Irony and Abuse in the Story of an Hour

Essay about the “Story Of an Hour”

Irony and Abuse

The story of an Hour was written by the American writer Kate Chopin who was an author of short stories and novels. She is now considered to have been a precursor of feminist authors of the 20th century. The Story Of an Hour is about a woman who suffers from the repression of her husband. This story reflects what Chopin felt toward the customs of the age. This story covers many ironic moments; besides, it shows the abuse which women suffered by their husbands.

A first ironic moment is shown up in the first part of the story when Josephine told her the news of her husband’s death. Furthermore, Chopin says that Mrs. Mallard didn’t act as many women would have acted. This is proved in the following quote “she didn’t hear the story as many women have heard the same.” Instead of being sad because of the news of her husband’s death, she felt free. She felt herself like the owner of the world. She sees the spring as the beginning of a new life and all what it brings.

Another ironic moment happens at the end of the story, when Mrs. Mallard and her sister descended the stairs and suddenly Brently Mallard appeared. Everybody believes that she dies of extreme happiness. This is seen in this quote “when the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills.” Everybody believes that this happened because she had an outburst of happiness when she saw her husband alive, but we know that it was caused by the fact that her husband was alive yet. This is an ironic result where at first it was thought that her husband had died, but suddenly he appears in front of