Theme Of Freedom In The Story Of An Hour
Death of Freedom
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin begins as a heart-wrenching tale about a wife losing her husband to a railroad accident. The main character, Mrs. Mallard, has an awful heart condition, so her family has to be extremely cautious when breaking the horrible news to her. After moments of weeping, she makes her way upstairs where she will go through many emotional changes. The theme of freedom and self-realization is shown through Mrs. Mallard. After dealing with pain for years, she comes to a point of peace, relaxation, and, most importantly, hope.
In Mrs. Mallard’s room, she immediately sits down restlessly in a comfortable chair. Kate Chopin explains this motion as “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (Mays 524). By analyzing this quote, one can see that Mrs. Mallard is facing a strong magnitude of pain because she says it reaches down into her very soul. She feels hollow and empty without her husband. After she sits down in the chair, she brings her head up and looks out an open window. This window symbolizes her life and her mind beginning to open and becoming free. Through this window, she sees birds, blue skies, and new spring life. After such a traumatic situation,
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Mallard thinks of life without her husband, the more she enjoys the idea. She is a “goddess of victory” which means she now has self-possession (Mays 525). She is free from the relentless hold her husband has had over her for so long, and just like goddesses, she is strong and independent. Mrs. Mallard is now at the point of contentment. She has hope for the future and is excited about making her own decisions in life. The whole time that Mrs. Mallard has been having this realization, her sister has been knocking at the door. So, she, feeling like a new woman, makes her way downstairs. To her complete shock, there was her husband, Brently Mallard, standing in the doorway. Mrs. Mallard died
Side Of Marriage In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
938 Words | 4 PagesWith this belief Mrs. Mallard now looks forward to a long life. Previously to her husband’s death she dreaded the years ahead spent under the thumb of her husband. Now, though, Mrs. Mallard is someone who has much to look forward to and many joys to appreciate. Soon this opportunity is taken from her, just as her chance of freedom is taken from her she learns that Brently is still alive. When Mrs. Mallard sees Brently walk through the front door, the disappointment and the devastation of loss that she suffers cause her heart
Literary Analysis Of Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
913 Words | 4 PagesChopin also describes Mrs. Mallard as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength”. At the beginning Mrs. Mallard is thought of as being controlled, and weak. In the 19th Century, when this story was written, husbands controlled their wives. Perhaps Mrs. Mallard wasn’t like most women of her time. After she hears of her husband’s death she morns for what feels like only a moment.
My Bondage And My Freedom Frederick Douglass Literary Analysis
616 Words | 3 PagesThe reader soon discovers, this feeling that comes to Mrs. Mallard is joy and relief, she feels this because she can now finally be her own person. Mrs. Mallard comes to the realization that her husband had been oppressing her for years, “There would be no powerful will bending..”, and she was finally free of that. Before the passing of her husband, Mrs. Mallard was scared of living a long life because of the treatment she received from him. After his passing she had a much different outlook, “There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself.” This shows that Mrs. Mallard was excited to now live her own life without being told what she was to do.
Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay
755 Words | 4 Pages“The Story of an Hour” is written by Kate Chopin. The main character in this story is Louise Mallard, a married woman in the 19th century who has a heart defect, she receives news that her husband died in an accident. After hearing the news of her husband she goes into solitude into her room where she finds herself not has sad about her husband but feeling some relief that she can live her own life and gains a new sense of freedom that she will have in the later days to come. This is where the theme of freedom comes in, this is seen using many literary elements throughout the story some of these would be foreshadowing, irony, and symbols to show Mrs. Mallard new- found freedom from her “late” husband.
Louise Mallard In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
1200 Words | 5 PagesIn “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, after hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s emotions did not portray sadness or despair instead she was relieved and rejoiced. Even though Mrs. Mallard admits that her husband was kind and loving, she feels joy after hearing the news of her husband’s death that she will no longer be known as Mrs. Mallard. Although it was acknowledged in the story that Louise Mallard loved Bentley Mallard, we can tell by the statement “had never looked save with love upon her,” (Chopin, 1894), the favor was not returned. The main theme we see in this story is the oppression of marriage. Death of her husband shows that Mrs. Mallard finally has freedom.
Story Of An Hour Character Analysis Essay
940 Words | 4 PagesIn Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.
The Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis
828 Words | 4 PagesMallard reaches a sense of exuberant liberation. She is overwhelmed with feelings of a newfound freedom. Chopin illustrates this burst of hope once again through nature imagery when she writes, “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air”(Chopin 237). Though Mrs. Mallard tries, she cannot fight the growing sense of freedom that overtakes her. Chopin writes this change as a powerful realization that Mrs. Mallard cannot help but accept.
Why Did Kate Chopin Write A Story Of An Hour
897 Words | 4 PagesKate Chopin wrote a story about Mrs. Mallard, a married woman who suffers from heart problems and also has to cope with her husband recent passing. Mrs.Mallard, she showed sincere grief about her husband passing. However, looking back at how controlling her husband Mr.Mallard were in their marriage, Mrs.Mallard felt a sudden joy when processing her husband death After her sudden emotional change, Mrs Mallard felt liberated when she started thinking about what her life would be like without Mr.Mallard, but regardless of the happiness she feels, she knows that once she sees her husband in corpse that sadness will return. Through her writing, author Chopin readers/ audience would be women who feel trapped and controlled in their marriage. Anger, loneliness and heartbroken are feelings that women who're coping with the death of their loved one feel.
Male Dominance In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
558 Words | 3 Pages" she kept whispering. The diction that is being used by Mrs.Mallard shows how she is actually feeling about the death of her husband. Mrs. Mallard feels as if she will be free now, freer than she was before since her husband’s death. This provides evidence of male dominance in a patriarchy through diction by Mrs.Mallard stating that she is ready to start a new life right after her husband passes away and the fact she states her body and soul are
Story Of An Hour Symbolism Essay
1054 Words | 5 PagesThe Everlasting Symbols of Irony “When the Doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - - of the joy that kills.” (Chopin 4). The Story of an Hour is a short story published by Kate Chopin that consists of a woman who was diagnosed with a heart disease and appears to present a rather complex relationship with her husband who was presumed to be killed in a work-based accident.
Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis
1096 Words | 5 PagesChopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself, and she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her. During the late nineteenth century, women quite frequently had to suppress themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin successfully uses vivid imagery, point of view, and irony that gives a different view of marriage that is not typical of today.
Self-Identity And Freedom In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin
770 Words | 4 PagesKate Chopin introduces her main character as “Mrs. Mallard” to signify her being married. However, within her marriage, she loses herself. Being married, she took her husband’s last name and became a wife. In a way it changed her personality. She was no longer her own self, she was someone else’s “property”.
Literary Criticism In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
1124 Words | 5 PagesUniversidad de Costa Rica Carlos Contreras Flores B01884 Literary Criticism The Story of an Hour Divided in Two Millenniums Throughout human history, literature has giving people an insight of what the role of women were in different time periods. In most scenarios, literature has served to establish or spot the role of women as secondary, where they were mere subjects or objects of chauvinism. Although the role changes from time to time, it has one particular characteristic, which is the restraining of their liberty or right to choose. In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin illustrates throughout the character’s fate the only way to escape from the gender role that women were meant to have at 19th century. She achieves
Confinement And Freedom In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
918 Words | 4 PagesKate Chopin informs the reader of an important note about Mrs. Mallard: “And yet she had loved him–sometimes. Often she had not” (Para. 15). This woman was not a woman of companionship; she would thrive on being single. However, considering the story’s setting, she would have hit rock bottom if she never chose to marry. Failing to find a husband could have resulted in her living in poverty and dying in extremely poor conditions.
Story Of An Hour Critical Analysis
1346 Words | 6 Pages(Chopin, the Story of an Hour)” It would be prudent to believe by the way Mrs. Mallard was crying that indeed she was devastated about her husband’s tragic death.
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