In The Story of An Hour, Louise Mallard has a sudden and abrupt realization that she is now free, a word that is emphasized many times. She discovers this while upstairs in her room, alone with her own fantasy world. In Kate Chopin’s The Story of An Hour, the newfound realization of individual freedom is shown through the author’s utilization of repetition, setting, and irony. One way Chopin conveys Mrs. Mallard’s realization of freedom is through the repetition of the word “free.” Having Mrs. Mallard repeat this word puts a much needed emphasis on when she starts to become aware of her freedom and her emotions through this thought process. When Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room after crying, “She said it over and over under her breath:
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Throughout most of the story, Mrs. Mallard is upstairs in her room, locking herself away from reality. The setting is a vital part to helping Mrs. Mallard express her freedom because since she is locked in her room, it represents how she felt trapped in her marriage with Brently and she could not positively express herself. When Josephine goes to check on Louise, she tells her to go away. While Josephine begs her to come out, Louise remembers that “it was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 2). With this thought, it shows how while being alone upstairs, she feels so close close to freedom, she can almost reach it. It also shows how upsetting her relationship with Brently was because she felt as though “life might be long” and she does not feel like she is living life the way she wants to while being married to him. However, when he sister goes to check on her, she feels as though she is being dragged back down to reality and their standards. When Louise finally opens the door, she “carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of victory” because upstairs represents her fantasy world, where she was so close to finally accepting herself as a free person, who did not have to live by someone else’s standards. Downstairs represents reality because down there, Richards tries to block her view of her husband coming in the house, reinforcing society’s ideas that women needed to be protected. It is also representing reality because once she is down there, she is immediately seen as a more fragile being rather than when she felt so free and strong just moments ago in her room, in her fantasy
Throughout most of the story, Mrs. Mallard is upstairs in her room, locking herself away from reality. The setting is a vital part to helping Mrs. Mallard express her freedom because since she is locked in her room, it represents how she felt trapped in her marriage with Brently and she could not positively express herself. When Josephine goes to check on Louise, she tells her to go away. While Josephine begs her to come out, Louise remembers that “it was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 2). With this thought, it shows how while being alone upstairs, she feels so close close to freedom, she can almost reach it. It also shows how upsetting her relationship with Brently was because she felt as though “life might be long” and she does not feel like she is living life the way she wants to while being married to him. However, when he sister goes to check on her, she feels as though she is being dragged back down to reality and their standards. When Louise finally opens the door, she “carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of victory” because upstairs represents her fantasy world, where she was so close to finally accepting herself as a free person, who did not have to live by someone else’s standards. Downstairs represents reality because down there, Richards tries to block her view of her husband coming in the house, reinforcing society’s ideas that women needed to be protected. It is also representing reality because once she is down there, she is immediately seen as a more fragile being rather than when she felt so free and strong just moments ago in her room, in her fantasy