Essay on the Death of Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour

Death of Freedom in The flooring of an Hour In Kate Chopins short story, The Story of an Hour, we are told that Mrs. Mallard, the main character, has a heart condition. Then Mrs. Mallards sister, Josephine, tells her Mr. Mallard died in a railroad disaster. At the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard dies when her conserve suddenly walks through the door. The doctor says that Mrs. Mallard died of heart diseaseof joy that kills (Chopin 27). Some people may agree with the doctors diagnosis, but I think he was wrong. I believe that Mrs. Mallards death was non because she was happy to see her economize, but because she was sad about the loss of her newly-found freedom. I also think Mrs. Mallard realized that love is not a substitute for the freedom to live your own life. Throughout this short story there are examples showing how Mrs. Mallards actions and ideas are focused on her freedom. There are also thoughts and ideas that show Mrs. Mallard realizing that love is by no means a subst itute for liberty. When Mrs. Mallard was told of her husbands death she did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance (Chopin 25). This shows that Mrs. Mallard was not utterly grief-stricken or she would have had this so-called glazed-over look. She also did not deny her husbands death, which is another natural reaction to the loss of someone you deeply care about. After Mrs. Mallard is told of her husbands death, she retreats into her bedroom. The scenery outside is not one of death, but one of life. This is how Chopin describes the scenery while Mrs. Mallard is looking out her bedroom window she could see in the open square in the lead her house the tops of tr... ...Mrs. Mallards husband walks in the front door. She looks at her husband, but all she can see is her newly-found freedom slipping away. burn down you imagine the loss of such a thing as your freedom? Mrs. Mallard had just realized that she had her ind ependence, when it was taken from her suddenly. I think the loss independence can be fatal, and in Mrs. Mallards case it was. After Mrs. Mallard dies, the doctor incorrectly diagnoses her death as joy that kills. Now, I want you can see, as clearly as I do, that Mrs. Mallard did not die of joy that kills, but of the loss of this powerful thing we call freedom. workings Cited Chopin, Kate The Story of an Hour. The Harper Anthology of Fiction. NY HarperCollins, 1991. 25-27. Skaggs, Peggy. Kate Chopin. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas Votteler. Vol. 8. Detroit Gale Research Inc., 1991. 20 vols.