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Jeffrey Hogan
Professor Cash
English 121
March 27, 2017
A Literary Analysis of The Story of an Hour
My analysis of The Story of an Hour will focus on tone and the characterization of the primary and secondary characters. The short story, written by Kate Chopin in 1894, is a testament of feminist literature that features a female lead struggling to control her grief after being informed of her husband's untimely death. The story opens with the Narrator warning the reader that Mrs. Louise Mallard has a sickly heart. Her poor health is a major theme that stalks her in the background and ultimately claims her life in the end. It is important to note that the reader does not need medical records to accept that she is ill, as the story presents clues that people are aware and worried about it.
What I found interesting in this story was the tone set by the Narrator and enforced by the main and secondary characters. The tone that Mrs. Louise Mallard is weak, in will and health. It is possible that Chopin unintentionally made her main character weaker than she intended by having all of the secondary characters treat her like a baby. Also, because of her supposed heart condition, the depressing event weighed heavily on her psyche and health, causing her to react irrationally and make decisions based off emotion. However in the end I believe that theme supports Chopin’s original intentions, just maybe not exactly how she wanted.

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	Richards, a personal friend of the family, learns of Brently Mallard’s death through his workroom telegram. Possibly disturbed by the news of his friend's death, he waits for a second telegram confirming what he suspected. Its unfortunate that the story doesn’t focus on the details
of Richards or Josephine’s characters as much as both characters showed compassion towards Louise’s situation. Because the story is so focused on one person, details of the other characters are lost, and some are left to think that Chopin was self-centered in focusing directly on her (Degener). However, keeping Brently Mallard’s true condition a secret was entirely necessary to the story.
	The room Mrs. Mallard retreats to seems to have a lot more meaning than can be seen at first. Her soft armchair that she curls up in, provides a deeper level of protection from her troubles. The window she peers out reveals more excitement than she’s had in her marriage. Her longing and unhappiness is further revealed when the Narrator declares “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not.” (Chopin). Through the misted window, she saw spring in its full, life renewed again as it does every year.
Chopin’s intentions for this story have been analyzed for decades and my conclusion from reading is that Louise transforms herself in what could be interpreted as a rebirth scene. When I read: “She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her” (Chopin), I was reminded of a phoenix; a mythological fire bird that upon death burns itself up and is reborn from the ashes. It is at this point that I believe she gives up her old self and acknowledges that she can continue on, although

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through deeper reading and other interpretations I could also come to the conclusion that she is still unconfident and terrified of the unknown; That death will come for her next (Shmoop).
	There are a lot of different outcomes that one could reach when analyzing this short story, some of them contradict each other and some even conclude she was afraid of technology (Foote). Regardless of how weird even some of my own interpretations ended up, I decided to pursue one
of them that could be of interest. I believe that Louise Mallard is scared of death. In her isolation she entered a place of true emptiness. During this time she struggled with the returning feelings that clouded her mind as “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.”(Chopin). In an attempt to return back to reality she uses her last remaining strength to overcome her intense grief with a fresh outlook on the world.
	Thinking of it now, the irony of Louise Mallard freeing herself from a contract life comes directly from itself. She was perfectly okay with her life before her husband was removed from the picture. It is only when she faces the world without the protection of marriage that she realizes that she has to adapt a self-fulfilling attitude. In some ways Chopin could appear to be anti-marriage, as marriage could be seen as oppression, and without it things become clearer.
	In the end, the strenuous process of mentally readying herself to face the sometimes cruel but enticing world led to her death. A fate as sudden as the news of Brently’s supposed death, the betraying emotions of joy and sadness crashing into each other inside of a fragile body. Perhaps Chopin wrote this story as a way to express her own difficulty in recovering after her husband’s death in 1882 from Malaria (Clarke). As a widow, she raised her 6 children with the help of her family and friends and then became a successful writer despite critics condemning her early work.
Work Cited

Clarke, Pamela. "KateChopin.org." KateChopinorg. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Foote, Jeremy. "Speed that Kills: The Role of Technology in Kate Chopin's." The Explicator. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Death in The Story of an Hour." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Degener, Cole. “Triadic Trouble: The Id, Ego, and Superego in “The Story of An Hour”
“ Web. 27 Mar. 2017.