In the stories of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore, a lot of dramatic irony is used. This is illustrated in both stories because both of the women in each story really didn’t have a clue of what was really going on. For the reader in both of the stories, one can clearly understand through works of the author that the reader knows more than the characters. This will keep the reader in tune because he, or she will want to see how the characters find out what the reader already knows.
Situational irony, dramatic irony, and verbal irony are used in stories like “The Cask Of Amontillado”, and “The Story of an Hour” to express emotion, make a story more interesting, and give a true meaning to a story. Situational irony was used in the stories “The Story of an Hour”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Sniper” to add surprise and express the unexpected. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the wife, Mrs.Mallard, just received the news her husband died and she went into a room and stared out the window. When she did this the author said “ she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (Chopin 2). The situational irony in this is that we, as the readers, thought she would feel revitalized and ready to take on the world, but she dies on the next page.
The Story of an Hour Watch out for that train! In the year of 1884, a time where men were in power and women would be forced into marriage. Mrs.Mallard wife of Mr.Mallard finds out her husband was killed in a train accident. With her sister and his friend Richards telling her she goes to “weep” in her bedroom. She then sits on her chair looking out to the new world brought by spring thinking to herself “free,free,free!”
At 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 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.
“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.
In the story, “The Story of an Hour.” , you can find many examples of irony. From situational, to dramatic, there is a bunch of irony. One of the most scene pieces of irony, is the death of Louise’s husband. When her husband is found dead at a train accident she isn’t sad, she is actually happy.
In the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband’s death, which she initially feels sad about but later sees beyond the bitter moment and feels joyous and free instead. In the end, Mr. Brently Mallard surprisingly enters, alive and well, while Mrs Mallard dies of shock and “happiness”. During these events, the three types of irony ( situational, verbal and dramatic) are prevalent and demonstrated.. Firstly, the short story has many instances that display situational irony. For example, Mrs. Mallard is sorrowful once she finds out about her husband’s passing.
Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.
In 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.
There are two important symbols in Kate Chopin’s “The story of an hour.” This story’s main character is Mrs. Mallard. She had a heart trouble and Josephine and Richards told her that her husband died indirectly and they considered Mallard’s heart trouble. However, this news was not true. Her husband was alive.
Every person has the right to be and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive.
When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”
Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.
Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”
