Story Of An Hour Setting

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The Setting in “The Story of an Hour” Sometimes the setting of a story is unimportant; sometimes a story could take place anywhere and nothing would really change. However, in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” the setting is a vital part of the theme. The house, Louise Mallard’s armchair, and the open window symbolize the oppression of her marriage and relationship with her sister along with the freedom that her husband’s death promises Mrs. Mallard.
The house in the story represents the entrapment Louise Mallard feels in her marriage and in her relationship to her sister. Her husband, Brently Mallard, and her sister are overprotective of Louise, and she has very little control over her life. The downstairs represents reality. This is where she learns of her husband’s death. When Mrs. Mallard goes upstairs, she leaves reality behind. At the end of the story, Louise Mallard descends the staircase, figuratively wearing wings of freedom just like Nike, the Greek “goddess of victory” (Chopin 203). However, as she descends the stairway, she re-enters reality. The front door opens, and her husband is alive. This stark reality kills Louise Mallard. …show more content…
This armchair symbolizes safety for Mrs. Mallard. This is the place she finds comfort from the harsh, cold reality of the world and from her marriage. It is here that she comes to grips with what has happened to her husband. Chopin notes the roominess of the chair; the chair gives Louise Mallard room to be herself. With “her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair” (202), the physical exhaustion subsides along with the tears, and she finds both physical and mental strength. Finally, the chair faces the open window: a new

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