Yours Truly 1

Yours Truly
HUM 1020
22 November 2016
Symbolism: The Story of an Hour
There is a lot of symbolism in Kate Chopins, The Story of an Hour. The symbolism
slowly builds beginning with the title of the story. This symbolizes the hour that it took for a
woman to live and die after receiving some shocking news. We learned in the beginning of the
story that the main character, Mrs. Mallard had a heart condition. This symbol states that she has
a weak heart, and anyone with a weak heart is subject to heart failure. Heart failure or a broken
heart was symbolized when Mrs. Mallard suddenly died upon seeing her husbands face after she
thought he was dead. What was most ironic was the fact that everyone assumed that heart trouble
was the cause of her sudden death.
There were other forms of symbolism such as the fact that Mrs. Mallard was alone a lot,
because her sister and a family friend were present when she received the news. We learn in the
story that, It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentence, veiled hints that revealed
in half concealing (Chopin 115). Mrs. Mallard seemed to be very insignificant. This is
symbolized because we didnt learn her name until after she locked herself in her room to mourn
the loss of her husband. There were many complications that lead up to the climax of the story
when her husband walked through the front door alive and well.
The fact that Mrs. Mallard wept in wild abandonment showed that she was having mixed
feelings about her husband tragically dying in a train accident. At the same time, while she was
in her room sitting front of the open window, she began to have the feelings of being free. She
was able to accept her husbands death, and move on with her life.

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Even though she was married, Mrs. Mallard seemed to be filled with desire, pain,
longsuffering and loneliness. She was ridden with exhaustion from the grief as she went to her
room. We know this when we read:
She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in
death; the face that had never looked, save with love upon her; fixed and gray and dead.
But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would
belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.
And yet she loved himsometimes. Often she had not. (Chopin 116)
She does not seem to be truly happy until after she learns of Mr. Mallards death (115).
Full of anticipation of a bright future, for an hour, she pondered a life of freedom, a life to enjoy.
Shocked by Mr. Mallards return, it instantly killed Mrs. Mallard. Death was the only way she
could escape returning to a life that was not her own.

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Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. LIT. Kirszner, Laurie and Stephen Mandell. Boston, MA,
Wadsworth, 2012. 115-117. Print.