The Story of an Hour

The Story of an Hour

The short story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is pretty touching and quite confusing. By reading the short story it is even impossible to imagine what will happen in the end.

At the beginning Kate Chopin warns about the heart problem of Mrs. Mallard in order to show how deep this woman can perceive terrible news and what impact it may have on her health. It was written in the newspaper about Mr. Brently Mallard, the husband of a main heroine of the story. It said that he was “killed” during the railroad accident. The grief of this woman arouses sympathy. It is really difficult to tell such news to an extremely sensitive person.

The author describes obscure emotions of a poor woman. She has lost her husband. What else she can feel except grief and sadness. Louise cries and does not want to talk or even see anybody. She locks herself in her room. And when she is alone with her thoughts and she observes surroundings that enjoy living, an unfamiliar and incomprehensible feeling seized her. It is the joy and the sentience of total freedom. Step by step she gets used to this strange condition and even enjoys it. She becomes almost happy. She feels free. Her eyes become keener and brighter. Now she is going to live for herself and not for someone else. She will have time for her personal needs, interests and work. It seems that she won back her own life. She cannot deny that she loved her husband, however at this moment she feels relieved. Her love to this brand-new freedom is stronger, than any other feeling.

The end of the story surprises and confuses. It arouses gladness that Mr. Mallard is alive, but on the other hand sympathy with Louise. Perhaps the reason for such an ending is that the woman should have not had this unnatural feeling of joy caused by her husband’s death. The appearance of Mr. Mallard kills her. Later the doctor will detect that the joy killed this woman.

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