Irony And Symbolism In The Story Of An Hour

Decent Essays
Reporter: Good morning Ms. Chopin and Mr. Maupassant. Please have a seat. I would like to ask you a few questions about your short stories and their underlying meanings. First off, I would like to ask about your situational irony and symbolism usage. How did you use symbolism hand in hand with situational irony?
Guy: I used situational irony and symbolism together through Mathilde’s necklace. Her necklace symbolizes material goods and wealth, and she gains both of them through someone else. The situational irony is represented by the necklace when she borrows it to make her seem more important than she is, but in the end she is left with nothing. Mme. Forester says, “‘Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred
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Mallard claims that “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence” after her husband dies. The irony is that Mrs. Mallard is celebrating the death of her husband rather than grieving it and when he returns she is disheartened rather than joyous. These two literary devices are connected through the theme that companionship is not always positive. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard is alone in her room thinking, “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion” Mrs. Mallard explains her inner conflict debating whether love or independence is better which is tied to the irony of Mrs. Mallard’s grief finding out her husband is alive because she decides independence is preferred and is upset about her husband’s figurative reincarnation.
Reporter: Thank you. My next question is about the themes of your short stories. Do you think the culture and time period of the late 1800’s influenced your themes of women and material goods?
Guy: Yes, I believe so because the points of view of our stories are in the 3rd person for female protagonists, and I think the culture definitely influenced these decisions.
Kate: Yeah, I believe this is because the audiences were not accustomed to female leads, especially not stories with first-person, female
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Maupassant, I provided attention to the female protagonists thought process because I believed the female outlook on issues should be represented, even if they’re in fictional stories. One instance of giving readers a peek into feminine issues is in “The Story of An Hour” when Mrs. Mallard realizes her sensation she feels following her husband’s death is joy. I wrote “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Her happiness towards her spouse’s death is explained by her realization of independence for the remainder of her years. The external influence on my writing is absent from this passage. I like to believe this passage also weakens the influence for future

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