Mrs. Mallord’s two sided feelings sadness and excitement because of her husband death news.
At first Mrs. Mallad who has a heart problem hears the news of her husband death, and she feels shocked and sad. Chapion describes it as…..She wept at once, with sudden,, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.”(459) However, her sadness doesn’t stay longer, and her feeling changes to joy…”new born freedom.” (460) Sometimes in marriage there may not be a mutual love between the two people who are together, so that Mrs. Mallard is not happy with her marriage life “ There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully ”(459), so the news of her husband death makes her happy and gives her freedom. Therefore, Chopin reflects Mrs. Mallard has been trapped by her husband that’s why she says. “Free! Body and soul free!’’(460) Also this story shows the relationship between husband and wife in the 19th century. Chopin emphasizes that is how men are more powerful and dominant. It seems like Mrs. Mallard does not have the right to stand against her marriage life . Moreover, if she feels like she doesn’t have freedom with her husband, she would do something to stay away from her marriage life. However, since she doesn’t have the power or right to do that at that time, she feels so happy when the news of her husband death passed on. Therefore,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    English 102 Fitction Essay

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Kate Chopin’s short tale, “The Story of an Hour”, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard seems to ride a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings about her husband, Mr. Mallard’s, death. The story begins by informing us of Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition which leads us to believe that the heart condition will affect the story. Many times in the story we see that Mrs. Mallard does not handle situations in the way most woman did in that time. She doesn’t seem to know how to really feel about the tragic situation of her husbands death. Mrs. Mallard goes through so many changes in such a short period of time that some readers would believe it is the amount of drastic changes that caused her to pass of a heart disease…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the main character (Mrs.Mallard) is a married woman. Mrs.Mallard was afflicted with a “heart problem”. The author was not very specific about her troubled heart, which seemed to be a symbol of not just physical, but emotional distress as well. Jaqueline (Ms.Mallards sister) took precaution before announcing her husbands death to her because of that issue. When Jaqueline finally stated that her husband had supposedly died, she weeped momentarily but her grief was gone once she realized a new sense of life that was to be experienced. Ms.Mallard became rather joyful instead. She isolated herself in a room, and as she examined the outside through her window, she discovered a new sense of independence and freedom within her, rather than grief towards her husbands death. “Body and soul free”, she began to say to herself. She was at her highest peak of happiness until later on in the story when it turned out her husband was alive all along. It is ironic that the main character was so ecstatic, that when she saw her husband standing before her, her shock and disappointment at the loss of her new life was so intense that she passed away.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author immediately starts off by mentioning Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble, which could symbolize her unhappy marriage. Chopin also tells of how Mrs. Mallard doesn’t take the bad news of her husband’s death as most women would, but, instead, “she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,” (page 1)…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate Chopins short story , “The Story of An Hour”, describes Mrs. Mallard as being ienslaved in an idealistic marriage during the nineteenth century. Mrs. Mallard, unlike the stereotypical women of the time, tastes the momentary sweetness of freedom when she hears the false news of her husband’s death.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mallard, in her final moments of life. As the reader shares in the heartache, joys and conflict, that Mrs. Mallard feels at the news of her husband’s death, to the moment of her realization of what that would mean for her future, the reader is reluctant to tear their eyes away from Chopin’s plot twisting story. In a twist of fate, Mr. Mallard appears unharmed and the hopes and dreams of poor Louise, just recently resurrected from the grave, die and are buried along with her. Through key literary elements and devices, the author creates a stunning and surprising work that highlights the joy of remaining independent, and the suffrage that may come along with marriage. Chopin uses this short story to share an insightful underlying message that continues to resonate with me: to live for…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard rejoices her chance to regain her long-lost individuality again after hearing of her husband's death: “They would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature (Chopin, 11).” She finds these thoughts monstrous at first, but she rationalizes them because of the suffering she endured in her marriage without identity.…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage was also another role women took part in, as they were expected to. Most of the time was so they could have children, and marriage isn’t like that today. People get married today to spend the rest of their lives with their significant other and put a label on it. In the story, the quote “And yet she had loved him sometimes, Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!”(Chopin 15). During this era, marriage wasn’t always about love. Sometimes it was just to better a man’s life. The main character Mrs. Mallard feels she gave up freedom for someone she isn’t sure she truly loves. The idea of being free, and being able to make her own choices made her realize she didn’t care for her marriage. Marriage usually was good for the men. Another example Chopin uses to describe marriage is, “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch in her body” (Chopin 11). Mrs. Mallard is a free women! Her life was full of anxiety. When she found out her husband was dead she was free from marriage, and free from her everyday life. She was excited because she saw a new beginning ahead of…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many different tones, themes, characters, and symbolism in the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin explains the story of a negative view of marriage by showing the reader with a woman who is overjoyed that her husband has died, also the characters in the story itself goes through multiply changes from fear to depression to finally freedom. The lone character, who goes through the most change be far throughout the entire story is the main character Mrs. Louise Mallard. This transformation doesn’t just help change the character of Louise Mallard, further the themes of the story and solidify the tones that the author are trying to set for the story.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mallard felt, and her change in identity by her role as a women in the 1800 's. Kate Chopin does a wonderful job at really showing the audience what is going on in Mrs. Mallards mind. Her optimism is very quickly changed by a brief session at the window, then quickly ripped away by a glance at the door. Chopin stating that Mrs. Mallard had heart problems proposed more than just a delicate telling of the death of her husband. It became much more than that. Even much more than what Josephine, Brently, and the doctors thought. Although this story seems very interesting and new to us it was far to familiar to women in the 19th century. Chopin used the gloomy wording and gave out the saddening feeling to help you understand the true context of the story. Now what just seemed like a short story, has so much meaning behind…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs Mallard Dynamic

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “Knowing that Mrs.Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death”(Chopin 278). This is the first sentence in “ The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and in this sentence we can tell an already broken women will be grieving. Mrs.Mallard is the protagonist of this story and as well as a dynamic character who is changing rapidly.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate Chopin’s non-fiction work “The Story of An Hour” gives a detailed account of what Mrs. Mallard feels after heartbreak. Mrs. Mallard is inflicted with heart trouble as her husband dies. She feels there are freedoms and opportunities for her to take advantage of along with the grievance of her husband’s death. These complex issues are accounted for in her brief characterization of her last hour of life. Ironically her husband did not pass away, but she still creates a tragic ending.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Story Of An Hour Analysis

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The author, Kate Chopin uses marriage to show how powerless women were compared to men during the late eighteen hundreds in her short story entitled, “The Story of An Hour “. At the beginning of the story the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard has a heart condition. Due to her illness, her sister Josephine and her husband's friend Richards has the hard task to tell Louise that her husband Brently Mallard has died in a train wreck. During this first hour Mrs. Mallard experiences the sorrow of her husband's death and the loneliness she would feel, but also the conflicting and exciting feelings of being able to feel alive and the freedom she will have in the future being alone without her husband.…

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Open Ended Ques

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Kate Chopin opens the story describing the scene to be one of epic emotion and made me believe that Mrs. Mallard was a woman madly in love with her husband; however as the story progresses the storyline changes. When Mrs. Mallard received the news of her husband and sat in the room alone and began whispering the words “Freedom” over and over again I realized that while yes she MAY have been in love with her husband, she felt a form of oppression by him. The narrator then continued and said that Mrs. Mallard did love Mr. Mallard, at certain times, but most of the times she did not. I believe the marriage was one in which the man demanded and commanded his wife to do a lot which in turn made Mrs. Mallard fall out of love with him.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs Mallard Oppression

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When she portrays Mrs. Mallard as "…young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength." (paragraph 8, line 1), she is telling a lot about the protagonist before the death of her husband. The words "whose lines bespoke repression" expose the fact that Mrs. Mallard has felt oppressed by her marriage, and the "certain strength" with which the writer describes Mrs. Mallard may make reference to the power the protagonist has had in order to be able to bear her marriage. In addition, in describing Mrs. Mallard behaviour after she has learned the news about her husband, Chopin uses metaphors, such as "…she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window." (paragraph 18, lines 1-2), to illustrate the happiness Mrs. Mallard is feeling now that Mr. Mallard has passed away. Another example of Mrs. Mallard behaviour can be seen in…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One major theme in Kate Chopin’s story is freedom. In the beginning of “The Story of an Hour” the scene opens up and we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard who has been told that her husband has died in a horrible train wreck. Mrs. Mallard reacts to this news like any other wife would. Yes, she is upset so she excuses herself and rushes off to her bedroom to be away from everyone who has come to see her. While in her room we as the reader see a completely different side of Mrs. Mallard. She in some sense is happy yet she is upset that her husband is dead. However she now…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics