...1) Protagonist: Louise Mallard Antagonist: Men and women who share the opinion that married women’s lives ought to revolve around their husbands’. 2) The transformation Mrs. Mallard experiences upon receiving the news of her husband’s death’: grief realization of her freedom fear if her monstrous joy reconciliation with her genuine feelings towards her husband’s ‘death’ and her new-found freedom embracement of her new life in a celebratory manner Mrs. Mallard’s crying and her eyes are the motifs through which Mrs. Mallard’s transformation is illustrated 3) Other points to note: the similes in paragraphs 7 (a child who has cried itself to sleep) and 18 (a goddness of victory) illustrates the empowerment of Mrs. Mallard and that she regains her femininity after the death of her husband (the patriarch) Narrative point of view: Limited omniscient narrator, from Louise Mallard’s point of view Theme: The story is about the stifling nature of marriage, women’s repression of their own desires to search for and assert their identities, and the oppression of women in patriarchal society. The story is also about empowerment of women and the unlikelihood of women’s status and femininity being celebrated the ways they deserve. Conflict: 1) Louise Mallard’s genuine feeling (wanting to embrace her husband’s death in a celebratory manner) VS. proper response/manners a woman is expected to show after her husband’s passing 2) Louise Mallard following...
Words: 574 - Pages: 3
...Hannah Radney Professor Andrew J. DiNicola English 1102 July 22, 2014 Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”: Character Analysis of Louise Mallard Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” (1894) is a fictional short story presumably set in America in the late 19th century. Chopin’s story is a description of an hour in the life of Louise Mallard, the protagonist in the story. The subject of the story is the transformation of Louise Mallard after she learns about the supposed death of her husband, Brently Mallard; what she thinks and how she feels as she is alone and contemplates self-assertion for the first time. (Koloski) Chopin first introduces the reader to the main character as only Mrs. Mallard. Given the time period of the story, Chopin directs the reader to the conclusion that Mrs. Mallard has no identity of her own. This reference to her as only by her husband’s last name foreshadows how marriage represses Mrs. Mallard and realistically like many women of this time in history. The virtuous wife, in Mrs. Mallard’s world, accepts the idea that her husband has a right to impose a private will upon her. (Jamil) During the time period in which the story takes place, married women are in a subservient role to their husbands under the “femme covert laws.” “Covert refers to a woman’s legal status after marriage: legally upon marriage, the husband and wife were treated as one entity. In essence, the wife’s separate legal existence disappeared as far as property.” (Lewis 1) A married...
Words: 1825 - Pages: 8
...an hour in the life of Mrs. Louise Mallard, a young woman "with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength" (Chopin, 605). Chopin's purpose for writing this short story is to address the lack of independence and social status that was an everyday part of life for married women living in the Victorian era. She adopts a sympathetic tone in order to appeal to similar feelings and experiences in her female readers. In 1870, Kate married Oscar Chopin, a Louisiana businessman of French-Creole descent. In New Orleans, where Chopin and her husband lived until 1879, she was among Southern high society. Proper Southern women of this time were expected to be submissive, compliant and stoic. Coming from a long line of Southern females, I know this to be true. The society of this era viewed the altruistic wife, reliant on her husband and devoted to her children, as the feminine ideal. Chopin's forward-thinking literary works of the late nineteenth century were not considered socially acceptable, so it wasn't until the 1960s or 1970s that she became "an integral part of the evolution of feminism" (katechopin.org). Chopin begins "The Story of an Hour" with an instant, essential revelation of the story's pinnacle. Readers learn in the first sentence that the story's main character, Mrs. Mallard, is "afflicted with a heart trouble" (Chopin 605) and she may not be able to endure anything that scares or upsets her. Mrs. Mallard's husband's friend, Richards...
Words: 1305 - Pages: 6
...The Irony of Louise Mallard’s Widowhood In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the author disturbs the reader through the character of Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Louise Mallard is a coldhearted woman who is happy at the news of widowhood, unbeknownst to her family and friends. Mrs. Mallard’s train of thought throughout the story is unexpected and shocks the reader at every turn, but teaches the reader a few things about relationships in the process. Situational and dramatic irony are created through the interpretation of Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death and through her own untimely death. Two different events in this story shock the reader through situational irony. Situational irony occurs when the reader’s expectations of the story are met with an unexpected occurrence, something that the reader wouldn’t have guessed would happen. The first incident takes place shortly after the main character, Louise, is told that her husband has died in a railroad accident. Her immediate reaction is predictable; she clings to her sister and sobs because her husband is dead. When a person loses a loved one that person goes through a mourning period to grieve for the loss and to cope with the death. What the reader is unprepared for, however, is not this display of emotion directly after the news of the accident. Rather than devastated by his death, Louise is overjoyed. Rather than absorbing the news as some women, “with paralyzed inability to accept its significance”...
Words: 1798 - Pages: 8
...Story of an Hour: The need to be free “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is about Mrs. Louise Mallard, a woman with heart troubles, her husband Brently Mallard who had her under his bondage, Mrs. Mallard sister Josephine who cared very much about her and treated her gently and Mr. Mallard’s friend Richard who was the bearer of the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. When Mrs. Mallard got the news of her husband’s death, she was heartbroken at first and she wept. After some time alone in her room with the many thoughts that flooded her, Mrs. Mallard finally realized that she was living in captivity and now she was finally free. On her way to the door she saw her husband who is supposed to be dead, alive at the bottom of the stares and her heart gave way, her sudden need for freedom was...
Words: 503 - Pages: 3
... the range, intensity, and volume of emotions that will be flowing through your consciousness. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, we see this scenario played out in a woman’s life during one emotion-filled hour. Louise Mallard is a woman afflicted with heart problems who, upon hearing the unfortunate news of her husband’s death, is thrust into a moment in time when the life she has come to know suddenly begins to take on a whole new meaning. Interwoven in this timeless tale are themes of self-assertion, oppression, repression, and freedom at a time when woman were anything but. Through her use of irony, symbolism, suspense, and descriptive narratives, Chopin masterfully captures the essence of one woman’s plight in “The Story of an Hour”. The use of irony is an effective literary tool Chopin uses throughout her story to keep the audience cognitive of the contradictions inherent in people and situations. Early on, we see an example of situational irony when we are told Louise Mallard, after being informed of her husband’s death, “Did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzing inability to accept its significance” (215). We are further told, “She wept at once, with wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (215). Louise appeared to everyone in the house to be extremely sad and goes upstairs to be alone in her room. Normally, this is a very typical reaction after having lost a loved one. However, once Mrs. Mallard is alone, she is not saddened...
Words: 1234 - Pages: 5
...Büşra Karaman 07-11-302 421 Contemporary American Fiction Spring, Midterm Paper Dr. Sena Şahini 12.05.2016 A Fool’s Paradise In both America and Europe in the nineteenth century, men and women were supposed to be in different spheres of society. Women nearly had no rights to live a social life, while men were expected to work or socialize with men in bars, meetings or clubs. The duties of women were dealing with cooking, cleaning or catering all of men’s needs. Women were not supposed to spend their free time with socializing, instead of taking care of family related things. In the lights of these circumstances, the feminist approach has revealed itself in literature. One of the good examples of feminist literature is Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, which exposes the lack of freedom of women in the 1800s. In her story, Chopin estimates the situation of women in marriage and she looks at the life from a female perspective. Mrs. Mallard, the heroine of the story, is a cardiac patient, who had been told what to do by her husband and could not make choices for herself. In a way, Chopin portrays what it is like to be a woman in the late nineteenth century through an ill protagonist. In the story Mrs. Mallard is told that her husband is dead, even though she is emotional at first, she leaps for joy with the recognition of freedom. However, when Mrs. Mallard learns her husband is alive, which means she will lose her moment of freedom all over again, she dies...
Words: 1223 - Pages: 5
...themes. This story tells readers a one hour story in Mrs. Mallard’s life. Mrs. Mallard has heart disease, so her sister and her husband’s friend tell the news of Mr. Mallard’s death very carefully. They both think when Louise hears the news, she will get sick. However, Mrs. Mallard feels very excited, even looks like a goddess of Victory. Though the news makes her sad, she finally...
Words: 1088 - Pages: 5
...Mallard’s sister,Josephine preparing to break the news of Brently Mallard’s alleged death.We are told in the very first few lines that Mrs.Mallard has had heart trouble in the past and great care has been taken to break the news to her.Most of the story takes place in the Mallard’s home,mainly in Louise’s bedroom.The setting takes place there because right after the news of Brently’s death Mrs.Mallard goes to her room to celebrate. In the story Irony is shown when Louise reacts to the new’s of Brently’s death.As a reader you expect her to fall down sobbing over his death,but instead she goes to her bedroom,sits in her chair,and looked out the window.The window starts to whisper “Free,Free,Free!”,Louise then realizes that Brently really loved her.Louise is overjoyed that she has a “Free!Body and soul!Free”.The reader see that Louise excited about Brently’s death,but Josephine does not see this.This is a case of Dramatic Irony as we read how happy Louis is and how Josephine begs her to open the door thinking she is grieving. As we get near the end of story Situation Irony occurs as we expect Louise to live happily ever after,but this does not happen.As we know great care was taken to break the news to her,as we were informed of Louise’s heart troubles.Basically we the readers know she was almost being protected with caution when finding out about her husband’s said death,in which she unexpectedly was happy about secretly.All her happiness was burned away when she finally left ...
Words: 343 - Pages: 2
...The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin literary device that created reader interest or to build depth was the plot. The story opens with Louise Mallard who has heart problems, must be informed of her husband Brently Mallard's death. Louise Mallard’s sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards feel that they must communicate the passing of her husband as delicate as possible. Josephine and Richards reluctantly tell her about her husband’s death "in broken sentences.” Josephine and Richards believe that this shocking news will cause her heart problems to get worse. Louise Mallard cries in her grief and eventually goes to her room to be alone. Louise sits in a chair facing an open window looking at the open square in front of her house. The...
Words: 353 - Pages: 2
...dependence of wives on husbands making marriage a form of slavery” (Jamil 216). After reading “The Story of an Hour,” the powerful statement by Patrick Henry “give me liberty or give me death” resonated in my mind. Mrs. Mallard viewed marriage as an oppressive institution that granted her no room to live life as Lousie because of the restrictions enforced by a patriarchal society to only be a wife. According to Chopin, Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble. This is a dynamic piece of information for the reader because the heart is often viewed as the emotional core and main source of life. The brief description Chopin gives of Mrs. Mallard’s physical appearance is that of a “calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” This is an indication to the reader that there was an incessant struggle for her to fit into what society dictated her to be. Louise Mallard was not a traditional woman of the times that believed she should have to survive only as the wife to Brently Mallard. She wanted the freedom to be an individual and live her life as she saw fit. The emotional loathing and stifling of her own identity was so overwhelming that she manifested the stress not only on her face, but also in symptoms of a heart condition. “As Chopin implies, Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is not as much a physical ailment, as the other characters in the story think, but as a sign of a woman who has unconsciously surrendered...
Words: 1144 - Pages: 5
...In multiple definitions innocence is constantly connected to children. Children are new to the world have not been connected to what may be seen as evil. It is not written but assumed in this short story that Louise Mallard was trapped in a world of evil and hate but she is freed from this lack of innocence once her husband is out of the picture. She regains her innocence once she is free and is able to be the young person that she is. “Except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.” (Chopin) is an act that she would not have been able to do if her late husband were in her presence. She is now able to act upon her innocence. In Lawrence Berkove’s writing “Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour”’ he makes an argument that Louise Mallard is “is suffering from an early stage of delusion” which in my mind can ben easily mistaken for a childlike attitude. The way children act is considered a normal act for someone who is younger but is once an older woman acts as such it can be considered delusional. Children are seen to this world as primarily an innocent...
Words: 923 - Pages: 4
...Freedom--claimed and Lost In Kate Chopin’s “The story of an hour,” a woman who is a Person that openly portrays the true feelings of a woman who feels trapped inside her marriage. In the period in which she lived, there were only two alternatives for Louise Mallard to achieve personal freedom—either she or her husband must die. Having no personal freedom, the only way Mrs. Mallard could express her lack of freedom through a physical illness. Someone can choose to die, in a moment, as an escape to freedom. Mrs. Mallard’s death was a result of her loss of the freedom she had, when she supposed Mr. Mallard dead. Upon hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard lets out a brief cry. Then she quickly retreats to her room where time seems to slow. The choice of words used by Chopin “sank”, “pressed down”, “roomy armchair”, “haunted her body” pulls us to empathize with her life which sounds, heavy and burdensome, and it’s been this way for a long time. They weight is not the weight of her loss, it is the weight of her life. As, Mrs. Mallard sits in her chair, She views nature and life going on outside her window. She sees and experiences freedom, a contradiction to her life with Mr. Mallard She begins to realize that Tension grow as she is sitting in the chair and at the same time being pulled out of it; There is something coming towards her that she would have to fight off. However, she accepts this something, which is her new freedom from her marriage, the thing...
Words: 579 - Pages: 3
...Margaret S. Chandler ENG 102 4 June 2012 A Selfish Wife and a Selfish Death Can you die from a joyful heart disease? Louise Mallard, the protagonist of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” is a nineteenth century housewife who responds dramatically to a series of life changing events that happen to her and her husband. Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” follows Louise Mallard over the course of an hour, at the beginning of which she faces the realization that her husband is a victim of a railroad disaster. Throughout the course of the story, Mrs. Mallard spends the majority of the time focusing on how this affects her own life, discovering her new found freedoms and lack of strong emotion for the death of her husband. In the end though, a crushing blow is delivered when it turns out her husband had not, in fact, boarded the train before it departed and the accident took place. It is through these events, that Mrs. Mallard’s emotions and personal thoughts are able to be examined thoroughly. By focusing on her reaction to the news of Mr. Mallard’s death, her emotions and thoughts as she sits alone in her room, and her final reaction when she discovers her husband is alive, it is evident that Mrs. Mallard is a selfish, conceited, and egotistical wife who cares nothing other than how she benefits from the death of her late husband. When Mrs. Mallard hears the news of her husband’s death, she does not react as most women would. She weeps at once and suddenly, until “the storm...
Words: 865 - Pages: 4
...example of the four elements that is use to create the plot of the story. The first element of plot structure is exposition. “The exposition is the information needed to understand the story”. 1 In the beginning of the story the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard was known for her heart problem. Josephine her sister and Richard, who is Mrs. Mallard’s husband friend did not know how to break the news to Mrs. Mallard that her husband is dead. It was stated in the newspaper that Mr. Brently Mallard’s name was listed in the railroad disaster. The exposition gives the great detail of the story. When there is exposition there is complication that introduces the problem of the story. Complication is the second element of plot structure. “The complication is the catalyst that begins the major conflict”.1 After Mrs. Mallard was told that her husband is dead; she weeps in an instance and ran into her room. She wanted to be left alone trying to deal with the grief over her husband death. Looking out the window from her room, something came over her. How the clouds are clearing up after the rain. Mrs. Mallard realize that life lives on and her internal dilemma is control. She kept whispering to herself “Free! Body and soul free!” From then Louise knew there is no one to live for and she would live for herself. A stare out the...
Words: 864 - Pages: 4
