The Story of an Hour - Kate Chopin

Keven Long

Professor Han

MLA Paper

17 November 2015

“The Story of an Hour” Research Paper

        In the short story “The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin uses many literary terms such as imagery and symbolism. She also uses various symbols and motifs in the short story. Chopin tells us in the beginning of the story that Mrs. Mallard has heart problems which foreshadows to the end where she dies of heart disease. She uses symbols such as the open window in her room, and the fact that Mrs. Mallard has heart troubles.

        In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard receives news that her husband has died in a tragic train accident. When she hears the news of course she weeps uncontrollably and wants to be alone, so she goes up the stairs and into her room. When she gets there she is still crying and looks out the window. She starts to try and cope with the terrible news that she has just received and when she does she starts to think about what that means for her. Mrs. Mallard soon realizes that this means that she is free to live her life for her and only her. Kate Chopin states that Mrs. Mallard kept repeating the same words and that “She said it over and over under the breath: "free, free, free!"”

        This story took place in the nineteenth century when Mrs. Mallard would have been obligated to marry Mr. Mallard. Kate Chopin writes this short story as sort of an insight to the nineteenth century to show that women really had no choice in marriage. Women in this time period would marry at a very young age, which shows that Mrs. Mallard would have went straight from being under her dads rule to Mr. Mallards rule. This shows that Mrs. Mallard would not have been able to live life for herself. This is why when she hears the news of her husbands death, at first she is distraught but she soon realizes that she now has the chance to live life for herself and for nobody else. In the short story Kate Chopin states that when Mrs. Mallard walks out of her room “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.”

        When Mrs. Mallard is in her room Kate Chopin uses an abundance of imagery as Mrs. Mallard is looking out the window.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window. (Chopin)

This imagery symbolizes Mrs. Mallards freedom and good fortune that she is now presented with. As Mrs. Mallard looks out the window she begins to realize that she is free. She begins to realize that she can now live her life for her. Mrs. Mallard say’s “It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” (Chopin).  In this she is saying that with her husband she did not want to live a long life. Mrs. Mallard also states earlier in the story that “she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not.” (Chopin). Mrs. Mallard did not love her husband but she was trapped. In this time she could not get a divorce, or leave her husband. She had to stay with him forever. That is why when she heard of her husbands death she was only sad for a little before she realized that she is now free.

        When Mrs. Mallard is looking out of the window she sees something reaching out for her, and she doesn’t know whether to be fearful or accepting. “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.” (Chopin). When Mrs. Mallard aloud it in and accepted it, it represents her rebirth. This rebirth opened her eyes to what the future could hold.

        When Mrs. Mallard comes down stairs to see that her husband had just walked through the door she collapses and dies. The doctors say that she died of heart disease, but I think that she died because she had so much hope and joy for the future to come. And when she saw her husband everything just crashed and burned right in front of her. Everything that she had to live for was gone. It was too many ups and downs for her to take in such a short amount of time. This was foreshadowed in the beginning of the story when Kate Chopin state’s “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.” This tells us that later on in the story Mrs. Mallard is going to die of heart troubles. It is also ironic because as Mrs. Mallard is leaving her room she says a little prayer to make her life longer knowing that her husband is dead. She is excited to see what the future holds for her. When she sees her husband all of this joy, and triumph is gone. All of this excitement to see what the future holds for her is gone. Everything that she is now joyful for is gone. She goes from her lowest to low, to her highest high, to her lowest low. This was too much for her to handle.