The Story of an Hour - English 102 PDF

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The Story of An Hour: Women in the 19th Century During the 19th Century, women had little to no power. Most women were unable to follow their dreams. In The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, for Mrs. Mallard, death represents freedom. Her husband's alleged death releases her from the trappings of marriage and domesticity. When Mr. Mallard returns unscathed, Mrs. Mallard dies on the spot. Death is, in effect, her only escape. Throughout the story, Chopin uses plot structure, symbols, and social context that foreshadows Mrs. Mallard’s death. In The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Mrs. Louise Mallard is the protagonist. The story is told in third person omniscient point of view. This tells the complete story that’s not limited to the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard. When she was told that her husband was dead, she was sad, but later she realized that she can be more independent and live for herself. Later on in the story, she accepts the fact that her husband is dead and her reaction changes to a more subtle reaction. Close to the ending of the story, she discovers that Mr. Mallard is alive. Then, Mrs. Mallard dies due to her heart condition. The theme of the story is the struggle for freedom of women in the 19th Century. It was hard for women to feel free during that time period. Mrs. Mallard was finally free. “When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (Chopin 3). This means that her heart stopped when she saw that her husband was alive. She’s joyful because she is finally and officially free from her husband’s control-- through death. Mrs. Mallard's new life is beginning. Society expects her to act a certain way, dependent and sad, instead of being strong and free as she wants to be. Mrs. Mallard spreads her arms out to welcome her freedom. “...she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (Chopin 2). The open window symbolizes her freedom and the opportunities that are waiting for her after the funeral. “When she abandoned herself, a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (Chopin 2). She’s free. Mrs. Mallard believe she will live for herself when she thinks her husband died. There is no more crying when she realizes that, after the funeral, she’ll be an independent woman. She feels it building up inside of her, she fears it at first and tries to beat it back, but she can't. She realizes that her life now belongs entirely to her, she saw the long progression of the years to come that would be hers and hers alone, and she welcomed it, there would be no one to live for in the years to come, except herself. “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away in her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (Chopin 1). Crying was a part of Mrs. Mallard’s life with Brently; she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Mr. Mallard treated his wife as inferior and not as equals. She doesn't have to live under him anymore. In this instance, she values her freedom more than love. She thinks about how she loved Mr. Mallard, but more often she didn't love him. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier hoped to be an artist. Unfortunately, Edna couldn’t follow her dreams due to her position as a woman, wife, and mother. In the end, Edna commits suicide by drowning herself in the sea. The theme of the story is conquering all to find herself. Edna discovers that she can be her own person. Edna’s entire awakening is her search for independence and rebirth as a woman. The story was written in third person point of view, but it focuses on Edna’s point of view more than anyone else’s. Through Edna’s point of

view, she feels trapped by social expectations. Chopin uses symbols to foreshadow Edna’s death. She uses the sea and the birds to demonstrate her path towards her suicide. The sea symbolizes Edna’s freedom and her new life. It leads to her eternal freedom when she drowned in the water. Since water is known for cleansing and baptism, it can be conveyed as Edna’s rebirth. In the end, Edna goes to the sea, “The water was chill… The water was deep… the touch of the sea is sensuous, unfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (Chopin 1344). This was her last stage of her awakening. The sea was where she learned to swim and where she killed herself. I her viewpoint, the only way to escape her misery and social standing, was to kill herself. When she returns to the grand isle, the story creates a full circle. The island was her original awakening, and her final awakening. When Edna swims, she escapes society’s norms and begins to feel free. The first time Edna could swim, she was gaining control over her body and becoming aware of her potential. She realizes her body is hers, which awakens her physically, mentally, and emotionally. “The walk to the beach was no inconsiderable on, consisting as it did of a long, sandy path…” (Chopin 1263). This symbolizes all her struggles and difficulties. The path to the sea was Edna’s long journey to her awakening. As Edna destroys herself, she is also reclaiming her life. She is asserting that her life is hers; she is refusing to sacrifice it on behalf of society. The birds symbolize Edna’s life. Women of the 19th Century were trapped or seen as property in their husband’s eyes. It shows how women were caged by society and conveyed the freedom Edna wanted to achieve. It demonstrates the distinct differences in Edna’s behavior and mental state at the beginning and end of the story. “A bird with a broken wing was beating in the air, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water” (Chopin 1343). This show the birds’ death is a description of Edna’s death. The seagull represents Edna finally having the freedom she wanted so badly. It parallels her being “beaten down” and “battered” by the expectations of society and those of her family. In the beginning, the birds in the cage, said, “Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi!” (Chopin 1253). This symbolizes how Edna was caged. This was her original state: submissive, repeating only what it has been told, and trapped in a cage. The patriot gives the voice of Edna’s unspoken feelings. The caged birds represent the women in the Victorian Era, who were expected by society as playing no other roles but mothers and wives. To conclude, women in the 19th Century had little to no power. Throughout the story, Chopin uses plot structure, symbols, and social context that foreshadows Mrs. Mallard’s death. Mrs. Mallard believed she could live for herself when she thought her husband died. But, in turn of events, her husband was still alive. Then, Mrs. Mallard died from her heart condition. This way, like Edna, she was free from her husband and society through death. Work Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Ed Gilbert and Gruber. Literature By Women. Vol I. 3rd Ed. New York: Norton, 2007. Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour, archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/....