THE STORY OF AN HOUR by Jane Jones

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

Mrs. Mallard death occurred due to her heart condition. Mrs. Mallard sister Josephine sat down with her and tried to explain to her the situation of her husband's death. She didn’t tell Mrs.Mallard about the accident directly, but she figured out ways to explain what happened to her in a good way, a way not to scare Mrs. Mallard. Mr. Mallard's friend, Richard, was there too when he heard the news about Mr. Mallard. Richard found out the news because he had been at the newspaper headquarters when the news reported about what had happened. When Mrs. Mallard found out the news about her husband, she was crying, and she went up to her room. Kate Chopin’s wrote that Mrs. Mallard went up to her room and explained how Mrs. Mallard reacted to the whole situation.

Mrs. Mallard sat down on a comfy chair and looked out the window. It seems like she realized how the nature was as Kate Chopin’s explained. The narrator describes her attitude as she was like she was youthful towards the news about her husband's death. Mrs. Mallard tries to resist before yielding to this unknown thing, which is feeling of freedom. She was thinking of how she would see her husband's dead body. All those thoughts came to her mind and she was thinking that she will have a chance to make her own decisions without the feeling of being controlled or accountable to anyone. When she thinks of freedom she stops crying and thinks about the fact that she loved her husband. Josephine her sister called her to come out of the room, she thinks that something will happen to Mrs. Mallard if she is left alone to mourn the death of her husband. Meanwhile Mrs. Mallard is imagining her exciting life ahead in the future. As Josephine and Richard comfort her as she came out of the room the door open and who came in, it was Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard died on the spot from the shock as she saw him enter the house. The medical examiner explained her cause of death is from the overwhelming joy of the sight of the sight of her husband, who was in her mind dead just seconds prior to his return. 

            There are multiple themes presented in the story of an hour. I am going to focus on the theme of marriage. How can marriage life be constricting or freeing, based on your selection of spouse? Does married life hold people back? Create an environment in which people grow and develop together? “The Story of an Hour”, shows a negative outlook on marriage. I will like to focus on how marriage can be different for each person depending on their choice of spouse.  

            In April 19, 1894, Kate Chopin wrote “The Story of an Hour,” a truly remarkable story about a subdued wife’s vision of intending to live only for herself. The tone of the story explained to us that it carries the message that neither love or freedom is truly understood until it has been lost. The tone of the story written by Kate Chopin is drenched with irony. Louise Mallard, is the main character in the story, once heard the news of her husband's death, just to comprehended that she never loved him to begin with. She came to a sense of feeling of freedom from the news of his death, a freedom that she does love him.  The tone begins with sadness, but she was realized that she is free “Free! Body and soul free!” then, irony strikes. She found out that her husband whom she does not love is still alive and she is not free at all. She explains the feeling she had when her sister and her husband's friend told him about her husband's death. She is helping us to see what kind of marriage they have as married couple.

One of the Literary analysis of “Story of an Hour” by Smith. N says, “Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour” represents a negative view of marriage.” In Mr. and Mrs. Mallard marriage, it seems like that all decisions are made by Mr. Mallard. Women's role is to just stay home and look after the house work. According to Smith.N says, “This suggests that Louis has a deep inner-life that is not connected to the outside world of her husband or friends and the fact that she cloisters herself in her room to discover her feelings is important.” Do women have voice to raise decision in married life? I do believe that in every married life, each of them has the right to raise their voice to discuss anything they feel needs to be discussed within their marriage.

 In “The Story of an Hour” the last message is that marriage is constraining. The end of the story the doctor assumes what causes Mrs. Mallard death is because of the overwhelming joy from seeing her husband is still alive. When in actuality the death occurs because of the loss of her freedom when she discovers her husband is still alive. It clearly shows that it’s a disease of marriage. The reality of the situation, affects her heart internally that she cannot feel free until the agent of her husband no longer exists. Smith N. says, “This kind of simple and direct language is used only to describe the things Louise is not emotional about, thus the bare language would indicate, just as much as the actual words themselves do that she did not have any strong feelings for her husband.” The feelings that Mrs. Mallard has felt during their married life has come to an end. She realized she doesn’t need to be sad. There’s time in married life that couples hide their feelings from their partner. One of them feels that their marriage is not right, or they made the wrong decision of choosing that person to be their husband or wife. When they have separated or parted themselves from the burden of feeling of being held back, they can experience the joy of freedom, just as Mrs. Mallard did.

Since, Mrs. Mallard shows her feelings of little sadness, “she did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead.” This shows that she can’t wait to get over their marriage. She may have loved him for a time, but she did not feel that same love in return. "The face that never looked saved with love upon her", demonstrates the lack of love felt by Mrs.Mallard. Death is Mrs. Mallards escape from her loveless marriage.

Moreover, she has the feeling of freedom. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler way crying his wares.” She just realized the outside world she was not a part of as she stood from her room and looked at the view outside. How can we live in a world full of many creations, but still we don’t recognize it? This imagery of how the author wrote this of what she saw outside from her room, explains to us how her life has been away from the world. “She saw a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” (Chopin, 1894) There was an excited accomplishment in her eyes, “she carried herself unwittingly like a goodness of victory.” (Wan, 2009) This amazing story strongly shows that how deeply Mrs. Mallard desired her own freedom. Her thought of being a free person can't be understood by those who have not gone through similar experiences. “For as much as this, in “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard wants to lead an authentic life, doing something that is her own, not somebody else’s. she desires to make resolute choices outside the boundaries of the outside of social conditioning and is fully aware of the possibility of what waits for her soon.” (Wan, 2009) In married life there are boundaries to keep by husband and wife and it is for their own good. Mrs. Mallard feels like that these boundaries are over controlling her. “And yet she had loved him sometimes. Often, she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!". The love she once felt did not compare to this new found feeling of freedom. She loves the new life she has been given and has no resentment towards her circumstances. “Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering. (Chopin, 1894) Mrs. Mallard wants her individual freedom but when Mr. Mallard shows up at the door, she was shocked and afraid while she might not have that freedom to herself.

            Nevertheless, “Marriage of course restricts freedom. Whoever marries, or even loves, gives up large areas of freedom?” I know that to be true, but sometimes in our married life if the wife and the husband fell in love with one another they are both free to make their own choices in marriage but share with one another the choices they are making. Berkove says, “its heroine dies, ironically and tragically, just as she has been freed from a constricting marriage and has realized self-assertion as the deepest element of her being.” I think Mrs. Mallard died because she was surprised to see her husband was still alive from the accident that happened. In the story, Chopin shows how Mrs. Mallard's dramatizes her feelings in the story:

“There would be no one to live for during those coming years, she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yes, she had love him—sometimes. Often, she had not. What did it mate! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

Free! Body and soul free!” she keeps whispering."

In these paragraphs, the narrator does a great job in taking us into Mrs. Mallard's mind. The second paragraph, Mrs. Mallard reductions love as minor to self-assertion. Mrs. Mallard recognized that self-assertion as the strongest impulse of her being. Married couples have disagreements during married life and may feel not much love for each other at a time. Yes, marriage of course restricts freedom, but can also bring freedom for many who find the right partner. 

            To conclude, I have read the story and see how Mrs. Mallard feels when she found out that her husband dies. When Chopin explains how Mrs. Mallard feels about how life will be after the death of her husband, it shows us that during their marriage Mr. Mallard was the one who controlled their married life. He makes decision for them. She even whispers to herself that she is “Free”. Married life does not have to be like that. I know for myself that there are good couples around the world who enjoy their married life. Marriage life doesn’t hold people back from their own freedom. Choosing the right spouse is the most important thing in married life. Choose someone who could love you and you love that person without end. A person who respects you and shares everything with you. Mrs. Mallard experienced a bad marriage, but that doesn’t hold us back from choosing the right person to marry and live happily ever after.

Reference 

Smith, Nicole. Language, emotion and marriage: Literary Analysis of “Story of an Hour.”   6,2011, pp.2-8.

Wan, Zuemei. “Kate Chopin’s View on Death and freedom in The Story of an Hour.” School of foreign language, Vol.2, No.4, 2009, pp.167-170.

 Berkove.I, Lawrence: Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” American Literary Realism, Vol.32, No.2,2000, pp.152-158.