Themes_Of_Freedom_In_Chopin’s_“The_Story_Of_An_Hour”

Themes Of Freedom In Chopin’s “The Story Of An Hour” Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is a short, yet complex piece. In only a few paragraphs, Chopin manages to describe the final hour or Mrs. Louise Mallard while giving the reader hidden details about her life. This story is overflowing with symbolism. The most prominent theme that I perceived was a longing to be free. Chopin uses words that would that would suggest imprisonment in the first few paragraphs of the story. After Mrs. Mallard has reflected upon her situation and realized that she was no longer married, the descriptive words now reflected freedom or breaking from bondage. At the beginning of the story, Louise Mallard has just learned of her husband’s death. Chopin describes Louise as a woman who is “afflicted with heart trouble” and not capable of handling news of death. Her sister, Josephine, and her husband’s friend, Richards, both expect her reaction to cause problems with her heart. These lines reflect how she is viewed in her household. Chopin hints that she is treated as a prisoner, not allowed to enjoy life because of her ailments. From the very beginning, the reader louise, story, life, chopin, brently, theme, marriage, mallard, heart, body, while, spring, soul, free, death, very, upon, situation, reader, mrs, manages, line, imprisonment, hour, described, breaking, being, words, women, window, viewed, symbolism, sky, sister, short