Is marriage a prison? According to Kate Chopin, the answer is – yes; marriage is a prison in which freedom does not exist. In 1894, Kate Chopin wrote and published “Story of an Hour.” The story takes place in the late nineteenth century in an American home, where Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist, heard about the news of her husband’s death from her sister. In the beginning, Mrs. Mallards felt sad about her husband’s death. The feeling, however, shifts because she begins to be happy about her husband’s death.
Like any other typical wife Louise became upset that this tragic event occurred to her husband; because Brently was a kind man and loving husband. At the same time, Ms. Mallard gets a feel of relief because she yearns for independence from her marriage, to feel free from oppression and fulfill her dreams of freedom. Ms. Mallard has heart problems which we learn at beginning of the story, she becomes excited when she finds out about the death of her husband. When Louise looks upon her situation as a new woman she becomes filled with joy and has a new outlook. This gets Ms.Mallards weak heart flows blood pumps again which was previously unheard of because of her heart condition.
The Story of an Hour Essay The character of focus in the “ The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard, is described as a young, innocent women with a newly found inner-happiness and sense of freedom as a result of the death of her husband and the end of her demanding marriage. Kate Chopin uses symbolism and irony to develop the character of Louise Mallard throughout the short story. Included within the short story is symbolism, mostly dark due to the death of her husband. The symbolism shows the feelings of the character, her mood, and it foreshadows future events. For example, heart trouble is symbolic for love pain.
They loved each other; she made him feel better even though his mother died which was the reason why he married her; because she made him feel less lonely after his mother’s death. But later on in their marriage, Zeena became sick right before Ethan was about to start a new life with her outside the town of Starkfield. Her illness made their lives miserable. Ethan was bound to stay with her and in the town for a long time. Mattie, Zeena’s relative and had just moved to Starkfield with Zeena and Ethan to help Zeena out while Ethan goes and works during the day.
She also seemed to be a proud person by nature, and her happiness came with her fulfillment. After her death, the author lets the reader into the “secrets” of the story. “She would sit with him on her knee, her arms around him and holding the page flat with her hand” This leaves the reader shocked because of the difference between the two relations; the one right before she died, and the one when he was a child. “The girl in the photograph was young and had dark, dark hair scraped severely back and tied like a knotted rope on the top of her head”. This description of the aunt when she was young probably suggests that she felt a loss for her
In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard has a “heart trouble” that apparently needs to be watched to some extent because Chopin wrote, “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 516). Though the reader is never really informed of what exact type of heart problem she has, the problem is influential enough to be
Although she dreads this inevitable scene, it quickly vanished from her mind as she is filled with positive thoughts of a new beginning. She is described as: opening her arms and welcoming the many years that would belong to her absolutely. This character development gives great clarity to the dysfunctional and unhealthy marriage between Louise and Brently Mallard. Audiences are lead to believe that the existing heart condition endured by Mrs. Mallard is symbolic of a dreaded lifestyle that she is anxious to escape. The setting of this story remains consistent taking place mainly in Mrs. mallard’s upstairs bedroom.
Mallard and her husband to me seem like she loved him but was not in love with him. The story talks about certain situations that she must live thought like the death of her husband. The reader would think that by hearing the news that Mr. Mallard had been killed, Mrs. Mallard would be upset and hurt, instead she felt liberated and free to live her live as she please. It seems that once she found out that her husband was dead that now she could finally live for herself establish her own identity. Mrs. Mallard cried but it was not tears of sorrow, it was tears of joy.
Critical Analysis to Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” allows one to explore the ironic situation in which a woman unpredictably feels free after her husband’s assumed death. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard’s bizarre story to illustrate the marital problems that were inherent in marriages in the early 19th century. In “The Story of an Hour,” the main character, Mrs. Mallard, celebrates the death of her husband, yet, Chopin challenges readers of all backgrounds, gender, age, and cultural societies to analyze, question and criticize the behavior of Mrs. Mallard during the-time-of-her-’loving’-husband’s-assumed-death. Chopin portrays the stereotypical marriage Mrs. Mallard endured during the 19th century. It was the kind of marriage that established boundaries between men and women and consisted of a lack in communication between the marital partners.
(Clugston, 2010) Upon receiving news about the death of her husband, Mrs. Millard struggles with unpredictable emotions and shows moderate reaction towards her husband death. She isolates herself from friends and family as well as, shows signs of psychological abuse. “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment in her sister arm” “When the storm was over she went away to her room alone’. (Clugston, 2010) Kate then takes the reader on a journey and provides specific symbolic tools enabling the reader to take a deeper look in the thought of Mrs. Millard’s repressed issues, “Except, when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams”. (Clugston, 2010) In the paraphrase, one can begin to observe the symbolic connection between manifestation and reality.