Literary Analysis "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

Subject and Section Professor’s Name Date The Cost of Dreaming: What Happens with a Short-Lived Freedom Caught in between these moments of illusory freedom, one may experience the heights of happiness as well as the depths of hopelessness; Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” reveals the truth about the emotions of the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, having learned about her husband's death, and the tale is infused with a subtle irony that ended in tragedy. Presented as a woman with heart problems, Mrs. Mallard secretly rejoices at the realization of a future with no more responsibilities and no husband upon assuming his death (Chopin 16). As Chopin writes, this revelation incites a dramatic emotional disturbance in Mrs. Mallard, who pines between her newfound freedom and death, and it is with this revelation that she dies – tragically discovering that her taste of liberty was only an oppressive illusion (20). This moment of clarity, though tragic, reveals Chopin's message about the rigid aspects of marriage and women's societal roles through which Mrs. Mallard's death can be viewed as liberation and a tragedy simultaneously at the same time. First, the liberation story begins with Mrs. Mallard reacting to the news of her husband's death, which allows the reader to learn about her independence. Upon the news of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard responds with what is referred to as natural grief: "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms" (Chopin 15). This immediate response is typical within the societal framework of being a widow, but what next is a somewhat nuanced grieving process. As she goes to her room alone, the mourning turns into something unknown...