Great, Yet Terrible Reality
Photo by Maycon Marmo from Pexels
In the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin a woman by the name of Ms. Mallard comes to discover that her husband has recently deceased as a result of a terrible railroad accident. Before telling the tragic news to a recently widowed Ms. Mallard a friend of Mr. Mallard asked for a second notice to ensure that the husband had indeed died. After concluding that the man was indeed dead, Ms. Mallard receives the news and grieves for a short period of time after realizing that her husband’s death ensures her freedom. She however, dies soon after her husband appears in the front doorway. As a result of Ms. Mallard’s lack of freedom and the shock of her husband being alive, she held a tragic end to her own young life.
During the time that Ms. Mallard was living, women in her situation did not have much freedom and seldom had any rights or ownership to anything. Often times actually, they themselves were property to their own husbands. According to the text, Ms. Mallard was a very young wife and yet she was so stressed and had a serious medical condition. The texts even goes so far to mention that she had lines of “repression” within her face and a dull look within her eyes. Considering both the time period and the condition in which these women were treated, I wonder if this poor woman even got to see the light of dawn on her own without some kind of escort.
Furthermore, while the death of her husband was a little distressing, it only lasted for a brief amount of time. It seems that she quickly came to terms with the fact she was going to be free. The imagery used by Chopin also indicates that the outdoor scenery and atmosphere seemed to convey an entirely different perspective on her husband’s death. Generally when someone dies for example, it is dark, cloudy, and even rainy. The weather that Ms. Mallard experiences however, seem to display birds singing and a bright blue sky. It is this scenery that seems to make her conceive the thought of endless freedom and endless possibilities. The line, “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” (279) indicates that she was looking forward to many years of freedom and being able to live without having someone to control her life.
Considering how independent Ms. Mallard’s heart is, we can only imagine how tragic and shocking the news of her husband’s survival was. It seems that she was just trying to grasp the concept of living a life without her husband and then the moment that she comes to terms with everything, the dream dies suddenly before her. The most tragic occurrence is that her life was so short lived both metaphorically and literally. When her husband was around, her life was short lived due to her lack of freedom. As a result of this, it would seem that she may as well had been dead and then in irony, she died at the sight of her husband. A bitter reminder of a broken dream.
Ms. Mallard’s hopes and dreams for a life of freedom and independence came to an abrupt end thus abruptly ending her life. In this tale, the character moves from grief to rejoice and ends with despair and bitterness. I feel that Ms. Mallard’s life as well as her death emphasizes the importance of freedom and happiness within one’s life. This character died never being able to take risks and never being able to truly live.
Works Cited
Chopin, K. “The Story of an Hour”. The Norton Introduction to Literature (Digital Portable Edition), 11th Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. 533–534. VitalBook file
