Rough Draft

Jessie Cranmer

ENGL 1302-75428

B. Harris

5 July 2016

“A Joy that Kills”

Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of An Hour”, details a story about a wife who believes her

husband is dead and imagines her future without him, one that is full of new freedom. Througout

the story, the wife recognizes that although she will continue to mourn the loss of her husband,

she is joyful about what it to come for herself. Chopin offers an enlivening moment for a woman

who seeks hope, however unexpectedly at the end reveals the opposite, only to take away the

wife’s independence and instead leave the husband to mourn.

The story Chopin writes covers a short period of Louise Mallard’s life, only an hour,

hence the title “The Story of An Hour”. From the moment she learns about her husband’s death

to the moment he comes home to reveal that he is alive, the time in between gives Louise an

awakening moment in her life where she feels like what is to come ahead of her is full of hope.

This story is rather short and can be read quickly, however, the reader leaves with a powerful

story detailing the joy found in independence that can become all-consuming. When Louise is

given the news of her husband’s death she immediately experiences sorrow and grief, however

Chopin begins to soften the intensity of Louise’s emotions to highlight an exciting revelation.

Louise becomes joyful but reminds herself to resist these feelings to “beat it back with her will”

(Chopin 2). Not only does this reveal the power joy brings that can often consume ones thoughts

but it also shows how women were supposed to abandon their own emotions in order to please

men. Chopin details this when Louise sees the “new spring life”, birds, and songs that occupies

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the open window outside her room (Chopin 1). She is able to experience this without having to

abide by the rules and demands of a man. She isn’t dreaming of a new life, it is there so easily to

have, just right outside the window, however, when she turns away, the joy is no longer there;

rather it has become forbidden with the independence she only shortly got to experience.

The story Chopin writes to capitalize on this independence is very ironic. From the first

paragraph the reader notices the ironic juxtapositions and can tell what later will destroy Mrs.

Mallard. She deals with a heart condition and is given “great care” when her sister gives her the

news about her husband (Chopin 1). However, really the people that are caring for her have no

idea what she is experiencing. She is not crying because she is heart-broken from the loss like

her sister thinks she is but she is crying out of relief. Only the readers and the narrator understand

the joy and the real heart trouble from her marriage she was experiencing. Chopin also is very

ironic in the end when she reveals that Louise dies once her husband walks through the door. Mr.

Mallard was supposedly killed in a railway accident, however comes home safe. The outside

world seems to offer more danger than staying inside, but Chopin demonstrates rather the oppo-

site; nothing good comes from being trapped and restrained. When the doctors arrived once

Louise died, they said “she had died of a heart disease—of a joy that kills” (Chopin 3). The joy

she experiences is so powerful that it causes Louise’s own death. Chopin leaves the reader with

this dramatic irony only to end the story there.

This short story can be compared to Jack Garratt’s song, “Surprise Yourself”. The song

explores the meaning of adventure and what it means to “surprise yourself” when you let some-

thing unfamiliar take you away (Garratt 17-18). Just as the song details cherishing the experi-

ence, Chopin writes as Louise hopes for such an experience. Garratt in the final verse sings,

“Lover, if you only knew/ The times that train has fooled me too/ And tears me from a place I

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know/ It helps me to surprise myself” (Garratt 13-16). The singer states that it is okay to have

had the train take him to a place of unfamiliarity. He understands that that experience should be

cherished because it was given to him in the first place. Although it might be terrifying to let go,

he tells her that it is good to surprise yourself and look back on the experience as an adventure.

In “A Story of An Hour”, Louise dreams of this adventure and is excited for that surprise. What

is very humbling about comparing these two pieces is that one story is saying embrace that un-

settling feeling while the other story reveals that many people are not able to have that adventure.

Both are not exactly similar but they cross the same lines and address the joy that comes from

newness whether one is able to experience it or not.

Even though “A Story of An Hour” was written in the late 1800s, it is very much still re-

latable for women in society of the 21st century. Women of course have been able to experience

much more freedom and equality today than compared to women in Chopin’s time, however we

are still dealing with that ladder of inequality. Overall, Chopin’s work here in this story with

Louise allows people to understand to treasure freedom and independence. For me, I related very

much to Louise’s personality. I am not one to share many of my feelings, rather I internalize a lot

of what I am thinking. Her character was strong and passionate and no matter what stage of soci-

ety we are in, whether it’s in the 1800s or today, there have always been strong, passionate

women, seen for example in Kate Chopin herself.

This short story is worth reading, so descriptive and interesting that the reader can be-

come Louise. We are able to understand through her and understand what she seeks through

Chopin’s dedication to the story. She allows the reader to experience Louise find happiness out

of death, and yet through narration, see her struggle through the complexities of human emotion.

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of An Hour." The Kate Chopin International Society, The Kate Chopin

International Society, 2016, http://www.katechopin.org/story-hour/.

Garratt, Jack. “Surprise Yourself”. Phase: Deluxe, Interscope Records, 2016.