THE STORY OF AN HOUR, AN ANALYSIS

“She was waiting for it fearfully…” Was it strength? Freedom? Or…happiness?

Strange feelings and intelligent thoughts keep lingering on Louise Mallard in “The Story of an Hour,” an extract from
Kate Chopin’s “Five Stories of an Hour,” that dramatically unfolds a married woman’s mix of emotions, confusion and
sense of independence- an epiphany of empowerment that she experiences following her husband’s death. A story
that centers on the reality of marriage and the role of women in the 1890’s and how an hour can change one’s life
completely.

Published in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” is a short fiction that explores Louise Mallard’s emotional ups and downs,
whose internal conflicts and yearnings for freedom captivate readers, leaving her free—at least briefly—from the
restrictions of married life Through Louise's thoughts, actions, and relationships, Chopin illuminates the societal
expectations and constraints of marriage in the late 19th century.

As Louise grapples with her emotions, Chopin employs vivid imagery and symbolism to convey her internal struggles.
The contrast between Louise's perceived fragility and her inner strength underscores the complexity of her character
and the societal pressures she faces. Focusing on Louise’s heart condition reinforces the societal expectations on the
portrayal of the female protagonist to be weak, frail, damaged and could break easily. Her physical weakness further
encourages the people around her—like Richards and Louise’s sister, Josephine—to stifle her emotions and
overprotect her. A foreshadow to the author’s implicit hint to what happens in the end, a subtle connotation
tantamount to Louise’s death.

The author’s significant reference on the central conflict of the story as she starts by mentioning Mrs. Mallard’s
‘heart trouble,’ impacts the way the reader sees her. Is it a metaphor for an unhappy marriage? Is it a reflection of
Louise’s relationship with her husband? Or is it an anticipation of the internal and emotional conflicts that Louise
ultimately faces in the course of the story…? Chopin’s ingenious criticism of marriage in general, not just on Brently
and Louise Mallard, is so profound. The story’s indicative theme on marriage emphasizing on the protagonist’s
perspective on how confining marriage is for her, the difficulties and emotional challenges it entails, much more on
how it hinders a woman to enjoy life, forcing two individuals to conform to certain expectations is an argument that
a lot of people are of similar situations.

Josephine's careful delivery of the news to Louise hints at the delicate balance of preserving societal norms and
revealing uncomfortable truths. Treating Louise’s condition in the literal sense, her sister attempts with “great care”,
to gently break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death, a scene that stirs up concern in the passage. The idiom “great care,”
means extra attention and more effort, subsequently followed by the adverb “gently,” which is an act of calm
manner, inciting consideration beyond what is normal. The “half concealing” way in which Josephine reveals this
information to Louise suggests a hesitation toward disrupting her sister’s identity as a committed wife, offering
“veiled hints” in an attempt to downplay the significant implications of his death.

Despite the minimal information that both Josephine and Richard provide about her husband’s passing, Louise
immediately understands that her life will change. The fact that she does not react “with a paralyzed inability to
accept its significance” suggests contrast to the usual response to the death of a loved one. The juxtaposition lies
when she is about to surprise the reader with the sudden shift of thoughts and emotions, when she walks in her
room alone, delineating that she is not the stereotypical woman she is predicted to be. This is a significant factor to
note that she is different, she is clearly upset at first as “she weeps at once, with wild abandonment” which is a
contrast to the common reaction to be hysterical or stupefied, yet hers insinuates willingness to accept the news. It
can be assessed to be the author’s depiction of her actions to be overdramatic and exaggerated.

Chopin’s use of the adjective “wild” in the way Louise Mallard reacted to the news of her husband’s death, in which
“wild” is known to being free-spirited, of being untamed, is a dichotomy to how a wife should behave in such difficult
time- a hint of a different perspective on how the society in general might see her within the norms of their usual
expectations. Her grief described as a storm metaphorically presents that Louise’s anguish is a natural force that’s
overwhelming, larger-than-life, and uncontrollable, nonetheless, just like any storm, it eventually ends and will pass-
implying that Mrs. Mallard will move forward and carry on after the fleeting agony of her husband’s death.

However, it is really important not to oversimplify her relationship with her husband, and judge that she doesn’t love
him and purely hates him because she ends up feeling happy when she’s alone in her room. No, this is not the case,
though it goes unnoticed, the affection is still there, nevertheless, subconsciously, the acceptance of the news comes
immediately, even if she has not still realized it herself.

Louise’s insistence on being alone, in contrary to the assumption that a woman or a wife who is in a similar situation
would be perceived to be weaker, especially with her “heart trouble,” therefore dependent on the people around
her, increases the sense of mystery. Mrs. Mallard finds relief on her solitary. The writer’s attribution to the solitude
as her way of comfort speaks volume on Louise’s desire for independence.

The repetition of “open” symbolizes freedom that she now possesses and the lack of restrictions that once contained
her, although these are her subconscious thoughts, these are the signs Louise is looking for. The setting where the
author places Mrs. Mallard, while pondering on her hidden and repressed feeling on being “free from the
confinement of her marriage” is actually what her husband’s death means to her. The choice of words, “comfortable
and roomy,” link to the context that a woman would only gain right to her property, both on herself and probably
even the material possessions—thus, insinuating that her husband’s death is the only possible course of action to
gain some sort of autonomy in her life.

The writer’s purpose is to characterize Lousie Mallard as a victim of the crucial times when a woman in the late
1800s doesn’t have the freedom in marriage, which the present day women now enjoy, and not to picture her as a
detached, cruel woman that others may seem to point out. “Sitting in a comfortable, roomy chair” is an opposite
environment of a woman in grief. The constant and normal situation would be “wallowing on the floor crying,” yet
she appears to be quite cozy and at rest, snugged in the spacious armchair while gazing out of her window, which is
at odds with the situation. On the other hand, the personification of the “physical exhaustion” that has taken over
her, where Chopin describes it as pressing down on her, haunting her body and reach through her soul, counters the
“comfort and freedom,” that Louise feels. A probable reminder to the reader from the author that Mrs. Mallard,
being the wife of a “believed to be dead husband,” is in agony, hence picturing her to be not a complete cold-
hearted and unkind woman.

The use of language and structure further reinforces Louise's journey towards freedom. Chopin employs imagery and
pathetic fallacy, such as the "aquiver" of trees and the "new spring of life," to evoke feelings of hope and possibility.
It is almost like the natural world offers signs of what her life will be and what’s in store for her following her
husband’s death. Adding a list of great possibilities in “the delicious breath of rain,” “the notes of a distant song,”
and “countless twittering sparrows” that represent hope, positive omens and joy. A spectrum that Mrs. Mallard is
aware of her surroundings and what’s happening outside her window, an important point of view for it visualizes the
public sphere, where people come together to freely discuss and exchange ideas about things that form society’s
opinion. It’s interesting to know that she’s becoming very much aware of what transpires around her. Furthermore,
those happenings in the natural world mirror that sudden nervous excitement on the unfamiliar jolt of freedom that
she currently goes through.

The representation of colour in the “patches of blue sky” illustrates how Louise looks forward into her future,
imagining all the opportunities that await her. “Blue,” a calming colour that effectually conspires with the vastness of
sky, where one’s vision is limitless, amidst the “clouds” that equate the terrible moment of Brently’s death. The fact
that Chopin mentions “the west facing her window,” reflects the significance of the sunset, the symbol for an end of
the day, which reiterates the foreshadowing events that will occur— at first for Mrs. Mallard’s supposed end of
marriage, thus end of her sufferings, leading towards a new and exciting life ahead of her widowhood, but eventually
results to the tragic and literal end of her life.

Transitioning again to support the notion that despite Louise’s intimate feeling of joy on her newfound freedom, her
sadness on Brently’s death is intensified when emotions took over her, when Chopin personifies her crying, “a sob
came up into her throat and shook her,” showing that she is not in control of her emotions at that particular
moment. Further enhancing it with the simile “as a child who has cried itself to sleep…,” creating a vulnerable image
of a shaken wife.

The character sketch and physical attributes that Chopin paints Louise Mallard differ with her actions. Portrayed to
be “young with a calm face” is a contrast to the “lines bespoke repression”, which takes the reader back to the first
part of the story, where the author highlights her “heart trouble.” All these suppressions and “a certain strength”
emboldens the writer’s insinuations on the physical and emotional toll marriage has on her and to the married
women in general.

Chopin’s repetition of “patches in blue sky” reiterates Mrs. Mallard’s strong consideration on her future after her
husband’s death, reminding the reader that she is hopeful on what lies ahead of her. Nonetheless, her “suspension
of intelligent thoughts,” gives the impression that despite her optimism that life is going to be fine, she has this
deferral from her enlightenment and seemed to be conditioned to return to mourn rather than rejoice, a split
response to what she knows is expected of her.

All the same, the reader starts to grasp the changes on Mrs. Mallard’s emotions in the subsequent scenarios. She
begins to sense some sort of bizarre feelings she doesn’t quite know, too delicate that she is unable to give it a
name; referring to that peculiar feeling with a pronoun “it.” “What was it?” The question that exhibits foreignness
and anonymity, leading to the belief that she has never experienced this kind of feeling, and could be interpreted as
a manifestation of joy, in awe and although alien to her, connotes euphoria. Additionally, the allusion to Mrs.
Mallard “like a goddess of victory,” when she “opened the door to her sister’s importunities” refers to the Greek
Mythology’s goddess of victory called “Nike”, a known representation of “triumph.”

Symbolism is highly explored by Chopin in “The Story of an Hour.” The heart denotes troubled love and foreshadows
death. It “opens and closes” the passage; the heart disease as the initial cause for everyone’s concern, since Louise’s
condition makes her delicate, then later causes Louise’s death upon Brently’s safe return. In this case, Louise’s ailing
heart has symbolic value because it suggests to the reader that her marriage life has left her heartbroken both in the
beginning and in the end. When she believes she’s finally found freedom, Louise prays for a long life...when just the
day before, she’d “had thought with a shudder that life might be long.”

Moreover, the house and its differences from outdoors serve as how Louise feels about her marriage: barred from a
world of independence. The contrasts these two symbolic images help the reader to understand how marriage and
repression have affected Louise and women as a whole. A setting that Chopin explores, giving the reader a picture
of Louise being confined to their home—both within the story and in general. For her, however, her home isn’t a
place to relax and feel comfortable. It’s more like a prison cell. All of the descriptions of the house reinforce the idea
that it’s closed off and inescapable. Everything about the outside is free, beautiful, open, inviting, and pleasant...a
stark contrast from the sadness inside the house.

As Louise realizes her freedom, as she repeats, “free, free, free” it’s almost as if her heart sparks back to life. Chopin
writes, “Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously...she was striving to beat it back...Her pulses beat fast...” These
words imply that, with her newfound freedom, the symptoms of her heart disease have lifted. The reader can
presume that Louise’s diseased heart is the result of being repressed, and hope brings her heart back to life.

Unfortunately, when Brently comes back, so does Louise’s “heart trouble.” The closing scene flatly highlights the
oblivious characteristics of her husband, being completely heedless to what was happening to his wife. Despite the
fact, that it was not explicitly stated that he is at fault, his reappearance snatched and ended Mrs. Mallard’s newly
discovered independence. And, although her death is attributed to joy, the return of her heart disease signifies the
loss of it, literally and symbolically killing her in the end.

The situational irony and twist in Louise’s death come as a shock and brings a sense of tragic to the reader. Louise’s
brief dream of a better future is totally quashed when she sees her husband at the door, a realization that she
remains to be his wife, hence her death serves as a metaphor to the death of hope. Certainly, this manifests that
women had little room to breathe, to hope and to dream, when their lives and their future are decided for them by
others. Louise Mallard’s death is two-fold, not only did she die physically, but she remains misunderstood even after
death as she was in her life, that even her memory becomes a prisoner to a man who is obnoxious to who she truly
could be.
In conclusion, "The Story of an Hour" delves into the complexities of marriage, gender roles, and societal
expectations in the late 19th century. Through Louise Mallard's journey, Chopin challenges readers to confront the
limitations imposed upon women and the profound consequences of societal norms on individual freedom and
marriage in general.

NOTE:

All (faint blue and red) texts that are highlighted in yellow show how Kate Chopin characterizes Louise Mallard

All black texts highlighted in sky blue plus faint blue texts highlighted in yellow depict the relationship of Louise
Mallard with her husband and her perspectives on their marriage as well as her relationship with her sister.