The short story "The Story of an Hour," written by Kate Chopin, is filled with many occurrences and connections that sparked my interest. One thing in particular was the incorporation of spring in the story. When Mrs. Mallard finds out her husband has died, she goes straight up to her room and sits herself in an armchair that is facing a window. She looks out the window and the first thing she notices is "the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life" (Chopin 415). After she has been crying for a short time, she realized that she was not attached anymore, she could live her life as she pleased, without having to run it through someone else first. She started to repeat words of freedom. I found it very interesting that the vision outside of the window was spring (commonly referred to for new life), and Mrs. Mallard was taking on a new beginning for her own life.
A second thing that I found interesting in this short story was the fact that Mrs. Mallard had a very serious heart condition, physically. Emotionally, in her relationship, she was going through troubles as well. Once Mrs. Mallard realizes she is free to start living her own life, the story states "And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not" (416). Mrs. Mallard's emotional state reflects her physical state of a broken heart.
In some ways Mrs. Mallard did get what she wanted in the end of the story. Mrs. Mallard was ready to embrace her new life of living for herself. When she walked down the stairs, she died of heart disease. Her death, in some way was her new life. Her death took her away from her unhealthy relationship with her husband. In her death, she has her new life away from her husband.
Mrs. Mallard is like many women in society during the time frame that this short story was written. Lots of women stayed in unhealthy relationships because divorce was so rare then. Lots of women feel as though they are being held captive in a relationship.
