The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour”, opens with Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband’s death from her sister Josephine, and her husband’s friend Richard. Richard was informed that Mr. Brently Mallard led the top of the list of persons killed in a railroad disaster. After breaking the news to Mrs. Mallard, who suffered from a bad heart, they watched her weep wilding. Mrs. Mallard retreated to herself and continued to, as any woman in her situation, mourn the loss of her husband. In a surprising turn of events, we see Mrs. Mallard proclaiming that she is “free, free, and free!” She was overwhelmed with emotion but this time it was joy. She noticed that she was free to live her life for herself. Josephine, her sister, became worried about her state and tried to comfort her. To Josephine’s astonishment, Louise, saluted her with a triumph in her eyes. She grabbed hold of her sister’s waist and proceeded down the stairs to rejoin Richard. Someone was at the door; to everyone’s shock it was Mr. Mallard, the man everyone thought dead. Brently was alarmed by Josephine’s cry and Richard trying to shield him from the ghastly sight. Mrs. Mallard with her ailing heart had died.

Mrs. Mallard seemed to be having a dilemma within her. She was highly alleviated knowing her husband died, which would not be a typical reaction of a woman who just lost their husband. She claimed that she loved him but only sometimes. Often times she had not. This ascertains her conflicted emotions when it concerned to her husband. At first she wept as a normal woman hearing the news of their mates passing. She dealt with the passing with grave emotion until she realized that her husband’s death had freed her of imprisonment. She now threw any idea of sadness out of the window and embraced the happiness of her being a free and single woman.

Though we have not learned much about Mr. Mallard, we can conclude that he was a typical man of the era. He seemed to be overpowering; the “man”...