The Telltale Heart
It has long been said that the heart cannot tell a lie and in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the heart trouble that the main character, Louise, is said to have is both physically and symbolically representative of her unhappiness in her marriage and her life in general. In fact, Louise’s heart trouble is the first thing that we learn about her in the opening sentence of the story as Josephine and Richards attempt to gently break the news of her husband, Brently’s death. However, as the story progresses Louise begins to embrace the idea of her new found freedom as Chopin writes “her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her” (287). But it is at the end of the story when the glimmer of her life’s flame is suddenly …show more content…
Even though we can see that Louise reacts with genuine grief when Josephine and Richards tell her of Brently’s death in the railroad accident. Alone in her room, however, Louise begins to realize that she is now independent and free, a realization that builds in excitement within her. The open window from which Louise gazes for much of the story represents the freedom and opportunities that await her after her husband has died. Even though these thoughts are hers alone, she at first tries to squash the joy she feels as she attempts to “beat it back with her will” (287) states the narrator. From that upstairs window, Louise sees the blue sky with fluffy clouds and the treetops. She also hears people talking and birds singing and the smell of a coming rainstorm. Everything that she is experiencing through her open window suggest happier times and the coming of spring. Her resistance to these feelings reveals how forbidden these feelings must have really felt to her. Once she fully indulges in this excitement, she feels that the open window is providing her with life itself. Although Louise seems to know that the rest of society will never accept or understand her relief, she sees her life as being completely hers to mold from this moment forward and her new independence as the core source of her happiness. We see that she is overwhelmed with emotion, Louise even turns to prayer,
It has long been said that the heart cannot tell a lie and in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the heart trouble that the main character, Louise, is said to have is both physically and symbolically representative of her unhappiness in her marriage and her life in general. In fact, Louise’s heart trouble is the first thing that we learn about her in the opening sentence of the story as Josephine and Richards attempt to gently break the news of her husband, Brently’s death. However, as the story progresses Louise begins to embrace the idea of her new found freedom as Chopin writes “her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her” (287). But it is at the end of the story when the glimmer of her life’s flame is suddenly …show more content…
Even though we can see that Louise reacts with genuine grief when Josephine and Richards tell her of Brently’s death in the railroad accident. Alone in her room, however, Louise begins to realize that she is now independent and free, a realization that builds in excitement within her. The open window from which Louise gazes for much of the story represents the freedom and opportunities that await her after her husband has died. Even though these thoughts are hers alone, she at first tries to squash the joy she feels as she attempts to “beat it back with her will” (287) states the narrator. From that upstairs window, Louise sees the blue sky with fluffy clouds and the treetops. She also hears people talking and birds singing and the smell of a coming rainstorm. Everything that she is experiencing through her open window suggest happier times and the coming of spring. Her resistance to these feelings reveals how forbidden these feelings must have really felt to her. Once she fully indulges in this excitement, she feels that the open window is providing her with life itself. Although Louise seems to know that the rest of society will never accept or understand her relief, she sees her life as being completely hers to mold from this moment forward and her new independence as the core source of her happiness. We see that she is overwhelmed with emotion, Louise even turns to prayer,