Analysis of "The Story Of An Hour" by Kate Chopin
Analysis of "The Story Of An Hour" by Kate Chopin
I wrote my paper on “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. On the following pages, you will read about a character by the name of Louise. She was married at a time when marriage was not about mutual love. When she hears of her husbands’ death, she feels sorrow but is overcome with feelings of joy. Louise has found a freedom that she had forgotten she had. Louise is so excited to live her new life until tragedy happens again. I believe that Louise is a likeable character because she brings so much depth into the story. She takes us on a roller coaster of emotions. At first, you cannot help but pity her and then all of a sudden you wish you could feel like she does. I found Louise to be an example of a strong, honest, and open-minded women, I anticipate you will also.
The reader’s first impression is that Louise’s heart condition,” Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death”(Chopin 573), makes her a physically weak character. This made me feel sympathy for Louise. In addition, we know she is fragile when we are told, “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death”(Chopin 573).
In my opinion, Louise’s marriage was bringing her down and making her character feel old. Again, I feel sympathy for Louise due to the struggles she had with herself and her marriage. Chopin portrays Louise as a prisoner of her husband. This was not strange at the time Chopin was writing the story. Marriages were not always about being devoted to your spouse. We see this when Louise thinks “There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature”(Chopin 574). It was as if neither women, nor men had their own personal freedom.
At first Chopin has the readers thinking that Louise is an old character, but when we continue reading, Chopin tells us differently: ”She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines...