Applying Literary Criticism

Analyzing literature from the reader's perspective allows individual insight, understanding and emotions to help shape the author's words. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of An Hour," readers can live along-side Mrs. Mallard during a life-altering event that conveys love, freedom, and heart-break all in the compass of one hour.

I have chosen the reader-response method to analyze this particular story because I believe there is a great deal of emotion expended after reading this short tale. I can sympathize with Mrs. Mallard in her position of grief in losing her husband, as well as the opportunity to imagine her life outside of the constricting realm of her Mr. Mallard, and the shock of realizing her husband isn't actually dead. I can only imagine myself in the scenario with Mrs. Mallard, her sister, Josephine, and friend Richards when the news is delivered originally of the death of Mr. Mallard. I can only imagine how much compassion is displayed in the act of remitting bad news, and the gentle words that are shed to help Mrs. Mallard cope with the situation. Then, at the end of the story, the realization from both of the parties that the news they received was incorrect and the guilt that would run through their bodies as Mrs. Mallard collapses to the floor.

In reviewing the story again, several key elements struck me immediately. The first is that Richards, the family friend after hearing the news of the railroad accident at the newspapers, verifies the death of his friend Mr. Mallard through telegram. He has given the utmost respect to the situation and is heart-sick at the thought of communicating the bad news to the new widow. He is making sure the information he received is in fact correct, before he spreads ill-information. Obviously, in reading this story for the first time, this scene in the story does not seem as important, however, it is an excellent foreshadowing event, as well as an example of irony within the story -- since the news was incorrect.

Once Mrs. Mallard has had a chance to digest the news a little and retires to her sitting room to be alone, she starts to feel a sense of something. At first, she just realizes her surroundings -- a man outside the window, the shape of the house, the weather outside, and the sound of a cry. I believe she is already feeling a great sense of change -- that her perceptions are opening up to the new world that is hers. The writer notes, "There was something coming to her and she was afraid for it, fearfully." Mrs. Mallard has not yet been able to identify this new perception and is instantly afraid of the excitement. As the reader we question what is coming, specifically since she just heard what would be to most people, earth-shattering news. Yet, she imparts from her lips the words, "free, free, free." As a reader, we can breathe a sigh of relief, since there isn't impending doom coming into the room to get Mrs. Mallard. There aren't any evil forces preparing the way -- just freedom, which I certainly wouldn't turn down. She becomes greatly excited from this new fact of freedom, with her heart beating fast and I can envision her cheeks flushing with this new-found realization. Maybe even the hint of a small smile across her face. She is drinking in the elixir of life, one that she had been previously sheltered from.

As Mrs. Mallard has had a chance to realize the impact of freedom on her life, a thought is reinstated in her mind, "It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." Due to the nature of events, as a reader we can only begin to imagine her life now changing and feel along with her the prospect of having a life filled with something more than she has already experienced. However, as the story completes, we realize the impactful irony of the situation, being her death, and come to the understanding that perhaps her life was just not long enough. We might question the series of events, as Josephine and Richards surely would as the event unfolds before their eyes. I know I did, and was quite shocked at the turn of the doorknob and the entrance of Mr. Mallard. The death of Mrs. Mallard didn't surprise me, however, due to the previous hour that we have just shared along-side her, and knowing from the introduction of the story that she has a weak heart, we can understand how this shock to her emotions was also a shock that her body could not handle. The irony of that final scene is extremely powerful. She believes she has lost her husband, but gained a new life that she is ecstatic about, only to have it quickly taken away from her again. The situation seems so un-real, and perhaps even unfair to all involved.

In conclusion, "The Story of the Hour" reveals great emotional insight from the perspective of Mrs. Mallard and her journey through irony, sadness, freedom, and death. Utilizing the reader-response approach to literary criticism, we can explore these events more closely and experience the event as though we were in the room with the characters.