Perspectives on “The Story of an Hour”

Excerpts from the Paper

Perspectives on "The Story of an Hour"
The short story, The Story of an Hour is a tale which examines the emotional upheaval experienced by a wife, Mrs. Louise Mallard, over the assumed loss of her husband, Mr.
Brently
Mallard, due to a tragic accident. The theme of transcending the spousal control mechanism is a theme highlighted in the story. At the same time, the optimism shown by Louise is actually a basic defense mechanism which those suffering the traumatic reality of the death of a loved one utilize to cope with the tragedy.
The platform for the need of a defense mechanism was accentuated by the fact that since “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of...

..... would have been more realistic was a strategy doomed to failure. Mrs. Mallard was thus the victim of her own lack of emotional self-control. Because she had sequestered herself to a certain extent, she also bypassed a normal level of social support which might have saved her from falling into an emotional abyss from which she could never return. Her death was a case where the follies of the mind ended up turning an unrealistic defense mechanism into a fatal flaw. Because of this tragic outcome, both Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were cheated out of the rest of their lives spent together. Mrs. Mallard may have died in any case though.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” VCU.edu. Virginia
Commonwealth University, 1894. Web. 8 Jan. 2011.