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Literary Analysis Essay

      "The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, presents an often unheard of view of marriage. The story was written in 1894 when marriage was the only socially acceptable form of relationship, and divorces, especially initiated by women, were criticized if not impossible. In the short story, Mrs. Louise Mallard, Chopin's main character, experiences the exhilaration of freedom rather than the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband's death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband, Brently, still lives, she knows that all hope of freedom is gone. The crushing disappointment kills her. Published in the late eighteen hundreds, the oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour" is a reflection of that era. The author uses the point of view, characterization, and setting to illustrate this theme.

      Though Chopin relates Mrs. Mallard's story, she does not do so in first person, and, instead, uses the third person point of view. Chopin reveals the story through the narrator's voice. However, the narrator is not simply an observer. We know, for example, that Mrs. Mallard, for the most part, did not love her husband (Chopin). It is described that “she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter!” (Chopin). It is obvious that the narrator knows more than can be physically observed, and the fact that, even though we know that the main character did not always love her husband, we are also told that it did not matter because it was not the love, “the unsolved mystery”, but “[the] self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” that was truly important for the main character. Chopin never tells the reader what Mrs. Mallard is feeling during the main plot of the story. Instead, the reader must look into Mrs. Mallard's actions and words as well as the setting of the story, to realize how oppressed the main character was in her marriage, and how empowering the idea of freedom was for Mrs. Mallard.

      Mrs. Mallard is held back in her marriage, and her character is described as oppressed in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (Chopin). When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she knows that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (Chopin). There will be no husband who believes he has the "right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (Chopin). Mrs. Mallard acknowledges that her husband loved her. Brently had only ever looked at Mrs. Mallard with love (Chopin). This information implies to the reader that Brently is not a bad man; he simply believes that it is his right, and perhaps his obligation as a husband, to direct Mrs. Mallard in everything she does. When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she realizes that he will no longer be there to repress her; there will be no one, except her, to direct her will, so she is now free. She repeats the words "Free, free, free!" (Chopin) and feels her body come alive. Her pulse beats faster; her blood runs warmer; her eyes brighten. These metaphors and personifications that the author uses to characterize Mrs. Mallard’s character are also reflected in the setting of the story.

      Upon learning the sad news, Mrs. Mallard is in her room with an “open window [and] a comfortable, roomy armchair” (Chopin). Her window is the entrance to a very positive world: “she could see … the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air ... The notes of a distant song … reached her faintly … There were patches of blue sky” (Chopin) The sky here especially symbolizes the clouds clearing out after the rain, and it starts with small patches. “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the cloud” (Chopin). The future seems more hopeful for her. Mrs. Mallard knows that from now on she can live for herself and no one else, that "all sort of days…would be her own" (Chopin). Mrs. Mallard sees the chance to live out the rest of her days for herself; she sees the opportunity to be her own person. Mrs. Mallard now looks forward to a long life. She had previously dreaded the years ahead spent under the thumb of her husband. Now, though, Mrs. Mallard is someone who has much to look forward to and many joys to appreciate as opposed to the way her marriage made her feel.

The author is using the third person point of view and makes us an observer, who, however, knows more than may be observed, an oppressed character who find her freedom amidst a setting that is depicted as quite hopeful. In the story, Mrs. Louise Mallard experiences the exhilaration of freedom after she learns of her husband's death in "The Story of an Hour". Although this may not be the acceptable reaction, it shows the oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour". The story reflects the views and expectations of the late eighteen hundreds and may be a representation of such views in other times as well. The main character’s reaction was unheard of, and, luckily, nowadays such suffering in marriage is, if not unheard of, then quite rare.

Work Cited

“The Story of an Hour.” Virginia Commonwealth University Archive, n.d., www.archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/ . Accessed 8 Oct. 2018.