The Story of an Hour - Essay Example

Full Theme Explained Through the Setting The Story of an Hour paints the picture of Louise Mallard with a heart trouble in the opening of the story which prepares the reader to look at it not just as a condition to explain why her sister, Josephine had to break the news about her husband’s death as gently as she can rather is a representation of something deeper. As the story unfolds, the husband who was thought to have died in an accident; was portrayed as one who was bent by the norms during their time, making her wife take the role of a wife, staying at home and taking care of the household chores and needs of the husband. To Mrs. Mallard, this was a bending of her wills that she did not agree with.

If one looks closely at the relevance of the aforementioned heart trouble of the main character, it could be seen that the issue in the marriage is the real heart trouble and not the physical condition of the character. After Mrs. Mallard’s emotional period, she went to her room alone and was met by an “open window and comfortable, roomy armchair where she sank.” The room is a representation of the private thoughts of Mrs. Mallard where no one entered except her, a condition she was forced to be in because if she told other people, she might be dubbed as rebellious or could be seriously misunderstood.

The roomy armchair could portray how comfortably Mrs. Mallard could be with herself, looking honestly into her desires without any condemnation so that she freely thought of all the freedom she could enjoy now that her husband is dead. The open window represents what the character considers as her way of escape from the marriage that “bent her wills.”