Irony in the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin - Research Paper Example

Irony in The Story of an Hour Irony gives many opportunities for expressing their thoughts in fiction. It canadd diverse colors to any story making it more engaging for readers and intriguing them by unpredictable twists of the plot. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is often treated as an exemplar short story where diverse types of irony find their realization. Irony appears to be everywhere starting from the title of the story the up to its last sentence. Recognizing and understanding irony in the case of The Story of an Hour reveals more details about characters and events in the story which are not mentioned directly. Different types of irony implied in the text make readers understand the full picture of Mrs. Mallard’s life, her relationships with her husband and her desire to be independent from him. According to Leech & Short, irony can be defined as a “’secret communication’ between author and reader” or “double significance which arises from the contrast in values” which are present in different points of view implied in the text (222-223). The definition is quite broad, but it catches the characteristic of all types of irony in the text; they can be divided into situational, verbal and dramatic. All three types of irony are very important for general interpretation of the text because they trace its meaning between the lines. Moreover, they add tone and emotional connotation to the story facilitating the description of character’s inner world. Leech & Short state that irony can be encoded in a single sentence or the whole text (223). Dramatic irony in The Story of an Hour is an example of the irony which serves as a basis for the short story. According to Ivanova, dramatic irony has 3 necessary components. The first component is called installation; it is very clear in the story plot (122). The first sentence of the story informs the reader about the settings: “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death”. Ton his sentence introduces the main character – Mrs. Mallard – who has just become a widow, but she does not know that. As far as readers know that her husband is dead and she does not know this fact, this sentence contains as example of dramatic irony. However, it is just an installation for the dramatic irony of the whole story. The same sentence has an example of situational irony which is represented by visibly simple phrase “a heart trouble”. There are two options for interpreting “a heart trouble” in the context of the story. It can be defined directly as a heart disease which makes Mrs. Mallard suffer from own inability to cope with stress. This explanation seems logical in the offered settings where people around Mrs. Mallard take care to be as gentle as they can to deliver news to her. On the other hand, “a heart trouble” can be connected with inner conflict of Mrs. Mallard who does not love her husband and feels that their relationships have turned into unbearable burden for her. According to Jamil, in the context of the story, the “heart trouble” is a “sign of a woman who has unconsciously surrendered her heart (i.e., her identity as an individual) to the culture of paternalism” (216). It is important to understand this story in the historical context to feel the depth of this “trouble”. As a wife, Mrs. Mallard was more of a possession of her husband. She had no other choice but to live for the sake of her marriage her husband’s happiness. According to Jamil, women were not expected to think about their identity or reflect on their being. They were perceived to be inferior to men (216). This social context only intensifies the ironic meaning of the story where a woman gets her freedom and independence and suddenly loses her life with all these privileges. The next element of dramatic irony is called exploitation (Ivanova 122). It is visible in the development of the plot of the story. When Mrs. Mallard comes to her room and closes the door, her impressions and feeling change from the state of emptiness to almost euphoria. This change makes her a round and seep character. The first hints of the change can be observed in the things around her creating dissonance with her expected inner state. It is a common opinion that people perceive death as a sad event. When people are sad, they tend to focus on negative things around them. However, Mrs. Mallard sees everything positively. The abundance of positive adjectives to describe various things in her room and outside reflects her inner state of happiness caused by the death of her husband. All these positive attribution in negative situation represent the cases of verbal irony. For instance, the armchair is “roomy” and “comfortable”; the description of the weather as “the delicious breath of rain” is also very poetic and elegiac for the circumstances where it is made. The settings do not symbolize grief; they are more likely to describe a person who finds her inner harmony. The open window symbolizes a number of opportunities; the revival of nature outside can be interpreted as a new beginning or a second chance given Louise. Her state is not understandable for readers at first sight; in this respect, the inner voice of Mrs. Mallard reveals that her life with Mr. Mallard does not make her happy. The description of relationships between Mrs. Mallard and her husband exemplify both dramatic and situational irony. Dramatic irony is represented by the fact that Mr. Mallard would never know about real feelings of his wife. Mrs. Mallard hesitates, “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not” (Chopin). The institution of marriage is criticized because the scheme where “men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” is treated as the basis for all marriages (Chopin). Instead of showing at least a bit of sympathy or warmth, Mrs. Mallard creates some distance between her new life and her past life where she was married. It is an example of situational irony because even if she does not love her husband she might experience the feeling of loss related to death. On the contrary, she focuses on herself stating “Free! Body and soul free!" (Chopin). In this way, irony becomes very important for characterization. It makes it possible to have a look at the inner world of Mrs. Mallard and read her thoughts. Mrs. Mallard understands that her attitude to husband’s death is not appropriate at all; this conflict between social norms and her feelings is expressed with the help of verbal irony. The phrase “monstrous joy” used to describe feelings of Mrs. Mallard represents the collocation of words with negative and positive meanings (Chopin). This inner controversy does not stop her from enjoying the moment. Her sister Josephine cannot guess that Mrs. Mallard is happy; she is afraid that he sister will “make herself ill” (Chopin). According to Mayer, this confusion of feelings is typical for all characters in the story (95). They literally do not understand each other because they are unable to read each other’s minds. Contrary to all expectations, Mrs. Mallard is the only person who does not suffer in this situation. Josephine and Richard are affected more than Mrs. Mallard who is expected to feel grievous not only about her husband, but about her social status. Culmination of the story takes place in the end. At the same time, it is a good example of situational irony because the end of the story is opposite to its beginning. Since the first sentence readers are sure that Mr. Mallard is dead because it is proved by the police intelligence telegram. Mrs. Mallard is alive and she is expected to cope with the grief related to death of her beloved. In the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard is dead while Mr. Mallard is alive again. Dramatic irony in the end of the story is also very strong as it represents the resolution part. Readers already know the secret of Mrs. Mallard. Her husband is the last person in the world she would like to see coming home. He is already dead for her. She is not happy with his and she does not love him anymore. Her sister Josephine, Mr. Mallard and his friend do not know the truth. They believe that Mrs. Mallard dies because she is too happy and shocked to see her husband again. In summary, The Story of an Hour cannot be fully understood without analyzing irony which is frequently used in the story-telling and characterization. Inner conflict of the main characters and her personal drama of unhappy marriage are hidden between the lines with the help of dramatic, situational and verbal irony. The round character of Mrs. Mallard reflects the other point of view about marriage which was not treated seriously in highly patriarchal culture on 19th century America. The use of irony helps Chopin to tell this dramatic story in a way appropriate for her society. Overall, this short story leaves a strong impression in readers due to its short size and deep meaning. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of An Hour”, 1894. Web. May 28, 2014. Jamil, S. Selina. "Emotions in the Story of an Hour." The Explicator 67.3 (2009): 215-220. Ivanova, Velichka. "Philip Roth’s Art of Irony in American Pastoral". Cercles 33 (2014): 116-130. Leech, Geoffrey N., and Mick Short. Style in fiction: A linguistic introduction to English fictional prose. No. 13. Pearson Education, 2007. Mayer, Gary H. "A Matter of Behavior: A Semantic Analysis of Five Kate Chopin Stories." ETC: A Review of General Semantics 67.1 (2010): 94-100. Read More