Situational Irony In 'The Story Of An Hour'

Katie Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, displays situational irony where Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death and her husband’s sudden resurrection shows a difference in how humanity sees death and resurrection. The main type of irony that is shown in this story is situational irony. In one event, Mrs. Mallard grieves for her husband after learning about his death in a train accident; despite her feelings, she becomes the positive woman who sees “spring life” outside her window (Roberts, 316). What is strange about this ironic moment is that she does not feel remorse or sadden about how she feels about her husband. She feels that “there will be no one to live for” and that “there would be no powerful will” that prevent her from living a private life. This becomes the trend …show more content…
Truly, Chopin did not want us to assume she died of physical illness, but a sudden spiritual illness that took her joy and her life. Usually, humanity sees death of a family member or friend as a burden while their recovery from a serious accident or illness as a blessing. However, what Mrs. Mallard felt about death and resurrection is different from the overall human’s perspective. The readers would have noticed Mrs. Mallard’s weeping that her husband passed away after her sister Josephine told her (Roberts, 316). However, it changed her perspective of death, seeing this moment in her window as freedom from submitting to her husband and from showing love to another person. Because he resurrected, she did not hugged him or show love for him. Instead, she experienced death as humans have, regardless of her perspective. However, what we can learn from situational irony in the story is that her reaction to life and death explains her desire to become independent from her husband and the reason she died from a spiritual illness rather than a physical