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Irony in the Works of Kate Chopin

            Kate Chopin uses irony in several different ways, and these methods can be seen as literary links between her stories, "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour." because each gives an emotional shock to the reader, which also helps link the theme of women facing depression through appearance versus reality. Both of these stories show the main characters, Mrs. Mallard and Desiree, facing ironic, tragic deaths in the end. These women faced depression because of their relationships having stolen a piece of who they are.
             In "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour" both of the main characters have huge similarities in their marriages. As each woman enters into a stage of depression due to their husband, both women realize that the will of their husband may have bent their own. Mrs. Mallard's depression starts because of her husband's death, whereas Desiree's begins because of the loss of her husband's love. Mrs. Mallard's depression begins to lift as she realizes she has been freed from the burden of her marriage. Desiree takes a different route in dealing with her depression as she turns from her husband, never to be seen again.
             "The Story of an Hour" has a considerable amount of irony, which began after Mrs. Mallard was told of her husband Brently's death. The first sign of irony arrives while Mrs. Mallard is sitting in a comfortable chair in her bedroom. As she looks out the window, she notices "the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life." ( 236) Something inside of her begins to change and she reveals to herself that she now has a new life. .
             Mrs. Mallard begins to realize that "she would live for herself." (237) As she accepts the thought of a new, free life and as she descends the stairs with her sister, someone begins to open the door. Richards "had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram" (236) which became ironic because the person opening the door is Brently himself.


Essays Related to Irony in the Works of Kate Chopin

1. the story of an hour

... foreshadow the outcome of the story by inferring about Mrs. Mallard's condition. When all of this, plus the irony of Mrs. Mallard's excitement is depicted, the theme of the story, the irony of fate, is conveyed. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour, in Cassill, R.V., ed., The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, sixth edition, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2000. (260-263). Kate Chopin's use of irony in her short story, "The Story of an Hour," stands in direct contrast to the subtle manner in which she tells the story ... . She immediately sets the premise, that Mrs. Mall...

  • Word Count: 4614
  • Approx Pages: 18
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Kate Chopins respectable Woman

... Kate Chopin it is apparent that she is very much a realist. Her works are all fictional stories but they represent the stark realities of life. She does not dramatize or make her characters appear heroic, but simply portrays them as everyday people trying to overcome everyday conflicts. Chopin's writing is very unconventional for her time. The female characters in her stories defy the conventional role of women in her time. In writing ... her stories through her point of view it is obvious that Chopin identifies with her characters. Chopin uses her own unique style, tone and irony to re...

  • Word Count: 514
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Confines of Marriage - The Story of an Hour

... women still view marriage as the natural outcome of their futures; the difference is that, at least in America, you can marry for love. In Kate Chopin's lifetime, many marriages were still arranged. So the setting, middle America in the 1800's, is important to the story, because if it were set in a time where death wasn't seen as the only acceptable way out of marriage, none of Mrs. Mallard's emotions and ... assumes she died from joy instead of disappointment, shows men as incapable of believing women as anything other than grateful to be married to them. All of her characterizations a...

  • Word Count: 1623
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Kate Chopin

... labeled 'poison'." was the how the Republic described Kate Chopin's most famous novel The Awakening (Seyersted 174). This was the not only the view of one magazine, but it summarized the feelings of society as a whole. Chopin woke up people to the feelings and minds of women. Even though her ideas were controversial at first, slowly over the decades people began to accept them. Kate O'Flaherty Chopin was raised in St. Louis in the 1850's and 1860's. Chopin had a close ... be compared to the works of these women whom she admired. The greatest influence on Chopin was the French writer Guy...

  • Word Count: 1805
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Works of Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin's works, for example, "Desiree's Baby" and "Story of an Hour", contribute to my understanding of the south in the nineteenth century and the treatment of women in society. African Americans were looked down upon in the south during the nineteenth century and were viewed as impure based on skin color. Women were underestimated and viewed as weak just based on gender. "Desiree's Baby" and "Story of ... negativity. One of the first mentions of this was when Kate Chopin described Armand's love for Desiree as "sweeping over him like an avalanche (Chopin)". The love that is made among A...

  • Word Count: 1578
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Kate Chopin "The Storm"

Although the story, The Storm, refers to the cyclone storm happening outside while Calixta and Alcee are performing the act of adultery. It could be foreshadowing the up coming events in the future, between the happy marriages of Calixta with Bobinot and Alcee with Clarissa. The act of adultery will catch up with them and tear their marriages apart; adultery is a sin. Chopin may portray women seeking sexual and professional independence, she is showing sins of society; things women should not do because it's wrong. Chopin's stories of adultery stirred up the critics in the 19th century because...

  • Word Count: 523
  • Approx Pages: 2

7. Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

... own selfhood. She swims out "alone" (Chopin 27), abandoning the "mother-woman" (Chopin 9) persona and the life she has grown weary of living. As Edna enters the "vast cavern" (Chopin 84) of her consciousness, she finds that being "the one that rules, who looks on, one who stands alone"( Chopin 84) is a choice between loving society or loving herself. Edna sees the irony in the stereotypical ideal of romantic love; if women are to love ... naiveté about the world and the way works: "Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking of an old dog that was cha...

  • Word Count: 2199
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

8. 'The Awakening' by Kate Chopin

... first introduced; slowly she removes her clothes by the end of the novel. This proves that in the beginning Edna is not at all exposed to the reality and the exterior part of the world but over the course of the novel she comprehends how the society actually works and also experiences a self realization of her intense feelings and by the end she could see and feel everything so ... that Edna experienced throughout her life basically the "awakening" had has a positive intellectual impact. There has also been a little irony created because "bees collectively ensure the survival of their sp...

  • Word Count: 2043
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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