This duality of response evokes a sense of conflict within her. She is excited with the opportunity that has been thrown before her, joyfully looking forward to a life where she could exercise her own will.
The story of an hour annotations full#
She finds a contradiction in her own response to her husband's death, while she mourns and laments in front of society, her personal response is full of hope and a new life. Her response to her newfound freedom is full of hope, she desires to live a life truly for herself.
The story of an hour annotations free#
She feels free from the shackles of her marriage and society after the death of her husband. The lady's response to her husband's death is quite contrary to what the readers of contemporary times would expect. The lady suffers from heart disease, therefore, her friends and family take immediate care to break the news gently to her to avoid any harm on her life. In her short story "The Story of an Hour", she narrates the ordeal of a woman who is informed of her husband's death in a train accident.
Kate Chopin, writing in the Victorian times, explicitly attacked the fundamental laws of the society in her works. (c) Mrs Mallard died out of the "joy that kills". Contrary to our expectations we find Mrs Mallard seeing and hearing things that represent a promise of hope and new life as she finds herself free for the first time in many years to exercise her own will and live truly for herself. Mrs Mallard's initial reaction to her husband's death is grief and as readers we expect her to hear and see things that are dark and sad that represent the loss and gloom in her life after her husband's death. Her husband's death has set her "Body and soul free". She feels alive by the music of life, free to follow her own will and live her life on her own terms and conditions. She is freely noticing and feeling the prospect of freedom that awaits her. Mrs Mallard in her room hears the sound of the "new spring of life." She notices the trees, and smells the delicious breath of rain and hears "notes of a distant song sung nearby "and countless sparrows twittering in the eaves." Her husband's death has awakened her in the true sense. The momentary grief when leaves her, she retires to her room to be left alone for some time, perhaps to think about her situation after her husband's death. The news leaves her shattered and she "wept at once." in wild abandonment in her sister's arms. Mrs Mallard is grieved and shocked to hear about the death of her husband. Describe the significance of what she sees and hears from out of the window. (b) Mrs Mallard looks out of the window to discover a new spring of life. She was set free by his death to follow her own will and live life on her own terms with no burden and bending of will. This shows that Mrs Mallard's identity and individuality could have been retrieved only after her husband was gone. This was her true identity in society and therefore Chopin withholds her name to showcase the true position of women in Victorian society and in the marriage.Ĭhopin reveals Mrs Mallard's first name is announced after the death of her husband.
There was no significance attached to her name Louise alone as she was nothing without the surname Mallard. She had learnt to live under the burden of an unhappy marriage, becoming a shadow to her husband and being recognized in the society as Mrs Mallard. Louise too has been suffering from this claustrophobic marriage, losing out on her freedom of body and soul for years. There is no freedom as the woman is forced to bend her will and desires and mould them around her husband's. A woman lost her identity as an individual self, burdened forever under the name of her husband. Kate Chopin withholds the protagonist's name in the short story "The Story of an Hour" to highlight the identity crisis that a woman suffered post marriage. Thus, the identity of women was restricted to the domestic sphere, bending her will to please her husband always. The legal rights post-marriage of all the entities were transferred to the man as marriage created man and woman as one entity with man superseding the representative and ownership rights. The Victorian era had stripped women of their lawful rights to own property, cash and land as soon as they were married. Her works depict Victorian morals, ideologies as prevalent in society. Kate Chopin was a writer of the nineteenth century. (a) With reference to the short story 'The Story of an Hour ascertain the reasons why Chopin withheld the first name of Mrs Mallard at the beginning of the story.
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