In “The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin uses irony and imagery that to convey the theme effectively and gradually while keeping the story short as it is meant to be.
The author uses imagery to help prepare the audience to imply the theme without too many words as this work is meant to be a short story. Images are stronger than words and they serve as amazingly useful tools to create pictures that explain a lot. After Mrs. Mallard learns about her husband’s death and while she is sitting in her room “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (1). The author wants to create in the minds of the audience the image of a new life as Mrs. Mallard is somehow dreaming about. Mrs. …show more content…
Irony helps create questions that make readers curious in a way that encourages them to continue reading. Chopin starts building the foundation of irony in her first sentence starting with fact 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 husband’s death” (1). This sentence creates the belief that the tragedy is too harsh for Mrs. Mallard to endure. However, Mrs. Mallard, as opposed to what the readers think, accepts the tragedy without a heart attack. Now, it’s becoming more interesting. Mrs. Mallard goes into a small room alone where a weird feeling starts to possess her after a few minutes of deep thought. She notices that it is a feeling of joy and “she [does not have] to stop to ask if it [is] or [is] not a monstrous joy that held her”(2). A clear and exalted perception enable[s] her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial” (2). At this point the readers find out in an ironic way that Mrs. Mallard is happy about the loss of her husband and another question raises why. It might make the readers that think she did not love him but then she says “what did it matter! What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (2). The questions that come up as a result of irony keep readers attracted until finally all the question are
The author uses imagery to help prepare the audience to imply the theme without too many words as this work is meant to be a short story. Images are stronger than words and they serve as amazingly useful tools to create pictures that explain a lot. After Mrs. Mallard learns about her husband’s death and while she is sitting in her room “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (1). The author wants to create in the minds of the audience the image of a new life as Mrs. Mallard is somehow dreaming about. Mrs. …show more content…
Irony helps create questions that make readers curious in a way that encourages them to continue reading. Chopin starts building the foundation of irony in her first sentence starting with fact 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 husband’s death” (1). This sentence creates the belief that the tragedy is too harsh for Mrs. Mallard to endure. However, Mrs. Mallard, as opposed to what the readers think, accepts the tragedy without a heart attack. Now, it’s becoming more interesting. Mrs. Mallard goes into a small room alone where a weird feeling starts to possess her after a few minutes of deep thought. She notices that it is a feeling of joy and “she [does not have] to stop to ask if it [is] or [is] not a monstrous joy that held her”(2). A clear and exalted perception enable[s] her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial” (2). At this point the readers find out in an ironic way that Mrs. Mallard is happy about the loss of her husband and another question raises why. It might make the readers that think she did not love him but then she says “what did it matter! What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (2). The questions that come up as a result of irony keep readers attracted until finally all the question are