Analysis: “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
...s of being a wife in the 19th century. She envisions spending wondrous days with herself and prays that life will be long. When she finally leaves her bedroom and rejoins her sister and friend, she is abruptly shaken by the sight of her husband. She later dies of what the doctors called “a joy that kills.” When the reader beings the story, he/she may predict that it will be a sad love story about a widowed woman who loses her will to live. Chopin writes: “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, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.” This excerpt suggests that Mrs. Mallard is disheartened by her husband’s sudden death. However, after reading on, it becomes evident that Mrs. Mallard realizes that she is actually glad to spend the rest of her life as a widow. Chopin writes: “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" … Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.” One can feel empathy for the character and began to feel happy for her. This story was set in a time when women were looked down upon, and society’s expectations of them limited t...