Kate Chopin The Story Of An Hour Narrative Analysis

Finding Liberation “The Story Of An Hour’ written by Kate Chopin, puts a spotlight on the repressed state of women in the nineteen hundreds. The readers are introduced to Mrs. Mallard Chopin’s main character, a woman who’s found liberation in her husband’s death. Recently widowed Mrs. Mallard goes through what seems like a grief that never ends. After the grief settled, she found herself to be a liberated woman. She had felt this liberation so intensely, that she later was diagnosed with “the joy that kills”(Chopin 3) entailing that it was the joy of seeing her husband again that brought her to death. The real reason behind Mrs. Mallard’s death is her newfound freedom being stripped away from her. The author portrays Mrs. Mallard as fragile …show more content…
Mallard comes to terms with her husband’s part in her repression “there would be no powerful will bending hers…”(Chopin 2) indicates she will gain her own identity, no longer be just an extension of the man she married. Chopin even points out that she had “lines that bespoke repression”(Chopin 1) indicating that you can see repression on her face. The readers start to become more aware just as Mrs. Mallard does in the discovery of her repression. Mrs. Mallard describes her marriage as an “unsolved mystery” (Chopin 2) hinting to the readers that she didn’t know why she was married. She had loved her husband” often she had not” (Chopin 2) Mrs. Mallard felt conflicted, having to choose between her liberty and love. Although she explains it was a love she no longer needed “What could love, the unsolved mystery count for…”(Chopin …show more content…
Mallard goes off to her room alone, having a moment of clarity while gazing out the window. The readers soon witness the shift from dark to light as Mrs. Mallards describes what she’s seeing outside. “The tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life”… “Countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves”(Chopin 1). The nature indicates the start of her realization, and a fresh perspective for the new life to come. Coming to terms with this new perspective that she is now free, she even repeats the word over and over again “Free, free, free!”(Chopin 2) Mrs. Mallard is so intoxicated by this feeling of freedom that she cannot even put it into words. The freedom is so overly consuming that “her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body”(Chopin 2) as if she’s been waiting for this feeling for some