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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay

1067 Words5 Pages

“The Story of an Hour” was composed by American author Kate Chopin in 1894. The short story depicts a period in time, specifically an hour, when Mrs. Mallard experiences a plethora of emotions after receiving the news of her husband’s death, which was assumed that he had died in a railroad disaster. Considering Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition, Mrs. Mallard’s sister strives to inform her of her husband’s death in a gentle manner to prevent the risk of heart failure. To cope with the devastating news, Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room and ironically becomes overjoyed to be “free.” However, her joy subsides as she discovers Mr. Mallard is alive after all and she dies of heart disease. Therefore, this short story indirectly emphasizes how women were suppressed in their marriages and wanted freedom, independence, and self-identity. A literary element which serves as great significance to the story is symbolism because it contributes to the actuality that Mrs. Mallard did not love her husband, but was only adhering to society’s norm. Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble serves as a symbol of anguish because as her heart is trapped inside her body, likewise, she feels oppressed in her marriage and is unhappy with the restricted freedom and lack of independence. After hearing about her husband’s death, she did not experience any heart trouble; however, you would expect her to since she lost her significant other. Instead, Mrs. Mallard was anticipating the new life of …show more content…

I want the poem to showcase how Mrs. Mallard truly feels about her husband from her perspective instead of a narrator’s. Therefore, I excluded the other characters who were included in the short story, Josephine and Richards. I still want to maintain the depressing mood of the short story to recreate the intensity of the plot within my poem. Also, I want to describe why Mrs. Mallard died and how she felt after her

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