Self-Identity and Freedom The story of an hour by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to her husband’s death. In this short story, Chopin portrays the complexity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as she is saddened yet joyful of her loss. Kate Chopin’s story argues that an individual discovers their self-identity only after being freed from confinement. The story also argues that freedom is a very powerful force that affects the mental or emotional state of a person. Chopin argues that only through death can one be finally freed.
Mrs. Mallard has no children and she is unhappy in the couple. The scene opens up, “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 13). The opening sentence of the story foreshadows the
Mrs. Mallard has, in a very short time, realized the world is a wonderful place and that she can live in it anyway she chooses. She gains freedom, independence, individuality, and a whole host of things to look forward to in life. When Brently walks in the door, though, Mrs. Mallard knows that she will have to spend the rest of her life as no more than his wife does, just as she had been. She knows that she will never be free. This is too much for Mrs. Mallard to handle.
When I first began to read and analyze” The story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard seemed to be an older woman and as we were informed in the very first line, Mrs. Mallard was troubled with a heart issue. As I furthered continued to read, I discovered she was a young woman and it through me for a loop. I think that Chopin is showing us a social situation of the times when women feels as prisoner in a marriage. We(women) all has dreams of becoming a wife to our knight and shining honor but once we get “our knight and shining honor”, it isn’t always what we have dreamed of. Kate Chopin 's, "The Story of an Hour," is a very written short piece of fiction.
The characters in Kate Chopin’s stories are either dynamic an or static because each woman has their own personality. One of the woman’s finds her inner self after the tragic accident of her husband, the other woman just relieves the past but does not have any major change in her character. The last woman her personality came out and had to deal with temptation. Kate Chopin’s “Story of an hour” Mrs. Mallard is a dynamic character due to the fact that a transformation to her character had occurred when she found out about her husband’s death. She received the news from her sister, “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin).
Chopin captures the complete essence of the moment in the following quote; “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (Chopin). The fact that Louise envisions these years free of her husband in such a positive light ultimately suggests that she was oppressed by the marriage. Louise is also described as "a goddess of Victory" when she emerges from her room, illuminating this epiphany as the high point in Louise’s
In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" we go through an hour of Mrs. Mallard's life as she learns of her husband's death and embraces the freedom this brings forth. This new-found freedom is short lived as the sight of her allegedly dead husband walks through the front door, Mrs. Mallard succumbs to her death immediately. This story, although it is short, it is deeply symbolic, filled with irony that is used to achieve major themes of freedom and societal views. Mrs. Mallard's heart condition is used as a symbol of the way society views women. Women tend to be viewed as delicate, emotionally and physically.
It is apparent that the narrator is aware of more than can be physically observed. Chopin, however, by no means, tells the audience what Mrs. Mallard is feeling inside. Instead, the audience has to investigate Mrs. Mallard 's actions and words in order to apprehend what Mrs. Mallard feels. Mrs. Mallard is once again returned to her marriage. The lines on her face "bespoke repression" (Paragraph 8).
Maturity of Kate Chopin’s “Ripe Figs” The author Kate Chopin is a woman born in the 1800’s who wrote about individuality of women and understanding a woman’s viewpoint during this time. How women were perceived back in the 19th century culturally and economically was as if they were property to be owned by anyone who pleases. An analysis of Chopin’s, “Ripe Figs” will show the use of theme through: religion, patience, and maturity by relating the maturity process to the seasons of the year and the ripening of the figs. The first theme that Kate Chopin provides an image of is patience. One way Chopin show’s patience in her writing is through her usage of comparing Maman-Nainaine to Babette.
What did it matter!” shows that although Mrs. Mallard was married, she had not always loved her husband (8). Mrs. Mallard valued her new freedom over her relationship she had with her husband enough to exclaim “What did it matter!” while she was thinking about her deceased husband and her future life (8). This makes the reader assume that Mrs. Mallard felt as if she was bound to something while her husband was still alive. The bondage is broken since her husband’s “death”, and she can now rejoice over her prolonged freedom. This next quote, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.