Louise Mallard’s Demise in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate...

Louise Mallard’s Demise in â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin Kate Chopin’s short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, is about a woman, named Louise Mallard, in the late 1800s who is told that her husband, Brently, has died in a railroad accident. Initially, Louise is surprised, distressed, and drowned in sorrow. After mourning the loss, the woman realizes that she is finally free and independent, and that the only person she has to live for is herself. She becomes overwhelmed with joy about her new discovery of freedom, and dreams of all of the wonderful events in life that lie ahead of her. Louise’s sister finally convinces her to leave her room and come back into reality. While Louise is walking down her steps, her husband surprisingly†¦show more content†¦Either way, it can be interpreted that the couple never saw each other before Louise died. Therefore, Louise Mallard may have simply passed away from a heart that was exhausted from her strong initial grief of losing her husband and her new adventurous excitement from gaining freedom (Cunningham 3). The unique ending of â€Å"The Story of an Hour† also contains some irony. During the 1800s, which is the time period that Chopin wrote this short story, men held more respect than women in society, and women were expected to be dependent upon a husband. A critic, Emily Toth, states that Chopin may have included Louise’s death at the end of the story to please authors and editors because presenting that a woman may be able to happily live without a husband in the 1890s would be a fanatic idea (Cunningham 4). The multitude of conservative readers in the 1890s could interpret that Louise passed away because she was too independent, but the actual meaning of the death may have very well been because of Louise’s joy from finally being dismissed from her husband’s control. By using irony, Chopin was able to both please the critics of her time period, and prove a hidden point that women can find joy without a man. Over all, in â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, Kate Chopin leaves the meaningShow MoreRelatedThe Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin1254 Words   |  6 Pages Kate Chopin provides her reader with an enormous amount of information in just a few short pages through her short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour.† The protagonist, Louise Mallard, realizes the many faults in romantic relationships and marriages in her epiphany. â€Å"Great care [is] taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death† (Chopin 168). Little do Josephine and Richards know, the news will have a profoundly positive effect on Louise rather than a negative one. â€Å"WhenRead MoreA Womans Brief Freedom in The Story of an Hour Essay845 Words   |  4 Pages The Story of an Hour, was written and narrated by Kate Chopin. 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