Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin - Essay Example

            Opening in a grave tone, Chopin introduces the protagonist of the story, Louise Mallard, about to receive the tragic news of her husband’s death. As she takes in the news, the reaction that overcame her was shown to be peculiar than what is expected from most women who learn of their better half’s death.             “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” (Chopin, par. 3). In a third-person omniscient point of view focused on the main character of the story Mrs. Mallard, the writer allowed the reader to experience the text with the other characters as co-observers in the unveiling of Mrs. Mallard’s fate in an hour.             The flat characters of the story, Josephine and Richards are agitated. In the living room, the two broke the news, fearful of her inherent vulnerable physical condition.

It was the beginning of spring and the airy and homey feel of the house contrasts the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Conveniently, a comfortable armchair is set that became the refuge where Mrs. Mallard fell into and cried (or at the very least tried).             The reader is acquainted with Mrs. Mallard, a fragile, unsteady but invariably strong-willed character, and her story behind the aesthetic story. The short story in the subtlest possible way conveys a deeper tale that presents itself in the forms of marital woes and maybe even domestic violence.

A loveless marriage conjured and perpetuated for the sake of a show of longevity. This is the story of a woman’s subservience and passivity toward male dominance especially common in a marriage. Mrs. Mallard, a housewife, is now within the grasp of her freedom thru her husband’s death. With the use of insinuating devices, Chopin depicts Brentley Mallard as the antagonist, responsible for the circumstance and outlook of Louise Mallard.             She is quite perceptibly the round character in the story.

From the delicate almost breakable and yet stoic cynicism outlook, she is transformed into an optimistic anticipatory character. From someone confounded by the grueling hours that seems like an eternity, she becomes a woman filled with verve and expectancy for what the future holds for her. A life she can live for herself. As she peers into the window, with her sister misconstrued by the thought she was morose and grieving, she sees the opportunity the world now holds for her. “Louise open the door…you will make yourself ill” (Chopin, par. 15). Her sister bangs on the door, filled with concern, while she is inside the room occupied with her exuberance.