Chesapeake College

Freedom That Kills

Lillian Blizzard

English 102- Introduction to Literature

Professor Linda Earls

8 August 2018
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Kate Chopin grew up in St. Louis, Missouri (Evans). It was not until after her

husband, Oscar, died that she returned to her hometown and started writing (Evans). In

Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard was informed of her

husband, Brently Mallard’s, tragic death from her sister Josephine and Brently’s friend

Richards. Josephine thought that her sister Louise is grieving because her husband has

died, but Louise is overjoyed with her new-found independence. Then Brently Mallard

walked in the front door, having been nowhere near the accident when Louise was

walking downstairs. After seeing her husband alive, Louise was startled and died of

heart disease. Throughout the story, symbolism reveals Louise Mallard’s happiness

toward the freedom and independence she gained from her husband’s apparent death,

until it eventually kills her.

One of the first symbols appears at the beginning of the story, when the audience

learns that Louise Mallard has heart trouble. “Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is both

physical and emotional” (Evans). A person with heart trouble has a weakened heart,

which is why Josephine and Richards think the news of Brently Mallard’s death will kill

Louise. Ironically, the news of Mr. Mallard’s death strengthened Louise’s heart because

she realized she was free from her marriage. Louise is so overwhelmed with joyous

emotions because of her awareness that she is an independent woman. Brently was

oppressing Louise in their marriage, which is why she pretended to grieve, but was

really overjoyed at the news of his death. “When she finally leaves her room and begins

to descend the stairs, she feels like a goddess of victory until Brently, whose death has

been mistakenly reported, abruptly walks through the door” (Evans). After Louise was

done mourning the death of her husband, she was feeling like a goddess because she
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was finally happy with her new freedom. All of this was interrupted when Brently came

home, because he was supposed to be dead. When Brently came into the house, it

killed Louise because she was shocked to see him. “Joy that kills,” really relates to the

loss of independence that caused Louise’s happiness, which was when Brently walked

in the door (Chopin, Para 20). Kathleen B. Durrer, a critic, says “Louise’s death

emphasizes the oppression she has suffered, for she dies not of joy that kills but

because, having once captured a brief glimpse of freedom, she refuses to return to a life

of repression” (Chopin 110). Louise did not die from the joy of seeing her husband walk

in the door, instead of from the loss of her newfound independence.

Another key symbol that also portrays Louise’s joy to her newly found freedom is

the closed door. “Louise initially weeps with wild abandon, then retires to her upstairs

bedroom” (Werlock 1). When Louise enters her bedroom after hearing the news of her

husband’s death, she shut the door and does not let her sister, Josephine, inside her

bedroom because of sadness. The door symbolizes Louise shutting out her past and

looking at the new opportunities she has ahead. “[Mrs. Mallard] is at first deeply

sorrowful, but soon realizes that even though she had loved and will mourn her

husband, his death has set her free” (Larsson 3). When Louise first went up into her

room, she was mourning her husband’s death. After Louise was done mourning, she

soon realized that she was free from her husband resulting in her happiness. “Brently’s

death is not tragic to [Louise] because it gives her own life back to her” (Rosenblum 1).

Louise would not let Josephine inside her bedroom because she realized that she would

be free and happy without her husband, which is why Louise kept whispering “Free!

Body and soul free!” (Chopin, Para 14). “[Louise} becomes delirious with the prospect
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that she can now live for herself and prays that her life may be long,” resulting in her

saying free numerous times (Werlock, 1). Louise kept uttering the words free because

she was coming to the realization that her body and soul were free from her husband

resulting in her having independence.

The next symbol that demonstrates Louise’s happiness to her independence she

gained from her husband’s apparent death is the open window in her bedroom. The

open window symbolizes all the new opportunities Louise has gained from her

husband’s death. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees

that were all aquiver with the new spring of life” (Chopin, Para 5). This refers to Louise’s

happy outlook on her new life and independence now that her husband is gone. “As she

sits facing the open window, observing the outside, she realizes with a clear and exalted

perception that she is now free of her husband” (Werlock 1). As Louise is hearing and

seeing the nature outside her window, she imagines her own future with all these new

opportunities and the independence she has now gained since her husband has died.

The critic Amanda Higgins says, “[Mrs. Mallard] gazes out the window from her over-

stuffed chair, rediscovering her identity” (Chopin 93). Since Mrs. Mallard has discovered

all of these new opportunities from her newly found independence, she is starting to find

her self-identity without her husband oppressing her during their marriage.

The last symbol that demonstrates Louise’s joy to her newly found freedom is the

armchair in her bedroom. When Louise sat down in the armchair, it was described as

“comfortable” and “roomy” (Chopin, Para 4). This description is symbolic because the

roominess in the armchair means Louise now has room in her life. The new room in

Louise’s life means she now has the freedom to explore other opportunities that she
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could not have had with her husband alive. Also, while Louise sits in her chair, she

rediscovers her outlook on life resulting in her happiness towards her husband’s death.

“As she sits in her chair, staring out the window, she gradually begins to realize that

Brently’s death means her own freedom” (Evans). Louise initially sits in her armchair

while staring out the window in her bedroom. This is where Louise realizes and accepts

that she is free from her husband, which means she has numerous opportunities arising

in her life.

Although Chopin’s story was written more than a century ago, the message this

text brings to light is still happening today. Some women experience joy and happiness

from one of their partner’s deaths. When a woman or man is in a marriage, and their

partner is abusing or oppressing him or her in some way, the death of the partner elicits

feelings like Louise experiences. The death of the other individual is the only way to get

out of the marriage. This is why he or she experiences happiness to the freedom and

independence he or she will have. Even though this seems like an insensitive feeling to

a loved one’s death, it is not in the context of what was happening in his or her

marriage, which still occurs in the world today.

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Close Readings: Analyses of Short Fiction, Jan.

2001, pp. 86-112. EBSCOhost,

ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru

e&AuthType=ip,uid&db=lfh&AN=24730838&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Accessed 30 June 2018.

Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/. Accessed 15 June 2018.

Evans, Robert C. “"The Story of an Hour"” Student's Encyclopedia of Great American

Writers, Volume 2, Facts On File, 2010. Bloom's Literature,

online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=15906&itemid=WE54&articleId=475903.

Accessed 5 July 2018.

Larsson, Donald F. and Thomas L. Erskine. "Kate Chopin." Critical Survey of Short

Fiction, Second Revised Edition, January 2001, pp. 1-4. EBSCOhost,

ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru

e&AuthType=ip,uid&db=lfh&AN=103331CSSF11070120000106&site=ehost-

live&scope=site. Accessed 19 July 2018.

Rosenblum, Joseph. "The Story of an Hour." Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised

Edition, January 2004, pp. 1-2. EBSCOhost,

ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru

e&AuthType=ip,uid&db=lfh&AN=103331MSS22289240000309&site=ehost-

live&scope=site. Accessed 6 July 2018.

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Werlock, Abby H. P. “"The Story of an Hour"” Encyclopedia of the American Short Story,

2-Volume Set, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2013. Bloom's Literature,

online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=15906&itemid=WE54&articleId=9301.

Accessed 7 July 2018.