“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, depicts the life of a woman whose husband had just passed, or so she thought. Throughout the short story, there is a great deal of imagery, foreshadowing, and irony even at the very end.

The protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, is straight-away revealed to have a heart problem, which makes her delicate to shocking situations. I saw that as a foreshadowing of how the story will end. She was gently told about her husband’s death and she broke down immediately. This goes to show that she really cared about her husband. Then there is some imagery mixed with irony in the story as Mrs. Mallard gazes out the window in a daze. A tragic accident occurred, and outside the window it seemed like a calm beautiful day. I believe that the scene outside brought a spark into Mrs. Mallard. She began to feel something “creeping” up inside her. She tried to fight the feeling, because deep down she knew that feeling so joyous at the death of her husband was very inappropriate; but she couldn’t fight it. She felt that marriage was overly binding. Though she loved her husband, for the most part she disliked him; maybe even hated him. She began to feel overjoyed at the possibility of her new life, a long life, just for herself. This seemed like a bad omen to me, mostly because of the information about her medical issue in the very beginning.

Toward the end, as a plot-twist, Mr. Mallard appears alive; at worst, he is “travel-stained.” Mrs. Mallard reaction was immediate, causing her death. I noticed this from the fact that, as soon as he walked in, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, Josephine, screamed. The doctors figured that she died of the extreme joy she felt. However, I say it was disappointment. Mr. Mallard turned up alive, killing her extreme joy when she thought he was dead.

1