(Written in Sep 2012)
Kate
Chopin effectively creates the element of surprise in "The Story of an
Hour" as the narrator carries the reader through the series of emotions
experienced by Mrs. Mallard in an evening's hour. We learn much about this
"feeble woman" in a few short paragraphs, and this knowledge leads us
to greater questions concerning the role of women during this era and the
effect of servitude on an individual. Although the overall tone of this piece
is tender, the reader is carried through a series of tonal shifts that are
produced through the powerful diction, symbolism, and imagery conveyed by the
narrator.
In
the first paragraph, the tone is rather tense and foreboding. The characters
are cautious and uncomfortable in breaking such formidable news to Mrs. Mallard.
The "broken sentences" and half concealed "veiled hints"
show how difficult it is for Josephine to impart the news of Mrs. Mallard's
husband's death to her. Mr. Mallard's friend Richard confirmed the knowledge of
his death through "a second telegram." From the beginning, we sense
the gentleness and tenderness that the narrator conveys through the actions and
attitudes of the other characters towards Mrs. Mallard. Because of her heart
trouble, great caution and gentleness are apparent.
Once
the reader is introduced to the situation and Mrs. Mallard's overall condition,
the reader is taken aback by Mrs. Mallard's reaction. Here the narrator conveys
that her reaction is abnormal. While most women in this situation would act in
disbelief, or "with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance, Mrs.
Mallard wept with "wild abandonment" in Josephine's arms. As the
reader gains more knowledge in the later narrative, he or she is led to
question whether Mrs. Mallard is really expressing deep sorrow, feigning sadness,
or expressing excited relief from years of captivity. Here the tone is rather
tragic and unusual at the same time.
The
narrator allows the reader to see into Mrs. Mallard's heart and her true
feelings after Mrs. Mallard resorts to "her own room alone." The
imagery throughout the narration is remarkable. The first things Mrs. Mallard
faces are "the open window" and "a comfortable, roomy
armchair." Certainly, the open window is representative of the new
possibilities available to her now that her husband is gone. This is further
confirmed when she views "the open square." Before this though, she
sinks into the chair "pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted
her body and seemed to reach into her soul." Mrs. Mallard is feeling the
weight of everything that she has endured for many years. But once her eyes
focus on the "open square," she sees all the new possibilities that
are available to her now as a widow. Her senses become alive as she beholds
"the tops of trees...aquiver with the new spring life," as she smells
"the delicious breath of rain," and as she hears a peddler, someone
singing, and "countless sparrows...twittering in the eaves." In
noticing life beyond the walls of her home, Mrs. Mallard is beginning to feel
full of hope and life. These are evidently foreign feelings to her.
The
imagery of the "patches of blue sky showing here and there through the
clouds" allows the reader to feel Mrs. Mallard's emotions further. In a
few short moments, she continues to see her husband's death as an event that is
offering her new opportunities, new life, as she is suspended in
"intelligent thought." The patches of blue certainly do indicate
those things that are ahead and "coming to her." There is uncertainty
in "the sounds, the scents, [and] the color that filled the air." But
there is also great anticipation. As her "bosom rose and fell
tumultuously," Mrs. Mallard is flooded with the emotion of being free. In
the privacy of her own room, she is allowed to experience these new emotions
and the consequences of them. No one is present to encourage her to beat them
back in order to protect her delicate heart and feeble disposition. "Her
pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her
body." In her comfortable chair, she has experienced a profound renewal of
life. Here the narration conveys a tone of thankful relief. The character has
endured her lot in life well, and now she is finally free to pursue her own
dreams, her own interests. She is free.
Further
reflection shows that "she would weep again" when she saw her
husband's "kind, tender hands folded in death." But she quickly
"saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come"
which she would own. The tone of joyful rapture quickly takes over as "she
opened and spread her arms" in welcome of owning her own life.
"'Free! Body and soul free!' she kept whispering." The "very
elixir of life" was pouring "through that open window." The
narrator helps the reader to feel the triumphal victory that Mrs. Mallard is
experiencing through the choice of words used and through the powerful use of
imagery.
Unfortunately,
for Mrs. Mallard, her new-found victory is short-lived. She discovers that her
husband is still alive when Brently Mallard returns home unaware that there had
been an accident. The doctors said that Mrs. Mallard "died of heart
disease--of the joy that kills." But the reader has seen the events of
this evening's hour and knows that Mrs. Mallard's hopes were too soon shaken.
The
narrator takes the reader through the series of emotions felt by Mrs. Mallard.
With great delicacy, the narration shifts from surprise, to relief, to
anticipation, and back to surprise, but always with an overall tone of great
tenderness that is expressed and developed for Mrs. Mallard through the actions
of the other characters, through the imagery that conveys approaching
possibilities, and through the symbolism found in those possibilities that
represent freedom for Mrs. Mallard. Yet Mrs. Mallard's abrupt death leaves the
reader pondering the causes of her malady. Once she has had a mere taste of
belonging only to herself, she can no longer fathom giving her life back to
another.
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