The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Order ID | 53563633773 |
Type | Essay |
Writer Level | Masters |
Style | APA |
Sources/References | 4 |
Perfect Number of Pages to Order | 5-10 Pages |
Paper instructions:
Write an essay in which you describe your impression of Louise Mallard at the beginning of the story and how this impression changes as the story progresses. Use specific details from the story to clarify the reasons why your understanding of Louise changes, thereby causing you to revise meaning. Finally, discuss how her character contributes to the message or theme the author wishes to leave with us.
A rough draft is due on Tuesday February 27th 11am, final due March 5 11am.
The Story of an Hour Louise Mallard Character Analysis
The vignette The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a feminist literary piece that explores the reaction of a woman known as Louise Mallard to the news of her husband’s death. Mallard suffers from a heart condition that predisposes her to risk when she is startled, therefore, her sister subtly breaks the news to her. Contrary to the norm, Mallard takes in the news positively and she believes that it heralds an era of freedom for her. In the beginning, Louise Mallard is seen as a frail ailing woman who has just lost her husband, end readers are bound to feel sympathy towards her. However, her indifference towards her predicament as the story progresses prompts readers to view her in a different light. Upon receiving the bad news, she cries dramatically, rather than experience the numbness that most women in her position would. Louise Mallard is a selfish woman who exploits her circumstance to pursue her misplaced desire for independence.
“She wept once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.. When the storm of the grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (Chopin). Mallard exhibits selfishness in her moment of grief. She opts to go to her room alone to avoid betraying her feelings of indifference towards her situation to other people. While it may be assumed that Mallard is a committed wife, only bedeviled by her condition and circumstances, this perception rapidly wears off upon seeing her reaction towards her husband’s death. As the vignette progresses, the character is viewed as selfish, as she only thinks of her freedom. She uses the death to facilitate her self-centered dream of independence. While the institution of marriage is regarded as a facilitator of company and mutual love, Mallard views it as a prison. The character looks forward to a life of “years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin).
Louise Mallard is the center of attraction in the movie, her predicament makes her a very lovable individual. The book presents her as the protagonist, although she has a heart problem, she is able to survive the bad news of her husband’s demise. The author initially presents her as a hapless woman who is to be handled as delicately as possible. The readers’ perception of the woman is immediately flipped when she exhibits a certain type of strength upon being informed of the death. She describes Mr. Mallard as a loving person who has always loved her. Louise on the other hand, is not sure whether she loves her husband. She shows her cold side when she is relieved by the death of her husband. 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!”
Mrs. Mallard looks forward to her looming independence with glee, and this makes the reader wonder whether her husband may have wrongly treated her to make the woman develop such a strong disdain for him. However, the woman is central to the lives of everyone in the book and it is highly doubtable that Mr. Mallard could have harmed her in any way. Mrs. Mallard does not appreciate her husband’s affection, and his death is an opportune reason to rid her life of his influence. “Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering” (Chopin). The audience quickly abandons its sympathy towards the woman because she seems shortsighted when she disregards her loving husband and welcomes his “death.” She is ready to abandon her affectionate husband for the prospects of freedom, and this is the epitome of egocentricity.
Louise’s character reveals selfish desires can cloud the beautiful aspects of the institution of marriage. While the reader expects the woman to reciprocate her husband’s love and be supportive of him, she views his actions as a way of vindicating the perceived hegemony he enjoys over her. Readers’ initial sympathy for the woman wears away after she forsakes the love and compassion she gets from her marriage for the pleasure of being the driver of her destiny. Her terrible character is also compounded by the fact that the man genuinely loves his wife, yet she does not recognize it. Millard does not specify the way her husband oppresses her, she only postulates that marriage smothers her. She gazes at the open window symbolically as she longs for the freedom that awaits her; however, her husband is a caring person and since it is not mentioned if he inhibited her desires, her mentality and perception of marriage is viewed as her undoing.
The author, Kate Chopin portrays the stereotypical roles of women in marriages. She presents Mrs. Mallard as a woman who is attached to her husband due to her condition. At the beginning, the woman is known as Mrs. Mallard, and the title changes as she is liberated from her marriage, with Josephine referring to her simply as “Louise.” Her husband is overly helpful to her, and he does not allow her to uncover her innate abilities, and this does not augur well with the woman. Her character contributes to the theme of female emancipation because she celebrates her freedom which comes at the cost of Mr. Mallard’s life. When she finally gets out of her room, she “carries herself like a queen down the stairs” (Chopin). Her demeanor is symbolic of her impending free life from the expectations of marriage; however, her independence is short-lived as her husband returns home to her chagrin, and she collapses and dies. Louise’s death is a price she would rather pay than return to the bondage of marriage. Her character illustrates the shackled life that is the norm in the society, her temporary freedom presents her with a momentary breath of fresh air.
Mallard’s husband was kind to her; however, she regarded their marriage as an imposition of his will upon her. The lady seemingly misconstrues her husband’s just intentions for her as false portrayals that were meant to further his interests over her. The reader is bound to be appalled by this notion coming from an outwardly innocuous woman. Throughout the story, the man is presented as an individual with the best intents for his wife and their marriage, and the woman is presented as insatiable and hard to please. While the institution of marriage involves compromises and is to be cherished, the woman views it as a prison. Mr. Mallard evidently makes sacrifices to care for his ailing wife; however, her desires drive her to resent him. The climax of her self-centeredness is her joy at the prospects of leaving the marriage following the death of her husband. Mrs. Mallard is a revolting character because of her disregard of the union between her and her husband, and her pursuit of her selfish interests in spite of the fact that her husband has been kind towards her.
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