...analysis In the following I will analyse the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin. The short story is written on April 19 1894. In the short story we are introduced to 4 characters: Louise Mallard, Josephine, Richard and Brently Mallard. Louise Mallard is the main character in the story. Louise Mallard is married to Brently Mallard. She was afflicted with a heart trouble. Louise lived in an unhappy marriage. “And yet she had loved him- sometimes. Often she had not”. At first when she hears that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident she is miserable, but then she turns out fine. She becomes happy and feels free. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” She has a dull stare in her eyes. Josephine is Louise Mallards sister. Her husband is Richard. She is the one telling her sister about Brently’s death. Richard is a friend of Brently Mallard and he is also married to Josephine. He is the one seeing Brently’s name leading the list of killed persons in the railroad accident. Brently Mallard is Louise Mallards husband. First he is assumed dead but in the end of the story it reveals that the news about his death was a mistake. The story is set in the home of Louise and Brently Mallard. When Louise is informed about her husband’s death she went into her own room to be alone where she sits down in a comfortable roomy armchair facing the window. She wept at first in her sister’s arms...
Words: 918 - Pages: 4
...Lisa C. Litz Ramona Brockman Environmental Science February 18, 2014 Benchmark Part 1 Nature Observation ~ Pond and Surrounding Woods, West Pointe, CA Our favorite place for taking nature walks is in the woods surrounding my parent’s cabin in West Pointe, Ca. My daughter and I have been taking walks in the woods up there for over six years. We have seen a variety of different animals up there on our various outings depending on the time of year we’re up there and the time of day we take our walks. All of the plants and animals we’ve seen up there make up the biotic factors for this environment. There are a number of different species of trees and flowering plants around my parent’s cabin and the outlying trails we go exploring on. Even though there are a number of cabins up here, they haven’t really disturbed the environment to the point that it’s affected the number of different creatures that still wander through the woods. Besides all of the wonderful biotic factors we so enjoy up here there are also a few abiotic factors that interact with the wildlife. There is a slow running stream that runs between a few of the cabins, and then a couple of miles down the road there’s a large standing pond just off to the side of the road. The main abiotic factor is the sun, which is where all the living organisms derive their energy from. Energy is another abiotic factor. The plants derive energy directly from the sun, whereas the animals get their energy indirectly from the sun by...
Words: 2648 - Pages: 11
...the nineteenth century. Chopin’s insight writing revealed the hidden emotions, trials, and tribulations of the nineteenth century women. In the story of an hour, Chopin tells the story of Mrs. Mallard and the extraordinary changes including shock, acceptance and joy she endures during this hour in her home. Mrs. Mallard’s feelings are changed by the news of her husband’s death, the reality of living her life alone and the revelation that her husband was still alive. The glimpse into Mrs. Mallards private thoughts revealed a women momentarily saddened by the loss of her husband. “Go away. I am not making myself ill. No she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. Her fancy was running riot along those days of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long”. Chopin reveals with these words that this woman is actually relived to be a widow and excited about experiencing life without the stress and commitments of her husband. The other characters introduced in the story are brief, but she allows the reader to get a great mental picture of them with her descriptive, compassionate interacting with Mrs. Mallard and with each other. Corey Campbell June 29, 2009 English 098 Chopin chose to provide a tragic ending to Mrs. Mallard’s life because she wanted something different and...
Words: 519 - Pages: 3
...Kate Chopin, tells an unusual story of a marriage with a surprising ending. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the main character, who has a heart condition is given news that her husband, Brently Mallard, was involved in a railroad accident and had died. Mr. Mallard’s friend, Richard, and Mrs. Mallard’s sister, Josephine, were by her side to deliver the heart breaking news gently. As the news was broke Mrs. Mallard weeps in her sister’s arms, but her reaction is much of a surprise. As Mrs. Mallard has been given the news of her husbands death, she weeps in her sister's arms only to abandon them to be alone in her room. While alone, motionless in her chair, she thinks to herself as she stares out the window to the beautiful outside,...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4
...sister and her friend discovered the death of Mr. Mallard, they took time to gently tell her that husband has passed away. Mrs. Mallard sobbed, then went to her room to be alone for a while and locks the door. Next, she looks terrified of some feelings she’s getting and finally she realized that it's her freedom. Although she and her husband loved each other, and she's truly felt the grief by his death, she feels free for the first time. She couldn’t stop looking forward to her new days of being free at last. While Mrs. Mallard is having this moment with herself trying to absorbed all the feelings together, her sister kept on checking on her every now and then, because she was...
Words: 522 - Pages: 3
...In the case of this story, the complication stage itself embodies the idea of complicated. We'll explain: Mrs. Mallard complicates the traditional or expected reaction of a widow to a husband's death by reacting in a totally unusual way. Instead of refusing to believe the news or take it in, she instantly grasps it and cries her eyes out, before going off to be alone. All this is meant to show us that she's an unusual widow, and it prepares us for the climax to follow. Mrs. Mallard struggles with her grief, and then also struggles with a piece of new knowledge coming at her. She tries to avoid it, but can't completely push it off. Finally, she succumbs to the realization that she is free, and that she's glad. After the tragedy of hearing such...
Words: 389 - Pages: 2
...Hannah Radney Professor Andrew J. DiNicola English 1102 July 22, 2014 Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”: Character Analysis of Louise Mallard Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” (1894) is a fictional short story presumably set in America in the late 19th century. Chopin’s story is a description of an hour in the life of Louise Mallard, the protagonist in the story. The subject of the story is the transformation of Louise Mallard after she learns about the supposed death of her husband, Brently Mallard; what she thinks and how she feels as she is alone and contemplates self-assertion for the first time. (Koloski) Chopin first introduces the reader to the main character as only Mrs. Mallard. Given the time period of the story, Chopin directs the reader to the conclusion that Mrs. Mallard has no identity of her own. This reference to her as only by her husband’s last name foreshadows how marriage represses Mrs. Mallard and realistically like many women of this time in history. The virtuous wife, in Mrs. Mallard’s world, accepts the idea that her husband has a right to impose a private will upon her. (Jamil) During the time period in which the story takes place, married women are in a subservient role to their husbands under the “femme covert laws.” “Covert refers to a woman’s legal status after marriage: legally upon marriage, the husband and wife were treated as one entity. In essence, the wife’s separate legal existence disappeared as far as property.” (Lewis 1) A married...
Words: 1825 - Pages: 8
...Sean Troester Instructor Anthony Sanders English Composition II 25 September 2013 “The Story of an Hour” Literary Analysis In her story, "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin objectively brings the reader inside the mind of Louise Mallard upon her hearing of the death of her husband, Brently. Chopin uses specific language to guide her audience through Louise's brief time of grief and the ultimate realization of new found liberty, amidst sudden tragedy. In the text, Chopin presents a negative view on marriage, as well as articulating her longing to live free of another's imposing will. The speaker immediately brings the reader into the downstairs of the Mallard home, where Louise is being told of her husband's death by her sister, Josephine. It is revealed in the first line of the story, that Louise Mallard is "afflicted with heart trouble.” Richards, Brently's friend, is also mentioned in the text as being present, as Josephine informs her sister of Brently’s death. It appears Louise's grief is genuine, as she "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms." The text communicates that she did not receive the news, "as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." Louise clearly isn't like most women of her day. She travels upstairs alone to seemingly collect herself and reflect on what just transpired. Louise slumps into a chair, as she is staring at "open square." The speaker uses metaphors, of what is happening...
Words: 1041 - Pages: 5
...place and it is extremely significant in the changing reactions of the main character, Mrs. Mallard. The house has two floors, which are significantly different, both in the reactions and in the emotions brought out in each one. Mrs. Mallard’s emotions and reactions to her husband’s death change dramatically, in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour;” downstairs she is overcome by grief and ultimately dies from her husband’s shocking return, while upstairs she is overjoyed by her new found freedom. Initially, the story starts downstairs, where Mrs. Mallard first hears of her husband’s death and is grief struck by the shocking news. Downstairs Mrs. Mallard is the respectable wife grieving the loss of her husband. At first Mrs. Mallard is shocked by the news of her husband’s death. She appears to be grieving the loss of her husband, but the news of his death did not sit with her as it should have, which is shown in her reaction, “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (1). She knows the death of her husband is critical, but reacts seemingly different than others would as she starts to think of her life without him in a more positive light. She seems confounded over her own feelings, she has felt repressed by her marriage, but perhaps has not recognized it until now. After she learns of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard goes upstairs, to her bedroom where she begins to feel enlightened and then becomes overjoyed...
Words: 715 - Pages: 3
...President Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore was the 13th president of the United States. He was president from 1850-1853 President Fillmore has done many things during his presidency that has caused lots of controversy. Something interesting about him is that he became elected president with only 47% of the popular vote. Something interesting about MIllard Fillmore is that he once personally fought a fire at the Library of Congress. First, Millard Fillmore’s early life is very riveting. He was born January 7th,1800 in Locke, New York. His Parents are Nathaniel and Phoebe Webber. Millard grew up in a poor family. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a cloth maker. By 1819, he bought his freedom from apprenticeship for $30. After that he fled to New York and became obsessed with educating himself. He then attended a school named New Hope Academy. His religious background is unitarian. Millard Fillmore also did not attend college. Throughout his adult life Fillmore had many accomplishments. Millard was married to Abigail Powers. Then he later had two children Mary Abigail Powers and Millard Powers. His first job was a clerk with a local judge. As a young lawyer Fillmore joined the anti-masonic party. Also he opened a law office in East Aurora New York. During his presidency MIllard Fillmore. He didn’t attend college but had little form of schooling. But during his minimal schooling he had studied to be a lawyer. Leading to his presidency President MIllard Fillmore was elected...
Words: 521 - Pages: 3
... Symbolism can give you a doctrine of history and why all those items have those meanings. Summary of the “Story of an Hour” has more like a twist at the end. At first Mrs. Mallard was at happy with her normal life. When Richard her husband’s friend...
Words: 1706 - Pages: 7
...When Mrs. Mallard got the news that her husband was dead, she acted differently than most women would. She seemed happy, almost joyful, that her husband Mr. Mallard had passed in an explosion. She kept saying “Free free free body and soul” it’s like she thought she was a slave to her husband and not a wife. It was like that she didn’t even love her husband maybe or didn’t care that he even died. The evidence shown throughout the story of an hour shows that Mrs. Mallard doesn’t love her husband. Mrs. Mallard weeps over the death of her husband, she begins to realize that she is now free. When she found out about the death of her husband, she started to weep a little. Then when she went outside, she got on the ground and uttered these words “free free free”(Chopin 11). She was finally free form some she found so repressive. She didn’t really love her husband at all it was like she was just something that he owned. She knew that if she, died she was free from...
Words: 476 - Pages: 2
...On the surface there appear to be many similarities between the character traits of Mathilde Loisel in Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” and Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” however; there are subtle differences between the two women. Both of these protagonists struggle with their fate, are self-centered, and lack empathy. Their lives are destined to end in their own tragic ways based on their individual character flaws. Both of these stories focus on women who struggle with their lifestyle conditions. Mrs. Loisel cannot bear her middle-class lifestyle, instead desiring “to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after” (Maupassant 60). As well as desiring these intangible things, she also regrets having “no dresses, no jewels, nothing” (Maupassant 60). This self-imposed suffering leads her to years of burdensome debt, further resulting in hard work and loss of her youthful appearance. On the other hand, Mrs. Mallard suffers a heart condition from being trapped in marriage. When she hears the news of her husband’s death she is at last free of her ailment and excitedly contemplating her future. Not only do these ladies have difficulty accepting their lives, they are also self-centered. Therefore, neither Mrs. Loisel nor Mrs. Mallard is capable of appreciating their loving and caring husbands. Mathilde Loisel fails to acknowledge her husband’s thoughtfulness in bringing home an invitation to the Ministerial ball. Instead, she...
Words: 701 - Pages: 3
...Mrs. Mallard and Walter Mitty: Chopin and Thurber's Tales of Matrimonial Imprisonment Ashley Snyder ENG125: Introduction to Literature Concetta Williams July 29, 2014 Mrs. Mallard and Walter Mitty: Chopin and Thurber's Tales of Matrimonial Imprisonment Marriage without freedom can feel like a very lonely place. It has been said that loneliness not only has the potential to depress our immune system, but it also can increase inflammatory responses that may put us at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, effect our minds in fantastical ways, as well as decrease our longevity (Winch, 2013). In Kate Chopin's, "The Story of an Hour" and James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", the story of isolation and the desperate yearning for deliverance is told in two very unique and captivating ways. In Kate Chopin's poetic story—unfolding within the time span of one hour—we have Mrs. Louise Mallard who has been informed that her husband was killed in a tragic accident. As readers, we witness what happens to Louise during this moment in time. Then we have the seemingly comical story authored by Thurber in which he presents to us an older gentleman by the name of Walter Mitty. We follow Walter through his mundane existence while delving into his exaggerated day dreams. What comes to light is that the mental processes of both Chopin and Thurber's protagonists personify not only the theme of seeking freedom within the confines of marriage, but how these cognitive...
Words: 2729 - Pages: 11
...The story of an hour Like many contemporary women living in the nineteenth century, Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin bore social ties of traditional requirements. Under the strict control of social requirements, married women’s lives were formed around their husbands. They were happy with their husband’s happiness and sad with their husband’s depression. They were regarded as the properties of their husbands even in daily lives. Kate Chopin did not directly express women’s dependence, but the readers could realize this truth through the chaos in Mrs. Mallard’s mind. After her instinct reaction when hearing the news of Mr. Mallard’s death like “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (p.106), there was something a little bit hopeful and happy appearing in her feelings. Then, “she did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her” (p.107). For one moment she was afraid to allow herself to be joyful about her freedom "she was striving to beat it back with her will" (p.106). This showed us that Mrs. Mallard was a product of her time and was dependent on society rules. We often need a whole life to comprehend one person’s soul and desire. Though, sometimes, in only a while, we are able to realize some meanings of life. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, in just one hour, Mrs. Mallard’s thought and feelings revealed profoundly the desire for freedom of women in the nineteenth century. Through only one hour...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
