Mrs. Mallard's Conformity
“The Story of an Hour” is one of Chopin’s most renowned short stories based on the usage of many different types of irony. This story is comprised of Mrs. Mallard who finds out about her husband’s untimely due to a tragic accident. Mrs. Mallard is devastated at first when she receives the news of her husband’s death; however, she quickly embraces the idea that she has the rest of her life to live in freedom without the ties of marriage. Ultimately, she finds out that her husband is alive and well when he walks through the front door, but Mrs. Mallard dies of heart disease and the shock that her husband returns home. The theme of conformity and rebellion is most prevalent throughout this story based on Mrs. Mallard’s embracing the idea of the …show more content…
Mallard’s death is inevitable, she rebels to societies standards by embracing her newfound freedom, which makes her character symbolic of women during this time period as well as the institution of marriage. Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble becomes an imperative symbol to her decision to rebel against society’s expectations as well as her emotional distress ultimately resulting in her demise. The heart is often a symbol of love as well as marriage, but we find in the first sentence of this story that Mrs. Mallard’s heart is periled with trouble both literally in a physical capacity as well as metaphorically in an emotional capacity. For example, Chopin states, “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble” which explains the reason that news of her husband’s death must be broken “gently” to her (Chopin). Thus, this symbol foreshadows the trouble that the marriage in this story was faced with which could explain why Mrs. Mallard decided to embrace and rejoice about her husband’s death rather than continuing to grieve. The theme of romantic love is stated explicitly because Mrs. …show more content…
Mallard embraces her newly gained independence when she goes into her room alone in the “comfortable, roomy chair,” which originally symbolizes her previous oppression as she sits and thinks of a future without her husband (Chopin). She is extremely upset to begin with, but then she moves forward to begin accepting her future when she describes the symbol of new spring life through her window. This spring life brings about many symbols, which include “patches of blue sky […] through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other” which represents the hope that Mrs. Mallard can see through the obstacles, or clouds, that have hindered her from experiencing this freedom at any moment before ( Chopin). Thus, Mrs. Mallard begins to see hope in this new life that she may lead without her marriage. She may now be an individual in society rather than being forced to live her husband’s shadow as many women of this time were forced to do. Furthermore, this hope that Mrs. Mallard finally experiences furthers her character’s representation of how oppressed women were in society during this time
Disappointment In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
814 Words | 4 PagesDisappointment "The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, presents an often unheard of view of marriage. Mrs. Louise Mallard, Chopin 's main character, experiences the exhilaration of freedom rather than the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband 's death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband, Brently, still lives, she know that all hope of freedom is gone. The crushing disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard. Published in the late eighteen hundreds, the oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour" may well be a reflection of, though not exclusive to, that era.
Story Of An Hour And Richard Cory
927 Words | 4 PagesSince Mrs. Mallard locked her door, no characters were able to enter her room and see what she was thinking and feeling. The reader knows that Mrs. Mallard did not die of joy; she died because she was shocked and upset to see her husband alive. The story also features situational irony. After reading the first line of the story that states, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble…” the reader may infer that Mrs. Mallard will be struggling with health issues throughout the story (167). However, that is not the case.
Feminism And Oppression In Kate Chopin's The Awakening
1365 Words | 6 PagesMallard acts when finding out about the death of her husband. She confines herself in order to process what the death of her husband really meant, “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (Chopin, 129). The death of her husband made her emotions feel different in a way she did not feel before. No woman should have to trapped inside of their own bodies and cannot act the way they want to without having to be judged.
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.
Women's Roles In The Awakening, By Kate Chopin
1505 Words | 7 PagesAt first, she is portrayed as a fragile, grieving widow, but we later learn that she is relieved. She becomes “free” now that her husband has passed. Ms. Mallard learns that she can finally regain control of her life and can embrace the freedom existing from Mr. Mallard’s death. She is depicted as joyous due to the passing of her husband. The joyous behavior and the use of the term “free”, shows a woman who felt captive in the role of wife.
The Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis
828 Words | 4 PagesMallard’s emotional journey. From her initial reluctance to her ultimate freedom, Mrs. Mallard reflects nature’s everchanging beauty. Chopin conducts a symphony of imagery that pieces together the life and death of Louise Mallard. It is evident that Chopin uses Louise Mallard’s story to convey her perception of women and men’s roles during the late 1800’s by showcasing her acceptance of the freedom that could only be gained by a single woman. The descriptions used in Chopin’s work are a marvelous representation of her character’s struggle with inner conflicts.
How Does Kate Chopin Use Symbols In The Story Of An Hour
1025 Words | 5 PagesMallard of her husbands death, Chopin writes "It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing" (194). Chopin conceals the verbiage Josephine uses to announce the death of Mr. Mallard to protect not only Mrs. Mallard's heart from the trauma of delivering the difficult news, but to protect the reader as well. Mrs. Mallard suffers not only from a physical heart condition, but an emotional heart condition also. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard's "heart trouble" (194) symbolically. Her heart condition represents the unhappiness and mixed feelings of her marriage and the lack of freedom she experiences throughout her marriage.
Literary Terms And Narrative Elements: The Story Of An Hour
1330 Words | 6 PagesMallard’s death is a combination of her heart condition and becoming suddenly over-happy at the sight of her husband. This is ironic because the real reason for Mrs. Mallard’s death is the opposite. It is a combination of her weak heart and extreme sudden sadness and shock. Everyone thinks she was still overcome with sadness from his death when really she was finally happy that she could look forward to a long, independent life, living just for herself. Then when she discovered that her husband was really alive they thought she was so overcome with joy that she died when really she became extremely sad again because she was back where she had been before the incident.
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”.
The Tone Of Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
614 Words | 3 PagesComparing the Tones of “The Story of an Hour” In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour,” the main character is conflicted by news that her husband has died in a railroad accident. Chopin’s detail and diction portrays not only the tone of weakness but also the tone of overjoyment. The reader feels a sense of understanding towards the main character’s sense of freedom and her frightfulness of people realizing that she is happy that her husband has passed.
Similes In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
780 Words | 4 PagesThis story connects to modern day issues because some women are actually being oppressed by their husband or significant other and feel a strong sense of freedom when they pass away. In this analysis there are four main literary devices that are used to illustrate the theme which are metaphors, irony, foreshadows, and similes. The theme that kate chopin used to idntfy the story line is a womens freedom. In this quote, “’Body and soul free!’”, Mrs. Mallard verbally recognizes her freedom now that her husband has died, and it is important to the story because it highlights her true feelings about her husband. Mrs. Mallard felt oppressed physically and spiritually by her husband to the point that his death has resulted in her freedom and happiness.
Symbols In The Storm
398 Words | 2 PagesMallard’s life now that her husband has passed. Spring represents rebirth, hope and growth, all of which she can now experience with her newfound freedom. Looking through her window, Chopin specifies the comfortable, roomy armchair Mrs. Mallard sinks into, this represents the rest from her oppressive life and societal expectations she is now free from; she is no longer restricted. In a similar way Ibsen uses symbolism to represent Nora’s oppression and freedom as well. The tarantella dance which Torvald insists she does represents Nora’s frustrations with being oppressed over matters that wouldn’t be an issue if she were a man.
Story Of An Hour Response Essay
2340 Words | 10 PagesMallard has a heart problem (Chopin 128); this will become important as she later dies “of heart disease” (Chopin 129) which makes a pattern as the story both starts and ends the story. Because of Mrs. Mallard’s heart problem, both Josephine and Richards tried to break the news as gentle as possible. So Josephine told her “in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing” (Chopin 128) about her husband’s death. The way Josephine tried to convey this message shows that it should have had a longer effect than the short moment she cried “with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (Chopin
Feminism In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour
951 Words | 4 PagesFrom this part we can find that women seem determined to be fragile and hopeless when facing some desperate situations, and women couldn’t live without their husband since their fate is in their husband’s hand. Although Mrs. Mallard do have some of the common reactions with the “other women”, she still have something more precious – her independence and strong in her inner
Story Of An Hour Critical Analysis
1346 Words | 6 PagesWe think that the form of the “Imaginary” mentioned in Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory of Mrs. Mallards family and friends “imagining” that the devastated new of Mr. Mallard’s death would cause her a heart attack, however later on in the story it was mentioned that she was in fact relieved to know she was a free woman of her marriage. Consequently, the reality of Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, perceptions and feelings were not the same as others may have assumed or imagined to be. Based on stereotypical standards of society this was misunderstood because a wife should feel an enormous pain for the death of her husband. As the story continues, when Josephine whose Mrs. Mallard’s sister told her about the death of Mr. Mallard, instead of reacting in shock as “many women would’ve (Chopin, The Story of an Hour)” done so, Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.
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