Chopin Uses Imagery and Descriptive Detail to Contrast the Rich Possibilities for Which Mrs. Mallard Yearns with the Drab Reality of Her Everyday Life
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Chopin Uses Imagery And Descriptive Detail To Contrast The Rich Possibilities For Which Mrs. Mallard Yearns With The Drab Reality Of Her Everyday Life
Crystal Deese
South University Online
Chopin Uses Imagery And Descriptive Detail To Contrast The Rich Possibilities For Which Mrs. Mallard Yearns With The Drab Reality Of Her Everyday Life
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin embodies the plight of a woman’s oath to her husband and the sacrifice of her own independence. Chopin uses vivid imagery from weather, to state-of-mind, to season, to props, to emphasize the contrast between possibilities for which Mrs. Mallard yearns and the drab reality of her daily life.
In the story, Mrs. Mallard has just found out the news of her husband’s death. Initially, Mrs. Mallard felt a “storm of grief,” symbolizing the internal feelings that were raging through her; however, as she sits in her room she observes “patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds,” symbolizing a gradual shift in her emotions. The blue sky symbolizes the internal peace and tranquility that begins to envelop her and the patches showing sporadically shows her uncertainty of the emotions that she is feeling.
Her “bosom rose and fell tumultuously” as she began to recognize the emotions that were beginning to possess her. When she came to a full understanding of her feelings, her eyes “stayed keen and bright” and “her pulses beat fast.” This imagery reflects how excited she has become and how dramatically her outlook has changed. Not due to the loss of her husband, but at the comprehension that she was now “free, free, free” from the repression of her past and could finally begin living her life for herself, the way she chooses to live it.
She sat “facing the open window, in a comfortable, roomy armchair.” This imagery symbolizes her glimpse into her newfound freedom and her being able to relax like she never has been able to in the past. As she sits...
Crystal Deese
South University Online
Chopin Uses Imagery And Descriptive Detail To Contrast The Rich Possibilities For Which Mrs. Mallard Yearns With The Drab Reality Of Her Everyday Life
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin embodies the plight of a woman’s oath to her husband and the sacrifice of her own independence. Chopin uses vivid imagery from weather, to state-of-mind, to season, to props, to emphasize the contrast between possibilities for which Mrs. Mallard yearns and the drab reality of her daily life.
In the story, Mrs. Mallard has just found out the news of her husband’s death. Initially, Mrs. Mallard felt a “storm of grief,” symbolizing the internal feelings that were raging through her; however, as she sits in her room she observes “patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds,” symbolizing a gradual shift in her emotions. The blue sky symbolizes the internal peace and tranquility that begins to envelop her and the patches showing sporadically shows her uncertainty of the emotions that she is feeling.
Her “bosom rose and fell tumultuously” as she began to recognize the emotions that were beginning to possess her. When she came to a full understanding of her feelings, her eyes “stayed keen and bright” and “her pulses beat fast.” This imagery reflects how excited she has become and how dramatically her outlook has changed. Not due to the loss of her husband, but at the comprehension that she was now “free, free, free” from the repression of her past and could finally begin living her life for herself, the way she chooses to live it.
She sat “facing the open window, in a comfortable, roomy armchair.” This imagery symbolizes her glimpse into her newfound freedom and her being able to relax like she never has been able to in the past. As she sits...