The Story of An Hour
The analysis of the short story “The Storm of an Hour” is related to marriage. It involves the story of two partners, Louise and Brently. Loise Mallard has heart disease, and so, she has to be politely told about the news of the husband’s death. However, we expect her to mourn, but after some time, she is happy, and she celebrates now being a widow and free, unlike when the husband was awake and sound. However, when Louise discovers that the husband has not died from the accident, she gets shocked. The doctors state that her heart reaches a point where the heart could not withhold and get shocked seeing him dead (Chopin). The wife also feels liberated due to her condition, where the husband has left her. She cannot deny that she is in a denial condition, a feeling and reaction that most individuals in such a situation could be feeling. The short story talks about the things hindering our peace and freedom and that the only way to achieve satisfaction in our lives is by letting these issues, people, and things out of our lives.
Mallard changes her mood and shocks the burial congregation when she appreciates the beauty of nature while others are mourning. And yet she had loved him sometimes. Often, she had not, and this highly influenced her character after the death of the husband. In most cases, when we receive bad news regarding the people, we love being dead or injured, our minds tend to have a refusal nature (Wan 168). This is because the minds find it hard to accept and also to bear the truth. The author of this story states that she does like what most people, such as other women, would do, that is, crying hard, with the abandonment feeling. This is after the storm of mourning and worry has spent its lonely time. She then decides to go back to her room. There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully All that she wishes now is to be alone and trying to think independently (Wan 167). She did not have an idea of the future plans and how to survive without the husband. At this time, she does not need any comfort from the surroundings as it is stated in the story, she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her (Chopin). However, while in her room, she cannot cry, but now starts appreciating nature’s beauty. She losses the anxiety she had before accepting that she will have to survive along in this life to exist without the husband. She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely, as a way of regaining back her happiness and freedom (Chopin). This expresses how even after we get peace, the freedom may not last for long, just like the title states as an hour.
While Louise is in her place, she becomes aware of nature through her window state, the freedom of space, and expression. This is about the “new spring life.” This feels that it is the first time she can realize and appreciate the beauty of nature. However, this story is ironic as a person who has lost their husband is not expected to be conscious at a higher rate to recognize and appreciate nature. No matter how nature may seem, a mourning person will always feel like they are in the darkness (Stein 58). After the husband’s death, Loise instead becomes in apposition where all her senses are awakening, which describes how much free she feels as, There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself (Chopin). There is also a story about “Emotions in the same story,” where Selina Jamil appears as a 19th-century woman who is dramatic enough to her selfhood (Chopin). This is a story that illuminates Louise’s power as up to this time; she is suppressed to be comfortable like social conventions for her to feel and experience fun.
When we dig into these two partners’ story, we learn that Brently is a man among those that tend to repress their wives instead of showing them the love that they may need, showing the lack of freedom and pleasure in doing things (Wan 168). This condition makes him define er marriage as slavery, rather than a place where she could have fun and enjoy. Even though she is aware that she would cry once she saw her husband in the coffin, she is also aware. She has not received enough love from Brently to mourn him as his husband with wild abandonment, which is why she spreads her arms to enjoy her window situation as mentioned that, she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome (Stein 62). Louise is highly excited about the death of her husband, and she expresses joy physically as now she is more satisfied.
In the other case of the “Storm,” Calixta happens to be the one demanding and regulative compared to Louise’s other case, where her husband is the most controlling one. This makes her life a struggle as she is always looking for peace and satisfaction. It seems normal in the 19th century for someone in the county to come home with muddy clothes. However, Calixta’s husband is exceptional and is afraid of how the wife treats him after he messes; she is excited and happy to receive the husband and Bibi (Shen). The happy meal they have as a family is rare in their home as most of the time, the wife is moody and does not want to lower their ego. At some point, Alcee’s wife leaves him to the beach, and Alcee ends up having sex with Calixta). Clarisse realizes this information is true, and she contends with the news. She takes her break to the shore as her first breath since she was engaged (Berkove). She also states that being in the marriage is an occasion that has helped her restore her pleasant liberty, where she cannot express herself due to lack of peace and freedom.
The Story of an Hour is a story that explains how people may have to take their time to sacrifice any hindrance to their peace. That some things have to happen within the shortest time possible, just as Calixta had to cheat when the wife is away and how her husband dies without any notice, therefore, these stores are related in that they reveal that sometimes, some things have to occur for us to live peacefully, or, for us to gain what we yearn for in life, such as peace and freedom in life (Berkove). Wanting to enjoy freedom among married people pushes them out of their marriages, a situation that may define them as polygamous.
In all these cases, the characters are looking for freedom, and we learn that we have to leave or get separated from our hindrances for us to gain it. However, all these stories are extreme and unrealistic, just like Louise gets happy when the husband is dead. However, we find that she has to do it for her happiness. She does this because she is emotionally and physically ill for being in a poor relationship, that instead of building her, she destroys her inner trust and energy (Wang 60). She feels that the control she entered into by getting married is worthy enough that her husband dies for her freedom. We have to keep in our minds that the time of the story is in the 19th century, and at this time, for a woman to leave their families was highly disrespectful to herself and society. However, Louise proves that peace is worth fighting for regardless of the beliefs in society.
In conclusion, sexuality is not the cause of everything, including peace and freedom, and people should choose what makes them happy or what gives them peace while in or out of the families. It may take time, or one may have to go through a storm in life, but it becomes the most effective when deciding on their next life steps. However, the decisions might be powerful in terms of bringing tension to society. Still, people should always consider doing things that are in line with their freedom and choosing people and things that bring peace to their lives.
Works Cited
Berkove, Lawrence I. “Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an
Chopin, Kate. The story of an hour. Joe Books Ltd, 2018.
Shen, Dan. “Non-ironic turning ironic contextually: Multiple context-determined irony in The Story of an Hour.” Journal of Literary Semantics 38.2 (2009).
Stein, Allen. “The Kaleidoscope of Truth: A New Look at Chopin’s ‘The Storm.’.” Short Story
Criticism, edited by Jelena Krstovic, vol. 110, Gale, 2008. Literature Resource
Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420082718/LitRC?u=berkeleycoll&sid=Li
tRC&xid=0f04911d. Accessed 29 Jan. 2018. Originally published in American Literary
Realism, 1870-1910, vol. 36, no. 1, Fall 2003, pp. 51-64
Wan, Xuemei. “Kate Chopin’s View on Death and Freedom in” The Story of an Hour”.” English Language Teaching 2.4 (2009): 167-170.
Wang, Xuding. “Feminine Self-Assertion in The Story of an Hour.” English Department, Tamkang University, Taiwan [1] (2007).
