Examples Of Irony In The Story Of An Hour

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Family and friends are an important part of life. In the case of Mrs. Mallard she saw her husband as more of someone that holds power over her In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, the story Mrs. Mallard has to deal with her husband allegedly dying, just to figure out at the end of the story that nothing happened to him and he is still alive. The use of Irony is really what makes this story great. Irony enhances the total effect of Kate Chopin 's "The Story of an Hour" by characterizing the protagonist, supporting the exposition and timeline, and building tension leading to the twist ending. Throughout the story readers can see Mrs. Mallard being characterized through the ironic events. The story says, “And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not” (8). This shows how Mrs. Mallard cares for her husband but doesn’t enjoy the power he carries over her, which nobody in the story realizes. “She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory” (8). This quote comes from page 8 of the story and it …show more content…

Chopin’s use of irony enhances every part of the story and takes it to a new level not commonly reached by authors. It turns out that the real conflict in Mrs. Mallard’s situation wasn’t really that she had lost a loved one. It was really that her freedom and joy was taken from her once her husband. who in the time frame really just controlled her and was seen as her superior in every way, came back home and was realized to be alive. The use of Irony in this short story really brings it to a new level by, giving insight into what kind of person Mrs. Mallard is, indirectly showing when this story happened, and by bringing this story all the way to its breaking point where Mrs. Mallard unexpectedly

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