Is it not ironic how we so often find ourselves pondering the manner in which we have always believed our lives to be led, our system of morals practiced, then due to some unexpected event we are suddenly thrust into a completely different way of thinking? Such is the case of the central character in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” Louise Mallard, in hearing the news of her husband’s tragic death then subsequent revelation of its fallacy, finds herself quickly moving from grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom.
After learning of her husband’s death in a railroad disaster, Mrs. Mallard sinks into a deep state of grief, as one would be expected to do upon receiving such news. She weeps uncontrollably until she can weep no more. Finally, she seeks refuge alone in her room, accep
Louise returns to the friends and family who had so recently brought the news which began her metamorphosis. It is then that the door opens and Louise’s husband enters their home, completely unaware of the train accident or the indication that he had been involved. With Brently Mallard’s return her new life, her freedom, is lost to her in an instant, taken even quicker than it had been discovered. How can she return to the suppression which had been such an integral part of her marriage? Where will she find the resolve to return to the way of thinking that was such a part of her being at the start of day? This loss is much too great to bear.
As the sights and sounds of spring reveal themselves through the window, Mrs. Mallard tastes new life for the first time. Even though she loved her husband and will weep for him again, one thought comes to her
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