The Story of an Hour

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to
break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.
It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that
revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It
was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster
was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only
taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to
forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.
She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed
inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,
in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her
room alone. She would have no one follow her.
There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she
sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to
reach into her soul.
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 was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some
one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the
eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that
had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.
She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless,
except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried
itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.
She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a
certain strength. 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.
There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was
it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping
out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the colour that
filled the air.
Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing
that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will
— as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. 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!" The vacant stare and the look of
terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her
pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her
body. 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. But she saw beyond that bitter moment 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. There would be no one to live for her 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 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!
"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring
for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg, open the door — you will make yourself
ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."
"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life
through that open window. Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her.
Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. 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.
She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was
a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of
Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs.
Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who
entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He
had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been
one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen
him from the view of his wife.
But Richards was too late.
When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease — of the joy that kills.
 Text Analysis – ‘The Story of an Hour’
The text analysis is dedicated to the novel by Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour”. Kate
Chopin was an American writer, represented realism. Her most famous stories are"
Desiree's Baby," “Awakening” and "The Storm". Her major works are gathered in two
collections of short stories “Bayou Folk “(1894) and “A Night in Acadia” (1897).
 Initially her stories appeared in magazines as “Atlantic Monthly’ and Vogue. The setting
of most of her stories is Louisiana; which is the northern part.
 Her prose style has proved to be unconventional and unique, as she was the first author
of her time, who reproduced strong feministic approach in her works.
Kate Chopin wasn’t a traditional housewife by herself, as well as her characters. She
wrote about what she actually had experienced and her major themes were dedicated to
marriage, love, sex, a search for independence and self-realization.
Her second novel “Awakening” was met with a wave of shock and disapproval. The
novel is dedicated to a married woman’s adulterous affair, which novel shocked both the
critics and readers, but established Chopin as a skilfully truthful and rebellious author of
the age. 
Nevertheless, her novels and short stories are still considered to be masterpieces, which
gives a strong insight into women’s rights, independence, sexuality and express a strong
feministic approach.
The novel deals with a story of Louise Mallard, a young woman, who feels immense
freedom only when her husband dies. While he is alive, she must live for him, and only
his death makes her life once more life become her own.
Louise is a woman of a new generation of women, who are sensual and independent,
who can free from their husbands’ will.
The basic theme of the story is joy of independence, burden of being married, struggle
for independence, women’s rights. The main idea is to show that marriage limits the
realization of a young woman, her will and desires. The author’s message is for women
to search for their self- realization before it’s too late, for them to realize their need for
independence, even if it’ll break the marriage.
The events described happen in a house. There are descriptions of Louise Mallard’s, the
main protagonist’s, room: “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy
armchair.” But the season of the year is stated, it’s early spring: “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 was crying
his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly,
and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.” What’s more, the nature in some
way reflects her emotions: “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there
through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her
window
From the point of view of presentation the text is the 3rd person narrative. “She sat with
her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair.”; “Josephine was kneeling before
the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission.”

In terms of the contextual type, the text is written mostly as narration with the elements
of description (“She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression
and even a certain strength.”; “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.
The most development of events happen inside the main character: at first Louise
Mallard gets to know that her husband dies in “a railroad disaster”, until she realizes that
she is finally free, but suddenly her husband arrives alive and healthy, but Louise’s heart
cannot overcome both the joy of her husband’s death and the sorrow of his return.

From the point of view of composition the short story is very interesting. Paragraphs are
short and primarily consist of only 2-3 sentences.
Introduction is omitted in the short story, making the reader immerse in the reading of it
from the first lines. The author uses special technique to circle the story: at the beginning
“a heart trouble” of Mrs. Mallard is mentioned, while in the end her “heart disease”
proves to be the reason of her unexpected death.
The first paragraph of the story can be viewed as the exposition, because the
protagonist of the story is introduced: “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a
heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her
husband's death.”
Then comes the development of events, which are dedicated to the inner development
of the protagonist, her revelations and affections. The climax of the story is unexpectedly
found almost at the very beginning of the story, when Mrs Mallard realizes her freedom
and independence from her husband: There was something coming to her and she was
waiting for it, fearfully…. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously…. 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 kept whispering.”
But the end of the story is unexpected and another sharp moment takes place, when Mr.
Mallard appears to be alive: “He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not
even know there had been one.
Metaphors perform important functions in the story. It shows that everyone cares of Mrs.
Mallard and doesn’t want to hurt her. Initially Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed and
stunned by her husband’s death: “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went
away to her room alone”; “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body
and seemed to reach into her soul” (with simile).
Her physical condition reflects her inner thoughts and feelings: “a sob came up into her
throat and shook her”; “lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.
Similes are very bright: “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the
same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” – such description of her
provides more grounds for viewing Mrs. Mallard as not a generalized image of a woman
of her age, but a new one, more independent and more feministic.
Antithesis is used to render the inner change in the main character: “There would be no
one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.”; “A kind intention or
a cruel intention”; “And yet she had loved him --sometimes. Often she had not.”
Anaphoric structure is found within the text, it makes the intention of Mrs. Mallard more
prominent: “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.
Emphatic structures are common for the text, they give more prominence to the
characteristic of the characters: “It was her sister Josephine who told her’.
Elliptical sentences are characteristic of Mrs. Mallard speech “Free! Body and soul free!
and are heavily found in the dialogues: "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you
will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."
"Go away. I am not making myself ill."
In conclusion, Kate Chopin is a brilliant author, who uses various stylistic devices, which
help to render the characters and the main themes vividly and convincingly. The most
vivid ones are repetitions, similes, metaphors, emphatic constructions, epithets and so
on. This story is definitely worth reading.