Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” portrays marriage in a negative light through the description of a woman who feels conflicting emotions when facing the loss of a significant other. Chopin’s vivid language shows the sharp contrast between love and the necessity to conform to the social contract of marriage. Written in 1894, the themes represented in this short story were considered taboo. The author uses powerful words when describing the main characters emotions and outside the house, whereas when describing other aspects such as the inside of the house, Chopin uses simple, concise words. This connects the characters mind to the vibrance of the outer world, and creates a distinction between her mind and the life she lived on a daily basis.
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Symbolism is used in many parts of the story, including the mention of heart trouble. Hearts are frequently associated with love and this heart disease can not only be taken literally, but also figuratively. This may mean that she is having trouble in her marriage and is probably not happy. These symbols also allow us to see that these marriages often occurred with good intentions, but they lacked mutual love. This was evident in “The Story of an Hour” because of the lack of emotional investment from Mrs. Mallard. She realized that she never truly loved Mr. Mallard, although he never looked at her in a spiteful way, they never truly loved one another. She felt that she would now be able to fully live for herself freely instead of having another impose their will on …show more content…
Mallard is in her room looking out the window. Spring is traditionally known as a time of rebirth, and this can be related to the need for freedom from marriage. Louise is alight with new hope, and this is also related to spring. She is experiencing a new chapter of her life through the death of her husband. Like spring, blue sky is symbolic of new light through the clouds. This can be associated with the joy that breaks through the negative emotions that arise from the death of a loved one.
Irony is also a large part of this short story. One example of this is the fact that Mrs. Mallard dies from the shock of seeing her husband. The doctor believes that she has died from joy, but it is in fact the opposite. After realizing that freedom is possible from her marriage, she is overjoyed. Because her husband was still alive, she was faced with the traumatic understanding that she would no longer be free and would continue to be trapped in an unhappy
Symbolism is used in many parts of the story, including the mention of heart trouble. Hearts are frequently associated with love and this heart disease can not only be taken literally, but also figuratively. This may mean that she is having trouble in her marriage and is probably not happy. These symbols also allow us to see that these marriages often occurred with good intentions, but they lacked mutual love. This was evident in “The Story of an Hour” because of the lack of emotional investment from Mrs. Mallard. She realized that she never truly loved Mr. Mallard, although he never looked at her in a spiteful way, they never truly loved one another. She felt that she would now be able to fully live for herself freely instead of having another impose their will on …show more content…
Mallard is in her room looking out the window. Spring is traditionally known as a time of rebirth, and this can be related to the need for freedom from marriage. Louise is alight with new hope, and this is also related to spring. She is experiencing a new chapter of her life through the death of her husband. Like spring, blue sky is symbolic of new light through the clouds. This can be associated with the joy that breaks through the negative emotions that arise from the death of a loved one.
Irony is also a large part of this short story. One example of this is the fact that Mrs. Mallard dies from the shock of seeing her husband. The doctor believes that she has died from joy, but it is in fact the opposite. After realizing that freedom is possible from her marriage, she is overjoyed. Because her husband was still alive, she was faced with the traumatic understanding that she would no longer be free and would continue to be trapped in an unhappy