Theme: The “Story of an Hour” was written in the late 1800’s where, at that time, women were owned by their husbands. There was a theme of feminism because when Louise found out her husband died, she whispered “free, free, free!” It seemed as if she thought of marriage as being a “crime” because she said “There would be no poweful will bending hers in that blind persistence…” She soon realizes that she doesn’t have to live for her husband and that she can be an independent woman.

Plot Structure: Story starts of with  Mr.Mallard being sick everyone thinking he is dead. Meanwhile Josephine is trying to comfort his wife, thinking she can’t handle the “tragedy” . Though his wife actually felt free now. She was actually relieved that her husband had died, which was nothing  like everyone had expected. Everyone thought she was just going to sit there and mourn about the death. Next Mr. Mallard comes back completely fine, nothing wrong with him. Which leads to the resolution of his wife actually dying. From “the joy that kills” which we think means that she was so overjoyed from the freedom she realized that she had, actually killed her.

Perspective-

The perspective of the wife shifts in the audience’s view as her true feelings are reveiled. Up until she is alone, her feelings can be interpreted as shocked and numb which happen when someone is devastated. However, when she utters the word “free,” the audience begins to see that she is not necessarily in mourning. To her, her marriage was a cage. An oppressive battle to live her life by her own free will, or to bend to her husband’s will as social norms would have it. In the late 1800’s, divorce really was not an option for her. His death truly was her only escape from her marriage, even if it wasn’t a bad marriage. 

Characters-

The characters at the beginning, Richard and Josephine, both take great care to break the news gently under the assumption that any good wife would mourn the loss of her husband. They expect her response to be dramatic and for her to lose her will to continue. Even to the point when Louise is in her room josephine comes to her while she is revelling in her new freedom and tells her that she will make herself sick with grief if she doesn’t stop. The characters exemplify the social norm while Louise defies it with unreal ideas for this time. Her early feminism reveals her differences from the other characters.

 

The story began with making the audience feel as if the character was taking the death of her husband harshly. Then it turns out that she feels a relief, which makes her life better. But at the end she ends up dying due to her husband being alive and she is scared of being overpowered again. 

“ She breathed a quick prayer….” (19)

“It was Brently Mallard…” (21)

“When the doctor…” (23)

“There would be no more…. Moment of illumination” (14)

Character Development:

The main character in Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is Mrs. Louise Ballard, whom is married to Mr. Brently Mallard. Throughout the story we learn about a terrible accident that has caused Mr. Mallard’s “death” eventually leading Louise to grieve for a temporary amount of time, that is until she realizes the one fruitful thing that has come with the news of her husband’s death-- freedom.

“She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair,... as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.” Paragraph 4 

“When she abandoned herself a little whisper escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over again, Free! Free! Free!” Paragraph 11

“But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” Paragraph 13

“What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized  as the strongest impulse of her being!” Paragraph 15

“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.” Paragraph 19

Setting- As Mrs. Louise Ballard carries on her life after her husbands death, she goes through the realization that she is free, and can finally have her own life. The setting is also parallel to her feelings, and her realizations. At the beginning of the story the whether and the surroundings are gloomy and dark. As she makes her realization the whether and the surroundings start to perk up and have a more positive outlook and hopeful feel. 

"There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that has met the piled one above the other west facing her window."
"Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be he own

The story takes place in the late 1800s, where there were many social conventions and gender roles. Women were basically their husbands property, that’s why Mrs. Mallard was so happy after the initial shock of her husband’s death, but then she realized she was finally free from her husband’s control. Paragraph 19: “Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her…” 

The weather reflects her new found freedom as well, although she hadn’t quite realized her freedom yet, and she was still in shock, the weather described is like the beginning of spring, flowers blooming, the smell of rain, it’s like a fresh start for her. Paragraph 5: “...the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air.”    

The time period also contributes to the main idea in that, in the late 1800s there were more trains, local newspaper offices, and telegrams. Paragraph 2: “It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received…”