Complete Stylistic Analysis
Taking into the consideration all my previous posts in
the blog, I can now give a full analysis of the following story.
The text under consideration is "The story of an
hour" written by Kate Chopin. She was an outstanding American author of short stories and
novels. She is now considered to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of
the 20th century. At first Kate Chopin wrote short stories for both children
and adults which were published in such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue,
The Century Magazine, and The Youth's Companion. Her major works were two short
story collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Chopin also
wrote two novels: At Fault (1890) and The Awakening (1899). As for the literary
themes, Kate Chopin had different lifestyles throughout her life. These
lifestyles provided her with insights and understanding that permitted her to
analyze late 19th century American society. Many of her stories and sketches
were about her life in Louisiana and incorporated her less than typical
portrayals of women as their own individuals with wants and needs. The title of
the story attracted me the most.
Now, I’ll dwell upon the title - "The
story of an hour", which has an immense meaning in it, thus, giving the
reader a great foot for thought. When I first read the title, it attracted me and I anticipated for reading and for deep consideration. Few
questions may arise when we think over the name of the story. What does it mean
an hour in the life of a person? And what can the person do in an hour?
Considering the modern pace of people's life, I can say that an hour in average
means nothing. And just reading the title we can plunge into the world of
imagination.
I think, the author of the suggested work focuses on such topic as a negative view of marriage. Every
individual takes a different approach when enduring the loss of a loved one.
Whether, it is bursting into tears or being miserable. When a wife loses her
husband, she typically tends to be in a state of depression. The feeling of
losing your significant other is a piercing agony going through one’s heart,
but in this case the feeling of lost can turn into someone’s freedom.
To my mind, in this short-story the main idea and the message of the narrator
are one of individuality, in that without declaration of the true self, life is
not worth living.
As for the setting of the story, the events are taking place in a flat.
The type of narration is mainly narrative, with
the elements of dialogues and descriptions, and the narrator's comments. It's
3d person narration which creates the atmosphere of objective observation of
events by an omniscient narrator The compositional structure includes
such parts:
Introduction: Here we are introduced to the main character and got
know that, because of Mrs. Mallard's heart condition, everyone basically
tiptoes around her and treats her carefully. When her sister and family friend
discover Mr. Mallard got killed in an accident, they take time to gently tell
Mrs. Mallard that her husband has died. For Louise Mallard she had an erratic reaction when
she was informed that her husband has been allegedly killed in a train accident.
Mrs. Mallard cries her eyes out, then goes to her room to be by
herself, locks the door and sits in front of the window in desolation.
Development of events: In this part the reader is put into the protagonist’s
memories and recollections of the marriage life. Inside, Mrs. Mallard seems
terrified of some knowledge that's coming to her and finally realizes that it's
her freedom. Even though she and her husband loved each other, and she's truly
saddened by his death, she feels liberated and free for the first time. She
looks forward to the days ahead instead of dreading them. She begins to ponder how her life would be
without her husband. The sorrow that Mrs. Mallard felt at the beginning; slowly
turns into joy. “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin 40). She knew that she
should grieve over her husband like a wife was supposed to do, but internally
her new found independence takes over. Finally she gets to live for herself and
do the things she had longed to accomplish. It is safe to say that she does not
see this as a misfortune but as an opportunity, as if she were given another
chance at life.
Climax: While Mrs. Mallard is having this epiphany, her sister keeps trying to
check on her. Finally, Mrs. Mallard comes out of her room, newly resolved, and
she and her sister start to go downstairs. Suddenly, the very not-dead Mr.
Mallard comes in. When Mrs. Mallard sees him, she has a tremendous shock and
dies.
Suspense and denouement: Louise Mallard had been so close to being finally free but as it turned
out Brently Mallard had not died. Ironically her sequence of emotions
ultimately led to her death. The fact that she dies at the end of a simple
“heart disease” shows that her misery stem from internally oppose to external
emotions. The freedom that she nearly could have tasted was gone.
The personages' characteristics and descriptions are mostly
indirect.
At the beginning of the story, the author describes
Mrs. Mallard as a woman having the distinctive trait of self-assertion which is
constrained by her marriage. She seems to be the "victim" of an
overbearing but occasionally loving husband. Being told of her husband's death,
"She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a
paralyzed inability to accept its significance." This shows that she is
not totally locked into marriage as most women in her time. Although "she
had loved him--sometimes," she unconsciously does not want to accept
blindly the situation of being controlled by her husband. Mrs. Mallard is not a
one-dimensional, clone-like woman having an expected, acceptable emotional
response for every life condition.
The author widely uses a lot
of stylistic devices and expressive means to put the reader in the
atmosphere of the story, to make the descriptions of characters more deep and
bright.
The story opens with the
foreshadowing of the main character, Mrs. Mallard’s, death. The author
initially informs the reader of the woman’s heart condition to allow for
further developments later in the story. Through the paradox, “the joy that
kills”, Chopin alludes that in the end it will be Mrs. Mallard’s joy that is
the cause of her demise. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to the news of her husband’s
death gives reason to believe that she had already accepted the “death” of her
marriage. The end of their relationship did not come as a shock and she was
able to accept its significance, something a devoted wife could not do. This is
why Mrs. Mallard was able to instantaneously begin to grieve and to weep with
“wild abandonment”. Within minutes, upon entering her room, she was struck by a
calming peace, and was overcome by a feeling of control and serenity. The
feeling that possessed her is symbolic of the change that she could not
contest; the unrelenting factor that fate plays in a person’s destiny. The
imagery that aids in the plot and meaning of the story is that of nature. There
is a direct correlation between the time of renewal and rebirth in nature and the
reawakening of the woman’s freedom. Although the death of a person is typically
associated with seasons of death, Brently Mallard’s supposed death takes place
in the spring. As she looks out the window, Mrs. Mallard is confronted by the
freshly fallen rain, and the newly grown trees, all symbolic of her new-sprung
freedom. The clouds, a metaphor for the shadows that hovered over her marriage,
begin to part and make way for a fresh beginning. The structural symbols in the
Mallard household are further demonstrations in the struggle between dominance
and submissiveness. Contrasting with the outside world, the interior of the
house is a prison, meant to keep Mrs. Mallard withdrawn from the world.
So, all in all, I should
say, that Among Kate Chopin’s most impressive works is
the short story entitled “The Story of an Hour”. The
suggested piece of art is a great story,
which is the result of the famous author's style of writing and talent. This work best displays the importance of literary elements on the
overall unified affect. Through the use of irony, symbolism, foreshadowing and
paradox, the reader can grasp a better understanding of the main focus and
message of the story. These literary elements are essential in the artistic
style of the story. In general, I enjoyed reading “The Story of an Hour”, as it
contains a tremendous power and meaning.
