The Ironic Shadow of Death

The Ironic Shadow of Death
In Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard rides an emotional rollercoaster through the joy and sorrow of losing a loved one. In the Victorian era, divorce was not an option for a woman trapped in a gilded cage. When Mrs. Mallard is told of her husband's death, she does not respond as most wives would. The author uses foreshadowing to hint to the reader that things may not turn out so pleasantly for Mrs. Mallard as she hopes. The ending also shapes on an unsuspected twist of bittersweet irony, showing the reader that Mrs. Mallard did indeed escape a passionless marriage.
The author opens up telling the reader that "Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble" (523), which indicates that something sinister could possibly happen throughout the story. The reader is also told that Mrs. Mallard's sister, Josephine, told her of the news of her husband's death in "veiled hints" (523). Heart trouble and veiled hints prove to be a great use of foreshadowing by the author in hinting of Mrs. Mallard's demise because she inevitably died from her heart condition, and she undoubtedly wore a veil when she was married (which she herself describes as being passionless).
The last sentence of this story, "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills" (525), screams irony. Mrs. Mallard was happy when she thought of her husband being dead; it meant that she was now free. The only other way for her to be free of such a marriage would be to die, which is exactly what happens when she discovers the reality of
her husband's demise. Halfway through the story, the author tells the reader that "she breathed a quick prayer that life might be long" (524), when, in actuality, death is only imminent for Mrs. Mallard.
A Victorian story about a woman trapped in a marriage without love, "Story of an Hour" foreshadows the event of Mrs. Mallard's death, while showing the irony of her happiness when she believes that her husband is really dead. While the reader thinks that Mrs. Mallard will now be free to live out her life in solitude, the author gives the surprise ending that it will instead be her husband left to mourn.