Leslie Knox Ms. Baldwin English 3/ Period 6 2 March 2013 The Story of an Hour Essay In the story, The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, there is a woman with a heart condition that receives bad news. She deals with thenews in a different way than most people would. At first she js sad, but then she realizes she is happy. At the end of the storythere is a major twist. The woman, Mrs. Mallard, is told by her sister Josephine and her husbands friend Richards, that her husband Brently Mallard has been killed in a railroad accodent at work.
It is also clear that dramatic irony is a part of the story. Louise dies from the shock of seeing her husband who is supposed to be dead. The doctors say she died from "the joy that kills." We know Louise was the furthest thing from joy when she saw Mr. Mallard. When Louise got the new of her husbands death she started crying at once in her sisters arms.
Any sudden stress, rage, grief, excitement can lead to a sudden cardiac death (Lecomte, 1996). Mrs. Mallard’s character did not have a happy childhood either. Her soul had many scars that increased with the time and controlled life with her husband. When Josephine and Richard shared the news of Mrs. Mallard’s husband’s death, they kept Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition in mind. 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.
Literary essay The story of an Hour The loss of one’s spouse is surely a terrible thing. To lose the one you love, and to become a widow must be heart-breaking. But can the death of a woman’s husband lead to freedom? In “The story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin we meet a woman whose husband has tragically died in a railroad disaster. The story is about a widow, and how she handles the death of her husband.
It wasn’t until the second time I read the story that I realized Mrs. Mallard was relieved when she heard the news of her husband` s death. The actions and words Mrs. Mallard portrayed proved this point. The author leaves the reader to almost make a story of their own by leaving out details and allowing the reader to add their own. To prove this, in the beginning of the short story, the reader gets the impression that this woman is going to be extremely upset that her husband has died in a train accident. Her closest friends and family come to her to easily break the news of her husband` s recent death.
She is a middle aged woman with heart trouble, and bad news was about to come her way of the “possible death of her husband” (Chopin, 1894, para.1). Mrs. Mallard was a lady who was possibly controlled in her life by her husband. “When hearing the news of the death, she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in Josephine’s arms” (Chopin, 1894, para.3). I can feel the attachment that she had with her husband, but wept once also shows maybe some antipathy. Mrs. Mallard made her way to her room and stared out her window to watch her new life take fold.
Body and soul free” (169-170). Louise’s celebration of her husband’s death ends when she leaves her bedroom to be with her sister again. Suddenly they hear someone turning a key in the front door and they turn to see Brently Mallard, Louise’s husband. Louise was so shocked of her husband’s arrival that she, having prior heart trouble, has a heart attack brought on by “joy that kills”, or so the doctors said (170). Chopin uses quite a bit of figurative language in her story; two of the best examples are Louise’s heart trouble and the open window in her bedroom.
They both fear that when they tell Louise the news of the wreck that killed her husband, Louise may become very sick. Richard and Josephine feel they need to deliver the news with great care and caution. . At first we think that Louise is very upset over the news that her husband had been killed in a train wreck; however we are told that she realizes the freedom she might have if she is no longer tied down to her husband. Louise keeps repeating to herself “free, free, free.” The very first action we are told about that Louise performs describes as unusual by Chopin.
The condition is introduced at the opening of the story. It is said that “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death,” (215) to keep the grief from affecting her heart. In the end of the story the doctors say Louise died of a heart disease and ironically they said she died from overwhelming joy. However, it seems that Louise actually died from losing the joy that she had just gained. It could also be thought of as a broken heart because of her new freedom being taken away from her.
Freedom in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an hour” “The secret of happiness is freedom” - Carrie Jones 2008, Need. The short story “The Story of an Hour” clearly illustrates this quote in this story. That happiness is the key to freedom. One major theme in Chopin’s story is freedom. In the beginning of the story, Mr. Mallard receives devastating news that her husband has died in a railroad disaster.