The Story of an Hour
Summary
The short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin was written in 1894. In the beginning of the story, we discover that Mrs. Louise Mallard has a heart condition, but she is also said to be young. Which to me seemed odd, but I overlooked this detail so that I could continue the story. Mrs. Mallard’s sister Josephine and Mrs. Mallard’s husband friend Richard came to her house to break the news of the death of her husband in a railroad disaster.
They tried to tell her the news gently, because of her condition. To them she seemed to react how a new widow should. She wept and collapsed in her sisters’ arms, before running to her room to be alone. This is where the story soon takes a turn. There in her room, she was actually crying because of happiness of the death rather than sadness. Her sister thinks Mrs. Mallard is making herself sick. In the final paragraphs, Mrs. Mallard leaves her bedroom, when her husband walks into the front door, Mrs. Mallard than passes away at the sight of her husband. Structure/ Key Terms The Story of an Hour” was told in the 3rd person point of view, which enables the readers to have a better view and understanding of the story. I noticed Kate Chopin used quite a bit of symbolism in the story as well. For instance, Mrs. Mallard welcomes the new spring life through the window of her room. This symbolizes a new beginning of her new life without her husband. The tone is ironically relief and joy, despite the news of death. One would think that sadness and instability would be the tone. However, Chopin uses specific language and details to portray otherwise.
My thoughts of the story “…the present story is not only brief and clear but also compelling and complex, and it easily lends itself to a variety of critical approaches” (R. C. Evans, 2001). This story was very captivating. I was able to use my imagination to see the characters in full form. Kate Chopin, author of the story went into great detail to portray the setting in the story as well as the tone. At first glance, I thought the tone set for this story was sad and depressing. But I soon realized it was more of relief and happiness.
I couldn’t help but to be swept away to this time period and feel as if I were witnessing the situation first hand. At first I couldn’t help but to feel a sense of sadness for Louise Mallard. I mean she had just lost her husband. But I soon realized when she fled to her room, that I felt relieved with her. I felt the empowerment with Louise Mallard. Kate Chopin goes into great detail describing the feeling and emotions that come over Mrs. Mallard after she escapes to her room. Chopin describes the scenery outside of Mrs. Mallard’s window to be spring in full bloom. These details provide a look at Mrs. Mallard’s new life without her husband. She was relieved that he had passed away. She was “free, free, free! ” (Clugston, 2010, Chopin, 1894). Later, Chopin goes into more detail on how Mrs. Mallard is feeling, in the following paragraphs. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow–creature.
A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination. …”Free! Body and soul free! ” she kept whispering” (Clugston, 2010, Chopin, 1894). As Mrs. Mallard returns downstairs her husband enters the room, Mrs. Mallard quickly passes away. I can’t help to question the reasoning behind her death. Was it the surprise of her husband’s return that made her heart to stop beating? Or was it more on the lines of she won’t receive this new bound freedom she was dreaming of that caused her heart to fail?
I can’t help but to think it was her freedom suddenly disappearing that ended her life at a young age. I recently read a chapter from a source provided. It lists students’ perspective on certain points in the story. Students were asked to analyze the following statement as a reader-response critic “She said it over and over under her breath: free! Free! Free! ” (Clugston, 2010, Chopin, 1894). Barbara Larson (a student from Auburn University) states breaks down each piece of the statement.
She says “The words ‘under her breath’ might also encourage the reader to feel an intimacy with Louise and thus regard her sympathetically, since the reader is allowed to share a very personal moment. Likewise, by placing exclamation marks after each use of ‘free,’ Chopin may be encouraging the reader to chare Louise’s excitement about this new-found liberty (B. Larson, R. C. Evans, 2001). Larson’s statement describes my feeling towards this statement exactly. After reading the statement I felt a connection with Mrs. Mallard in a sense of I have experienced the feeling of freedom. Not that a past love passed away, more like a past love finally released me from the grasp I felt around my neck when I was with him. I felt a connection with Mrs. Mallard at that very point in the story.
References
- R. W. Clugston (2010) Journey to Literature Retrieved from: https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2
- R. C. Evans (2001) Close Readings: Analysis of Short Fiction from Multiple Perspectives by Students of Auburn University Montgomery Retrieved from: http://site. ebrary. com/lib/ashford/docDetail. action? docID=10015376&p00=kate%20chopin
