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.
"There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself". She was so overwhelmed with happiness that when she found out her husband had never died she had literally died in an instant of “the joy that kills.” She so badly wanted to be free from her husband that she could not take in the fact that he was still alive so her reaction was death which is one way she will truly be free. The same ideas are explored in "The Yellow Wallpaper" where the narrator in the story is overwhelmed with feeling like a slave to their own husband and consumed by her own thoughts. She is trapped within her own mental processes constantly analyzing the "wallpaper" and connecting it with things in her life. In both of these stories each woman has a way to escape or try to make themselves feel "fulfilled"
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” is a statement on the oppression of women in the time during which the story was written. The first line of Chopin’s short story describes the fragility of the main character, Louise Mallard, and her ambiguous heart trouble (Chopin 176). The author writes, “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (176). By beginning the story this way, Chopin shows that Louise Mallard cannot be left responsible for her own emotions towards a massive event in her life. Rather, her feelings must be managed and controlled by those around her.
He is proud of her and shows it to the public, he is protective and he is loyal to her. This quote conveys “my child is yet a stranger in the world, she hath not seen change of fourteen years; Let two more summers wither in their pride, ere we may think her ripe to be bride.” This quote shows that he respects her and shows that he loves her and he tells Paris that she is too young to marry him. Later he changes his mind and wants her to marry Paris. But when Juliet refuses to marry Paris he then immediately grows angry as the head of the family he doesn’t like to be challenged. This quote suggests “Hang thee, young baggage, and disobedient wretch!
“A kind or cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as looked upon in in that brief moment of illumination.”(Chopin, 1894, p. 16) Daring to hope for another reality during that day and time by women was frowned upon. Mrs. Mallard herself did not know if the joy she felt at her husband’ death was good or bad, hopeful or wrong, she embraced it. “She did not stop to ask if were or were not a monstrous joy that held her.”(Chopin, 1894, p. 16) The dramatic irony the end of story provides a clue to this. Her brief joy at his death would not be murdered by his sudden appearance in the land of the living.
Amy Giarrusso Professor Boumarate ENC 1102 January 29,2012 Response to “The Story of an Hour” “The Story of an Hour,” is a short story written about a woman who thinks she lost her husband in a railroad disaster, and later finds out that he is alive and was not in the accident. Throughout the story the narrator uses great visual aids to explain the setting of the story. While reading the story, I was able to picture myself at the home of Mrs. Mallard, mourning the death of Mr. Mallard. In paragraph ten, when the narrator explains how Mrs. Mallard falls to the ground, I became slightly confused. 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.
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.
The Story of an Hour Essay "The Story of an Hour" is a short story written by Kate Chopin. It's about a woman named Louise, a sickly wife who briefly believes her husband is dead and imagines a whole new life of freedom for herself. To conclude, people long for freedom after a series of tragic events in their life. With these literal elements, symbolism and Imagery the reader can assume what the feeling was like when Louise was set free. Chopin uses Imagery to contrasts the series of emotions Louise Mallard endures while going through mixed emotions about her husband’s death.
It is only later on, however, when everyone finds out that the prophesy is true, her life becomes very miserable and it results in tragedy for herself and others. Though, Gertrude has no prophesies to help her, she too turns a blind eye to the truth that her new husband may have had something to do with her old husbands death. To protect her luxuries status as queen, she marries Claudius as soon as possible. “With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage” her husband remarks “In equal scale weighting delight and dole” (II.ii (12-13). The thing she is ignoring is that instead of being sad, Claudius is marrying her.
This leads her to the assertion that her husband will remarry and bring a stepmother to her children; even at this point, Bradstreet does not have much concern for her death as she does for her family. Since Bradstreet has an immense love for her family, she wants them to remember her in any positive manner possible. In lines 18-19, she wishes her family to have a worthwhile memory of her. In the poem, she also informs her husband, through iambic pentameter, that when he forgets their love, he should look at his children since they were Bradstreet’s last memory (lines 23-24). Although Bradstreet was afraid of death, it is obvious that she was more afraid of losing her family even after her demise.