Literary Devices in the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

¶ … Joy" in Chopin's "Story of an Hour"

When the joy of liberation turns into the shock of oppression, the life can go out of an individual. This is what happens to Mrs. Mallard in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. What is ironic about the story is that everyone thinks she dies from the shock of "joy" at seeing her husband is alive (after being told he was dead). Before, Mrs. Mallard had been sick and ailing, but when she is told by her sister that her husband has died, Mrs. Mallard is relieved inside and comes to life: she is tired of being his wife. However, everyone has been misinformed and the husband yet lives -- and this twist is enough to overcome Mrs. Mallard -- her sudden relief is turned to sudden grief, and she dies. Chopin uses irony to achieve a humorous and satirical twist ending. She also uses hyperbole and setting to emphasize the oppression that Mrs. Mallard feels and the liberation that she experiences when she suddenly believes that she is "Free!" This paper will show how Chopin uses these literary devices to explore the main theme of the story, which is that matrimony is actually an oppressive thing for some -- like Mrs. Mallard -- contrary to the popular opinion of others.

The others in the story believe that Mrs. Mallard is upset to hear of the loss because of her sobs -- but really she is crying out of joy. The irony is that when she dies, they think she dies out of joy -- but really she is dying out of sadness and shock (because her husband is alive after all, not dead). The sudden wave of euphoria that comes over her after she realizes that she is free of her husband, free to be herself and live for herself, gives her a sudden burst of energy and life -- but that all quickly leaves her when her husband enters through the front door, delivering such a jolt to her that she dies of a heart attack. The others believe that the "joy" of seeing her husband after thinking him dead is what kills her -- but this is Chopin's use of irony to drive home the satirical point about matrimony: it is not for everyone and certainly not for Mrs. Mallard who woke up from her oppression with a "feverish triumph in her eyes ... like a goddess of Victory" after hearing that she was now a (happy!) widow.

Chopin's use of hyperbole helps to also drive home the theme of the story, by using such exaggerated expressions as, "Free! Body and soul free!" which Mrs. Mallard whispers to herself after hearing of her husband's death. This usage of hyperbole makes the point to the reader more quickly and emphatically that Mrs. Mallard is happy that her husband is dead because now she does not have to pretend to be devoted to him. When she gets up "like a goddess of Victory" the hyperbole indicates that she has outlasted her husband, who has been like a rival trying to defeat her by putting her in the ground first. It is a morbid way of viewing matrimony but it fits in with Chopin's ironic and satirical approach. Chopin uses more hyperbole when as she describes Mrs. Mallard's mental state as she becomes excited about her new found freedom: "Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own." Her thoughts are not of grief or of her husband at all -- they are entirely of herself, showing how disinterested she is in anybody else. This hyperbolic effect sets up the final shock that is to come. Without all these expressions, there would be no indication of the intensity with which Mrs. Mallard views the death of her husband as a good thing. It all begins with her sudden exclamation of "free, free, free!" following the moment when she is told and "her bosom rose and fell tumultuously."