Mrs. Mallard's Condition In The Story Of An Hour

Improved Essays
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” took place in late 1800’s. The protagonist, Mrs.Mallard has a heart condition. One day she receives horrifying news from her sister that she would become a widower. She soon became sad, after a while of being sad she finally feels free and relieved that her husband had passed away.Once she had already given up the fact that she was now a widower, her husband walks through the door. Out of shock she died of heart disease. Mrs. Mallard should be praised for finally being happy since she got with Mr. Mallard, and for wanting to live her life.
To begin with, due to the time period this took place in women weren’t able to do their own things without their significant other. Now that she is a widower, she

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” has a sad beginning, an understandable middle, but an odd ending. I was upset for Mrs. Mallard in the beginning when she learned of her husband’s death. At first, I just assumed that when Mrs. Mallard “wept at once,” she was just acting like a normal distraught wife. She had heard that her husband had died, and I thought her being upset was acceptable. I did not think anything about it until you get further along in the story.…

    • 216 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These two stories, The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, and A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner, both focus on various aspects of the female mentality regarding love for family members and the effects they can have. The varying perspectives that each author has can be attributed to the fact that they are different genders and have different experiences regarding love. All things considered, the main point of this essay will be to decide who better represented the varying aspects of female self autonomy and their reactions to love and stress. In the beginning of The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, we are introduced to the situation by being told, “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble.”…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Most individuals enter a marriage with certain expectations; they expect to be loved, cared for, cherished and above all, respected. However, this is not always the case. Marriage can quickly transform from a wonderful holy union to a dangerous and oppressive force. In Sandra Cisneros’ “Women Hollering Creek,” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story Of An Hour,” we are told the story of two women whose expectations of marriage failed in comparison to their reality, as well as how drastically this influenced their mental stability and actions during and after their marriage. The stories express how all marriages, even the kindest unions, may be inherently oppressive.…

    • 1644 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story by author Kate Chopin, “the Story of an Hour”, the main character shows her true feelings about her marriage after a false report about her husband’s death. Many readers of the audience point that Mrs. Mallard died from the joy of her husband’s arrival but an important aspect that is often overlooked is the ironic juxtaposition set up by the author to truly show her feelings. Mrs. Mallard was not in shock of joy but she was in shock of utter disappointment that ultimately lead to her death. Through the discrete details of their marriage, the author writes the message of marriage and love during this era in the American society. Through the actions of the main character, it is clear that her cause of death was because of…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, opens a window into the life of a woman, Mrs. Mallard who suffers from a heart disease and receives news that her husband has died. According to the story, she reacted differently than other people would’ve done, but that is where irony is presented. She decided to isolate herself and during her isolation she realized how free and joyful she was feeling, but the real feelings in her heart were loneliness ,emptiness, and fear because of the loss. Mrs. Mallard did not die of joy, she died because she was full of fear,confusion, and loneliness. Chopin decides to put this dramatic scene of Mrs. Mallard in a room of her house, where the couple spent plenty time together.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Mallard, a nineteenth century woman similar to Edna Pontellier, is extremely unsatisfied with her current marriage and also possesses the “abnormal” desire for independence. In “The Story of an Hour”, a tragedy takes place and is delivered to Mrs. Mallard; apparently, her husband had been killed in a tragic railroad disaster. The reaction of her husband’s death was not expected, “[Mrs. Mallard] could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air… The note of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves” (Chopin 630).…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” which she wrote in 1894, is about a woman who loses all of her freedom when she marries. Mrs. Mallard suffers from a heart disease. Everyone around her treats her as if she is a fragile butterfly. Word comes that her husband died in a train accident. Her sister and friend are the ones who have to deliver the message.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the beginning of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard is notified by her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend, Richards, that Mr. Brentley Mallard, her husband has been killed in a train accident. She takes the news as anyone would, with tears, but as the story progresses and Mrs. Mallard isolates herself from prying eyes, she discovers joy at the thought of a long life lived beyond the reach of her doting, yet oppressive husband. Her triumphant self-possession is defeated, however, when she sees her husband is actually alive causing her death. Mrs. Mallard’s transformation from a repressed, sickly wife to a free, independent woman is caused by the realization that her marriage and her husband will no longer dictate her…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin tells the story of a female protagonist who goes beyond this role in a way that breaks social norms. In this story, Ms. Mallard, a wife with heart problems, is told that her husband has died in a “railroad disaster” and instead of entering into the stereotypical grieving process she finds a new sense of freedom (1609). This…

    • 1264 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Story of An Hour is a short story by Kate Chopin written in 1894. During this time there were not many story’s written about a woman’s joy of losing her husband to gain freedom. That is exactly what this story is about. Mrs Mallard, the main character, expresses some sadness when she learns that her husband has just passed away, but then goes on to feel joy of her new found freedom of being alone. Within an hour of dealing with the death of her husband, Mrs Mallard’s husband, Brently, comes walking through the door alive and unhurt.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is a fictional piece that chronicles the aftermath of a woman hearing that her husband is dead. The protagonist, Mrs. Mallard becomes afflicted by the news and seeks alone time to cope with the loss of her significant other. Upset, Mrs. Mallard retreats to her room where she has a revelation that changes her complexion towards the death of her husband. Instead of being filled with grief, Mrs. Mallard becomes calm and relaxed with a new outlook on life. However, when Mrs. Mallard heads downstairs to rejoin her family, she sees a man walk through the front door.…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The story of an hour is a story of an hour is a short and brief story written by Kate Chopin, in which she talks mainly about Louis Mallard; a women who eventually suffers from heart disease. Louis Mallard also suffers from the death of her husband, Brent Mallard. It’s said that Mr. Mallard dies in a rail road accident. At first, Mrs. Mallard suffers deeply much from her husband’s death, therefore, cries for his death. After a while she seems to accept her reality and starts looking the good side from it.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Story Of An Hour

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the opening of “The Story of an Hour?” by Kate Chopin, we are introduced with the death of Brently Mallard whose wife, who also has heart trouble, is about to hear the saddening news. On the other hand, in the concluding paragraph, the doctors conclude with the wife’s death from heart disease, “of joy that kills”. Therefore what is ironic is the fact that in the end the wife turned out to be dead and not the husband, Mr. Mallard, although throughout the story Chopin made it seem as if the husband was dead. The discrepancy in the story is that Chopin had said that the husband had died in a railroad disaster, which as we now know was false, while the wife’s death turned out to be indeed true. Moreover, in the introduction, we see also see…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, a married woman receives news of her husband’s death. The reader follows Mrs. Mallard through her unusual emotional reaction to her husband’s death. In this time period of this story, the late 1800s, it was not unusual for women to marry young and take on all of the household responsibilities. Not many people cared whether the women loved their husbands or their families; the primary focus was on their purpose in the household. The language used throughout the story contributes to the imagery of freedom and life, and shows the reader that marriage is a form of oppression in this time period.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Firstly, she creates a climatic twist when Mrs. Mallard’s husband returns home. It shatters Mrs. Mallard’s vision of her new life, and results in a tragic ending; “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills.” (289). It is essential that she is portrayed that way because it allows the reader to visualize the irony in this situation; she didn’t die of joy that the doctor’s had presumed, but rather the loss of joy was too much for her to carry. As well, when Mrs. Mallard is in her room pondering about her long life ahead of her as she “opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays