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Louise suffers from a heart problem, which indicates the extent to which she feels that marriage has oppressed her. The
vague label Chopin gives to Louises problemheart troublesuggests that this trouble is both physical and emotional,
a problem both within her body and with her relationship to Brently. In the hour during which Louise believes Brently is
dead, her heart beats stronglyindeed, Louise feels her new independence physically. Alone in her room, her heart races,
and her whole body feels warm. She spreads her arms open, symbolically welcoming her new life. Body and soul free!
she repeats to herself, a statement that shows how total her new independence really is for her. Only when Brently walks in
does her heart trouble reappear, and this trouble is so acute that it kills her. The irony of the ending is that Louise doesnt
die of joy as the doctors claim but actually from the loss of joy. Brentlys death gave her a glimpse of a new life, and when
that new life is swiftly taken away, the shock and disappointment kill her.
Themes
The Forbidden Joy of Independence
In The Story of an Hour, independence is a forbidden pleasure that can be imagined only privately. When Louise hears
from Josephine and Richards of Brentlys death, she reacts with obvious grief, and although her reaction is perhaps more
violent than other womens, it is an appropriate one. Alone, however, Louise begins to realize that she is now an
independent woman, a realization that enlivens and excites her. Even though these are her private thoughts, she at first tries
to squelch the joy she feels, to beat it back with her will. Such resistance reveals how forbidden this pleasure really is.
When she finally does acknowledge the joy, she feels possessed by it and must abandon herself to it as the
word free escapes her lips. Louises life offers no refuge for this kind of joy, and the rest of society will never accept it or
understand it. Extreme circumstances have given Louise a taste of this forbidden fruit, and her thoughts are, in turn,
extreme. She sees her life as being absolutely hers and her new independence as the core of her being. Overwhelmed,
Louise even turns to prayer, hoping for a long life in which to enjoy this feeling. When Brently returns, he unwittingly
yanks Louises independence away from her, putting it once again out of her reach. The forbidden joy disappears as quickly
as it came, but the taste of it is enough to kill her.
The Inherent Oppressiveness of Marriage
Chopin suggests that all marriages, even the kindest ones, are inherently oppressive. Louise, who readily admits that her
husband was kind and loving, nonetheless feels joy when she believes that he has died. Her reaction doesnt suggest any
malice, and Louise knows that shell cry at Brentlys funeral. However, despite the love between husband and wife, Louise
views Brentlys death as a release from oppression. She never names a specific way in which Brently oppressed her, hinting
instead that marriage in general stifles both women and men. She even seems to suggest that she oppressed Brently just as
much as he oppressed her. Louises epiphany in which these thoughts parade through her mind reveals the inherent
oppressiveness of all marriages, which by their nature rob people of their independence.
Motifs
Weeping
Louises weeping about Brentlys death highlight the dichotomy between sorrow and happiness. Louise cries or thinks
about crying for about three-quarters of The Story of an Hour, stopping only when she thinks of her new freedom. Crying
is part of her life with Brently, but it will presumably be absent from her life as an independent woman. At the beginning of
the story, Louise sobs dramatically when she learns that Brently is dead, enduring a storm of grief. She continues
weeping when she is alone in her room, although the crying now is unconscious, more a physical reflex than anything
spurred by emotion. She imagines herself crying over Brentlys dead body. Once the funeral is over in her fantasies,
however, there is no further mention of crying because shes consumed with happiness.
Symbols
Heart Trouble
The heart trouble that afflicts Louise is both a physical and symbolic malady that represents her ambivalence toward her
marriage and unhappiness with her lack of freedom. The fact that Louise has heart trouble is the first thing we learn about
her, and this heart trouble is what seems to make the announcement of Brentlys death so threatening. A person with a weak
heart, after all, would not deal well with such news. When Louise reflects on her new independence, her heart races,
pumping blood through her veins. When she dies at the end of the story, the diagnosis of heart disease seems appropriate
because the shock of seeing Brently was surely enough to kill her. But the doctors conclusion that shed died of
overwhelming joy is ironic because it had been the loss of joy that had actually killed her. Indeed, Louise seems to have
died of a broken heart, caused by the sudden loss of her much-loved independence.
The Open Window
The open window from which Louise gazes for much of the story represents the freedom and opportunities that await her
after her husband has died. From the window, Louise sees blue sky, fluffy clouds, and treetops. She hears people and birds
singing and smells a coming rainstorm. Everything that she experiences through her senses suggests joy and springnew
life. And when she ponders the sky, she feels the first hints of elation. Once she fully indulges in this excitement, she feels
that the open window is providing her with life itself. The open window provides a clear, bright view into the distance and
Louises own bright future, which is now unobstructed by the demands of another person. Its therefore no coincidence that
when Louise turns from the window and the view, she quickly loses her freedom as well.
. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It
was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.
This quotation appears after Louise has gone alone to her room to deal with the news of Brentlys death. After an initial fit
of tears, Louise looks out her window at the wide-open spaces below. This quotation is our first hint that Louises reaction
to Brentlys death will be surprising and that Louise is very different from other women. Whereas most women would gaze
reflectively at the sky and clouds, Louises gaze suggests something different, something shrewder or more active. What
she sees as she gazes out the window is different from what other women would likely see after their husbands have died.
Not long after this passage, Louise acknowledges the joyous feeling of independence that Brentlys death has given her.
Here, at the window, the first breaths of these feelings are stirring, and her intelligent thought will quickly engage once
again as she processes these feelings and allows herself to analyze what they mean.
2. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might
be long.
This quotation appears close to the end of the story, just before Louise leaves her bedroom to go back downstairs, and
illuminates the extent of Louises elation. Before Brentlys death, Louise viewed her life with trepidation, envisioning years
of dull, unchanging dependence and oppression. The shudder she felt was one of dread. Now, however, she is free and
independent, and her life is suddenly worth living. Whereas she once hoped life would be short, she now prays for a long,
happy life. This passage, besides showing us how fully Louise feels her independence, also highlights the unexpectedness
of Louises reaction. Rather than dread a life lived alone, this solitude is, for Louise, reason enough to anticipate the future
eagerly. When Brently returns, she dies, unable to face the return of the life that shed dreaded so much.
Initial Situation
Mrs. Mallard has a weak heart.
This is the setup we need to know for all the events to come, as well as being a piece of characterization. The fact that Mrs.
Mallard has a weak heart changes the way everybody has to behave to her. She has to be handled gently so that her heart
doesn't get a shock. Just in case we forget, should she get a shock at any point, she could die. This results in instant and
constant dramatic tension.
Conflict
Mr. Mallard dies and Mrs. Mallard's friends have to break the news to her gently.
Not only has her husband died, Mrs. Mallard could very well die too upon hearing the news. His death puts them both in
danger. Mrs. Mallard's friends have to take special care in letting her know what happened so that she doesn't die also.
Complication
Mrs. Mallard mourns and tries to deal with her unusual feelings.
In the case of this story, the complication stage itself embodies the idea of complicated. We'll explain: Mrs. Mallard
complicates the traditional or expected reaction of a widow to a husband's death by reacting in a totally unusual way.
Instead of refusing to believe the news or take it in, she instantly grasps it and cries her eyes out, before going off to be
alone. All this is meant to show us that she's an unusual widow, and it prepares us for the climax to follow.
Climax
Mrs. Mallard declares that she is free.
Mrs. Mallard struggles with her grief, and then also struggles with a piece of new knowledge coming at her. She tries to
avoid it, but can't completely push it off. Finally, she succumbs to the realization that she is free, and that she's glad. After
the tragedy of hearing such bad news, and managing such changing emotions of grief and abandonment, Mrs. Mallard is so
overwhelmed by her feeling of freedom that she can barely whisper.
Suspense
Mrs. Mallard comes out of her room, meets her sister, and starts to go down the stairs.
Mrs. Mallard floats out of her room on the crest of Victory, feeling like she's conquered her sadness, her non-sadness, and
her new desire for freedom. She sweeps out of her room like a new person, stronger for her grief, and excited about her life
ahead. She's almost high with all the emotion and adrenaline floating about her as she keeps fixating on the idea that she's
free at last.
Denouement
Mr. Mallard walks in, far from dead, shocking everyone.
Suddenly, a totally unexpected thing happens: Mr. Mallard comes home. Everyone's shocked, except Mr. Mallard, who has
no idea of what's been going on. Even though Josephine and Richards are surprised too, they try to keep Mrs. Mallard from
receiving the shock. But they can't. As if getting a shock wouldn't be hard enough on her heart, she's got all these emotions
and excitement about freedom running through her body.
Conclusion
We readers have to piece together the fact that Mrs. Mallard has died based on what we know about her (the weak heart),
her shock on seeing Mr. Mallard, and the narrator's dry statement that Richards couldn't prevent her new shock. Between
that and the doctors' explanation for her death, we realize that Mrs. Mallard has passed away. Unlike her husband's death in
the train accident, there's no room for error or miscommunication there. She can't return. The events foreshadowed in the
"Initial Situation" have come true.