The theme of “The Story of an Hour” seems to have a strong theme of repression and a grave desire for freedom. Without directly saying so Chopin suggest Mrs Mallard is trapped by her husband. The character is referred to as only Mrs.Mallard whereas her husband is addressed by his first name, Brentley. Mrs Mallard only gets the courtesy of her first name after she hears of her husbands death, when she feels most free for that hour. Yet as soon as her husband returns she is referred to only as wife.
Each symbol serves to bring a new dimension of meaning to the story and create an increasingly intricate level of semantic detail. Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition is immediately recognized in the story as her sister Josephine and family friend Richard are cautious to break the news of her husbands sudden death. Much to the reader’s surprise, however, Mrs. Mallard’s secret triumphant behavior is soon advertised, revealing an insight into the marriage of these two characters. Louise briefly speaks of the moment she will first see the body of her husband. Although she dreads this inevitable scene, it quickly vanished from her mind as she is filled with positive thoughts of a new beginning.
When Louise got the new of her husbands death she started crying at once in her sisters arms. But what her sister, Josephine did not know is that Louise was crying out of happiness that she was finally free of her mundane, mediocre life chained down by her husband. The whole story seemed to be based on irony, situational and dramatic. Using situational irony we finally knew Mr. Mallard wasn’t really dead. Another is that Louise
In addition, we know she is fragile when we are told, “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death”(Chopin 573). In my opinion, Louise’s marriage was bringing her down and making her character feel old. Again, I feel sympathy for Louise due to the struggles she had with herself and her marriage. Chopin portrays Louise as a prisoner of her husband. This was not strange at the time Chopin was writing the story.
Mrs. Mallard had her sister and her husband’s friend Richard to share the grief with her; she chose to be alone in her room as stated by Chopin in this passage: “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.” (Chopin, 1894). Although Mrs. Mallard loved her husband dearly, but she was not happy in the relationship. She felt that her husband was running her life, because he was imposing his decisions on her. By ignoring the grief she was going through, Mrs. Mallard was already thinking of the life ahead of her.
Themes Though it is a remarkably short piece of fiction, “The Open Window” explores a number of important themes. Mr. Nuttel comes to the country in an attempt to cure his nervous condition. He pays a visit to the home of Mrs. Sappleton in order to introduce himself, and before he gets to meet the matron of tha house, he is intercepted by her niece, who regales him with an artful piece of fiction that, in the end, only makes his nervous condition worse. Appearances and Reality It is no surprise that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece tells a story that is easy to believe. She begins with an object in plain view, an open window, and proceeds from there.
In the beginning she is bitter towards her, and isn't afraid to show it no matter what her dad thinks. Later on, she starts to regret her past words and says, "Several times I came across letters dealing with the subject "mummy" in such a hotheaded way and I was quite shocked" (pg 127). Anne begins to rethink her childish remarks and realizes what her relationship towards her mother lacks and learns to accept it instead of changing it. She becomes more tolerant with her mother and makes most of the little relationship they have. Little is exactly what Anne thinks of Peter in the beginning of her diary.
We will sum up the key argument and the perception of women before the 20th century. In ‘The Story of an Hour,’ Louise Mallard has a heart condition, and she must be told of her husband’s death with great care and compassion. Her sister, Josephine, tells her the news along with Mr. Mallard’s good friend, Richards, who had learned of the death while at a newspaper facility. Mrs. Mallard begins to weep as she is told of her husband’s death and goes upstairs to her room. While in her room she discovers a scary feeling that had come across her and does not know how to take it.
Mrs. Mallard suffers from heart problems; therefore, her sister attempts to inform her. When she learnt about this, she busted into tears and went upstairs to stay along for some time. But then the strange and firstly unwilling feeling of absolute joy and freedom seized her. She understood that she loves this freedom much more then she used to love her husband. The story end suddenly and unexpectedly: she descended the stairs and saw her husband safe and sound staying at the doors.
Nicholas Hrebien English 103, Section CU04 Story of an Hour The “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a remarkable actuality of self-understanding. It demonstrates on a women's discrepant distinctiveness, which were constrained because of the time period. The passage that was chosen deals with two themes, the first being mortality, and the second being freedom and confinement. The parallel structure of this sentence almost seems to imply that Mrs. Mallard is "no one"' there's "no one to live for" so "she will live for herself." In each part of the sentence, the verb used is the same, so "no one" and "herself" occupy the same relationship.