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Ellen McDaniel
Professor Leith
Intro to Fiction, Poetry and Drama
12 November 2015
Symbolism in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour
Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour, published in the spring of 1894, gives interesting
insight into the minds of married women during the late 1800s. This short story follows Mrs.
Louise Mallard as she discovers the death of her husband. Initially devastated, Louise Mallard
locks herself in an upstairs room to mourn. However, she quickly realizes that her life is
suddenly her own. She is free to live her days as she pleases, no longer under the control of a
man. One major way that Chopin portrays this theme of oppression is through symbolism.
Chopins uses ordinary objects, physical health, weather, and even names to symbolize Louises
suffering, as well as her liberation. These symbols for greater concepts help to create the theme
of the oppression of women in marriages in The Story of an Hour.
The symbols that represent the ways in which Louise is oppressed in her marriage include
her heart troubles and her last name. The very first line of the story informs readers that Mrs.
Mallard was inflicted with a heart trouble (Chopin). This physical heart trouble, however, is
representative of her emotional heart trouble. Jennifer Hicks, the director of the Academic
Support and Writing Assessment program at Massachusetts Bay Community College, notes that
a quick reading of the phrase might mislead the reader into thinking that Mrs. Mallard,
therefore, has heart disease. Yet Chopin chose her phrase with care. She wants her readers to
know that Mrs. Mallard has a very specific condition that interferes with the workings of her

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heart. Later, when we see Mrs. Mallard warmed and relaxed, we realize that the problem with
her heart is that her marriage has not allowed her to live for herself, (Hicks). Louise is stuck in
a marriage that is constricting, and lacking in love. There is a constant powerful will bending
hers in blind persistence, the powerful will being her husbands (Chopin). And yet she is
sad to learn of his death, for she had loved himsometimes. Often she had not, (Chopin).
While this symbol could be applicable to either the man or woman in a relationship, the decision
to use Mallard as Louises last name expresses the male dominance over her. The Mallard duck
is a very popular duck in North America, and thanks to the males gleaming green head, gray
flanks, and black tail-curl, [it is arguably] the most easily identified duck, (Mallard).
Therefore, this species of duck is largely associated with the male. In the same way, the human
race during this time period was dictated by the men; marriages and households were run and
identified by the husband. The last name Mallard signifies that Louises identity will always
belong to her husband. One might even argue that Louises first name also is a symbol for the
control men have over women. The name Louise is very similar to its masculine form of
Louis. This could be yet another way to express a womans existence being overshadowed by a
man.
Even more powerful than the symbols that represent Louises oppression are the symbols
that represent her newfound freedom. While Louises last name represents her existence
shadowed by her husband, the use of her first name represents an identity that belongs solely to
her. The reader does not learn Louises first name until over half way through the story when her
sister is calling to her through the locked door after her epiphany. Prior to this revelation, readers
knew her only as Mrs. Mallard. This transition from last name to first name marks the
transition of Louises life. She has been liberated from her husbands control and is now in

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possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her
being! (Chopin). Louise is now identified as her own person rather than who she is in relation to
her husband.
Moreover, the scenario in which Louise has her epiphany is also made up of many
symbols: spring time, the open window, and the blue sky. Louise is sitting in a chair facing an
open window, through which she can see, hear and smell the vibrancy of spring life below.
Spring is full of new birtheverything is starting again, coming back to life with energy.
Similarly, Louise is being revived. She is being given a new lifeone without her husband
dictating itand with new life comes new hope. The open window through which she observes
this is representative of a new perspective. She can now feel the spring time outside; she can now
see the hope that she did not have before. While she had once dreaded living for a long time, she
can now see those long years ahead of her in a different way. Louise breathed a quick prayer
that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be
long (Chopin). If, on the other hand, the window had been shut, Louise would not have been
able to feel the revival of life outside as she did. She would merely be an observer, looking but
not experiencing, similar to how she acts in her marriage.
Furthermore, an import symbol that Louise acknowledges are the patches of blue sky
showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west
facing her window, (Chopin). To understand the importance of the visible blue sky, readers must
first understand the significance of the cloud cover. The clouds, which are breaking up to reveal
the blue sky hidden beyond, are symbolic of Mr. Mallards dominance. Now that he has died, his
control over his wife is breaking apart. Also significant is the fact that the clouds have gathered
in the west, where the sun sets. Likewise, Louises life of oppression by her husband is setting

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and coming to an end. The now visible spots of blue sky beyond the oppressive clouds signify
the freedom coming to Louise. Her limitations caused by her husband have broken apart to
unveil a new life for her. Free, free, free! she says to herself (Chopin). Though she at first tried
to resist this sense of freedom, possibly out of respect for the man she married, she felt it,
creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled
the air (Chopin). It was the irresistible sense of freedom that was reaching to her, through the
clouds, through the new life of spring, and through her open window. Lastly, the room in which
Louise locks herself could represent that she is trapped in her marriage and trapped in an almost
tyrannized life. She locks herself in this room to grieve the death of her husband, and only
unlocks the door and steps out after she decides to claim the power and authority over herself
and the rest of her life.
Finally, the original title of the story, The Dream of an Hour, may also suggest another
meaning. The newest and most popular title, The Story of an Hour, seems to be a more literal and
straight forward description of the storys events. Chopins original title, however, is arguably
more powerful. To describe the events of that hour as a dream is to make Louises idea of
freedom a fantasy. Her self-assertion becomes unreachable, unattainable and something that
slips through ones fingers. Although Louise has no way of knowing such a hope cannot be a
reality, it is the only conclusion because her husband is not actually dead. Chopin draws a
parallel between this and the idea that woman think that they can be free and independent during
this time period. Nevertheless, it is a dream to be whispered behind closed doors, impossible for
observers to guess at, far beyond the doctors' final crude efforts to diagnose, (Knights). When
one believes they can have this freedom, the men will interfere; the Mr. Mallards will always
come home to take it away again.

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In conclusion, Chopin uses strong, as well as subtle, symbolism throughout The Story of
an Hour to express the oppression of women in marriages during the late 1800s. The restricted
lifestyles of these women are represented by Louises heart troubles, her male-associated last
name, and the locked room. Her beautiful and brief liberation is symbolized in the lively spring
time, the open window, and the spots of blue sky reaching to her through the clouds. Despite this
powerful epiphany, it is one that cannot be a reality for the women of this time. Freedom from
marriage and the control of men is a dangerous fantasy to be entertained, and a short-lived one at
that. In fact, such a dream can only survive for an hour.

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Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." The Seagull Reader: Stories. Ed. Joseph Kelly. 3rd ed.
London: Norton, 2015. 99-101. Print.
Hicks, Jennifer. "An overview of The Story of an Hour." Short Stories for Students. Detroit:
Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Knights, Pamela. "Introduction." The Awakening, and Other Stories. Kate Chopin. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2000. ix-xliii. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Vol. 110. Detroit:
Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
"Mallard." All About Birds. Cornell University, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.