Story Of An Hour

In this short story analysis I have chosen the Story of an Hour written by Kate Choppin, it was published in 1895. This short story sets in the Mallards house; the story is named the story of an hour because it follows all the turn of events in the story that all happen in one hour. This one hour also happens to be the last hour of Ms. Mallard’s life. The story begins when Josephine, her sister breaks the news to Ms. Mallard of her husband Bentleys’ death. Ms. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief at the sudden news; she goes to sit in her room alone. She remained motionless for a while, but she couldn’t help but think about how she would be alone forever with no one to provide or take care of her, but then she begins to realize that now she …show more content…
Mallard loved her husband, but she also felt trapped in their marriage. Overwhelmed with grief at the news of his death, she was afraid that there would be no one to take care of her or provide for her. The setting of this story was back when it was frowned upon for people to divorce, or maybe even that long ago you couldn’t divorce. In the beginning of the short story it states how Ms. Mallard already had a fragile or troubled heart. Consequently this is because she was lonely her husband was working on the railroads and more often than not could leave for days at a time. He was the supporter of the family she was obligated to stay home, cook clean, and wait for him to come home. She probably felt like her life wasn’t going anywhere, therefore she was probably very unhappy. In my research it says how it never once implies that Mr. Mallard feels the same way, however it could have been possible that maybe he was unhappy as well …show more content…
Mallard faces a lot of conflicting issues here. In the end of the story, it was not the news of his death that had killed her it was the news that he was still alive. Now there is no indication in the story whatsoever that he ever mistreated her, was abusive or a bad husband, but after realizing she would be freed from the confines of marriage, she is excited to finally live her life as an independent woman. Then she sees Brently and realizes that her new found freedom is gone (www.enotes.com). There is also no indication that he understood how she felt, then again he couldn’t have known how she felt, or he did and he just didn’t do anything about it. Then again it seems as though he was not home much, so how could he know? Maybe it was his fault for never being around to notice. Overall we can assume from the story Mrs. Mallard felt trapped in the relationship whether or not it was Mr. Mallard’s fault. Furthermore, the news that he was not actually dead shattered the idea of her new independent life. She was devastated, it was too much for her heart to