The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a story about a woman who is informed her husband died and she is happy to be free. Setting is able to create juxtaposition between death and the beginning of new life. After finding out her husband died, Mrs. Mallard , "Could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life" (Chopin, 326). Mrs. Mallard was trapped in her marriage and only death would set her free. Death is not only used to show that Mr. Mallard died, but it also showed that the control Mr. Mallard had over his wife was no longer there. This death allowed Mrs. Mallard to start fresh and live for herself. Spring is used poetically to represent new life or birth. Mrs. Mallard is now resented with the opportunity to make drastic changes to her life. This image of spring is able to show that the death of Mr. Mallard will allow Mrs. Mallard to begin new life.