Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

463 Words2 Pages
“The Story of an Hour” The ambivalent short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin demonstrates the internal struggle of Louise Mallard as she is confronted by the loss of her husband. Confused by her feelings, Louise Mallard realizes the forbidden joy of independence that arises in her after the initial shock of losing her husband passes. Louise Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death was a “storm of grief”, sweeping her away with “sudden, wild abandonment.” This reaction demonstrates Mallard’s unstable emotional state. Though she is clearly a sensitive being, once she recovers from the initial shock of her husband’s death, Louise Mallard comes to peace with her situation. Alone in her room, she stares out of an open window; a symbol for the freedom which she has always seen from the outside looking in. Louise quickly realizes that she is not reacting as she should be; she is not as sad as a new widow should be. While she acknowledges that she did…show more content…
As she “drink[s] in a very elixir of life through that open window,” she plans the days that lie ahead of her. Her escape from the “kind intention” of her husband allows her to “breathe a quick prayer that life might be long” while “open[ing] and spread[ing] her arms out to [the years] in welcome.” Her dreams are cut short when her husband comes home; he was far from the railroad accident that had supposedly taken his life. The sudden shock of seeing her husband kills Louise, and their friends attempts to save her were futile. She died quickly of heart disease, “a joy that kills.” The text implies that the forbidden joy is gone as soon as Brently Mallard appears at the door, while the hope of an independent future kills

More about Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

Open Document