Analysis of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin contains a most unique theme of freedom within death. However, the miraculous and graceful way in which the character Mrs. Mallard meets freedom within death is exquisite. A sense of sadness is expected of a widow. Upon hearing of her husband’s passing Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment” indicating that she was indeed mourning her husband. Yet, Chopin twists descriptive adjectives like new, delicious, joy, dream and free into the description of Mrs. Mallard’s experience to promote a sense of freedom within an event that should be sad.
Chopin describes her death as something that was coming to her and she tried to beat it back. Then, uses words like ‘tumultuously’ to describe her bosom during what would eventually be revealed as heart disease. “Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body,” describes the heart disease or heart attack taking effect. Then, Chopin delicately weaves realization into Mrs. Mallard’s death and paints her as a spirit by stating, “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.” This describes the moment she begins to accept death and passes on. “She clasped her sister's waist” as a person on their death bed would clasp a hand. The imagery Chopin uses to describe death is eloquent and beautiful when most see death as dark and depressing. “The Story of an Hour” succeeds in painting death to be a sense of freedom through the central character, and resolves to reveal that Mrs. Mallard was the one who met her fate and not her husband in ‘the joy that kills’.
