"The Story of an Hour"
By: Kate Chopin
"The Story of an Hour" follows the love both lost, freed, and gained in what one could suppose, was simply an hour. Following the tale of Mrs. Mallard, Kate Chopin sends the reader upon an emotional adventure. It is in the loss of love that Mrs. Mallard finds freedom and it is through gaining the love once more that she finds the ultimate end.
In a paradoxical statement, the theme of love not being fitting for everyone is presented. Such a statement is the ending line of the piece itself which states, "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-a joy that kills." The phrase illustrates the belief that happiness sometimes is the sorrow that brings one's death. Seeing her "love" once again after believing she had been freed form its binds led Mrs. Mallard to submit to the controls of death. Rather than lose all joy once again, Mrs. Mallard took death. Additionally, in diagnosing the cause of death as heart disease, the symbolic place association of love, illustrates that having a broken heart can lead to the death of one's happiness. Such heart break came from realizing that her love of her new found freedom was impossible. Thus, the phrase of "joy that kills" appears self-contradictory, but in fact reveals a truth in that most would rather die happy than to die miserable and false to one's own self.
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