Miss Brill Plot Analysis
Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is the compelling short short story of the loss of love, but in return, the gain of freedom. The main character, Mrs. Mallard, "loses" her husband, but soon realizes that she has acquired a new life for herself. The plot of "The Story of an Hour" centers on Mrs. Mallard and her reaction to the news of her husband's death. The story itself opens to tell the reader of Mrs. Mallard's heart condition, thus the reason her husband's friend, Richards, and her sister tell her gently of the grave news of Mr. Mallard's passing away. The wife "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment," which suggests that she does possess a bond, if not a love, for her husband. The fact that Chopin mentions how Mrs. Mallard skips past the first stage of loss, which is shock, and goes directly to the next stage, grief, prepares the reader for the woman's equally quick recovery to the news. The conflict of the story itself arises when the assumed widow realizes she has these feelings of happiness, even though she tries not to acknowledge the strange emotions.
Finally, the "widow" lets her impulsiveness take over. In this brief amount of time happiness is now her only emotion, and she lets it take complete control over her. To this woman, who would have been married for the longer part of her life, self-possession is the thing she coveted the most, and she has just acquired it. This new outlook on how her life will be from this day forward is an exciting thing to Mrs. Mallard. "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." These feelings can be seen to today's readers as those of an individualistic person, pushed into a life overseen by some type of authority, and finally set free. Ironically, however, the freedom that Mrs. Mallard has so suddenly gained is short lived. As she walks back down the stairs, she is met by her husband. He was falsely presumed dead, and thus his wife's freedom was also falsely presumed. At the sight of Mr. Mallard, the heart condition of the woman mentioned at the beginning of the story can not take the shock of this realization. While her
Some common words found in the essay are:
Despite Mallard's, Chopin's Story, chopin's story, heart condition, Kate Chopin's, kate chopin's story, kate chopin's, short lived, loss love, gain freedom, mallard reaction, free free, falsely presumed,
Approximate Word count = 753
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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