Interpretative Essay Kate Chopin ” The Story of an Hour ” The story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, written in 1894, is about a woman gaining independence and experiencing a new freedom, due to the death of her husband. The topic of the story was rather scandalous at the end of the 19 th century. Women had no control over their property and weren’t allowed to request a divorce. Luise Mallard is a young wife (p. 78, 3 rd paragraph).
She immediately feels grief and starts to cry when Richards gives her the news about the death of her husband.
But directly after her outburst, the reader can already make out signs about how her feelings will change. In the story are several symbols, showing the approaching of a new life. Through the open window Mrs. Mallard can see trees, feel “the new spring life”, smell the “delicious breath of rain”, hear a song in the distance and see “patches of blue sky” (p 78, first paragraph).
With almost all of her senses Mrs Mallard can feel the new life awaiting her, even before she herself realizes it. The realization what her husband’s death means to her comes slowly. She first doesn’t know what it is she feels, and when she knows, she first can’t accept it. She tries to fight her feelings.
But the unexpected happiness is stronger, she can’t hold it back. The moment of recognition is shown through her whispering “Free, free, free!” . She knows that she is free now, that she no longer has to obey a man, that she can live for herself and decide on her own. There is no longer a husband who forces his will unto her.
The Homework on Feel Free Guess Life
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She doesn’t feel guilty about her feelings, her new freedom and independence are more important to her. That doesn’t mean that she didn’t lover her husband, she loved him “sometimes” (p. 78, last paragraph).
And she knows that she has to cry again when she ” ll see him dead at his funeral. But this grief won’t hold her back to enjoy the new life that lies ahead of her.
She looks forward to the coming years (p. 78, 6 th paragraph, end), she even hopes that she will have a long life, so that she can fully enjoy her freedom (p. 79, 3 rd paragraph, end).
But Mrs. Mallard will never lead such al life because her husband is not dead. When he comes through the door, directly after she realized what a life without her husband means to her, she is shocked.
She dies because of her heart trouble, already mentioned at the beginning of the story (p. 77, first sentence) and therefore foreshadowing what could happen in the end. The question is, what reason made her heart fail? The doctor says it was “joy that kills” (p. 79, last sentence) and because of this last statement irony is created. The reader knows more than the characters do because of the change of perspective when Mrs. Mallard goes up to her room.
The narrator changes from an authorial narrator to a personal narrator and the reader gets a detailed description of her feelings. This mind-style enables us to suspect what the sudden appearance of Mr. Mallard could mean for Luise. It was certainly not joy that B rently Mallard is still alive that killed her. It was rather the perspective that she ” ll lose her new freedom and independence and will be a prisoner for the rest of her life. She can’t bear this thought and is so shocked, that she dies..
