In “the story of an hour,” author Kate Chopin develops the main character Louise Mallard initially as a submissive young spouse. Then the author develops the characterization of Louise Mallard, through her diction and imagery, into an empowered, freed “widow. ” The diction used by the author is crucial to the development of the story. In the opening line the author refers to the main character as “Mrs. Mallard,” and states that she is “afflicted with a weak heart. These choices of diction imply that she doesn’t have her own identity, and her weak heart symbolizes her perceived lack of inner strength.
Upon hearing of Louise’s husband’s death Louise is further characterized by the other characters sensitivity toward her. Louise’s sister, for example, gives Louise “veiled hints that reveal in half concealing,” about her husband’s death. The author then begins to use diction to separate Louise’s character from a newly widowed woman by stating “(she did not hear the story) with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. The author continues the transformation ,coupled by a change of diction, by acknowledging her previous “repression,” and a “certain strength. Following that in paragraph 10 he author uses her “white slender hands,” to describe her lack of physical strength and her inability to fight off an idea of being “free,” in paragraph 11. Ironically, her lack of power to stop the idea of freedom empowers her emotionally. Louise then also recognizes her new strength from her husbands death by the author describing it with diction like “possession of self assertion…the strongest impulse of her being. ”The author uses other, unknowing character’s diction to confirm this change as well. For example Josephine refers to Louise Mallard as Louise instead of Mrs.
Mallard, because of her recent change into a widow. Finally before her “dead,” husband returns, Louise is described with diction like, “(having) triumph in her eyes, and… like a goddess of victory. ” This use of diction confirms her transformation form a submissive housewife to a strong single woman. Another tactic used by Kate Chopin was her distinct imagery used to further the develpopment of the character Louise Mallard. Upon first hearing the news, Louise Mallard, was in “a storm of grief,” the imagery in this metaphor represented sadness and grief , but also can represent purification r rebirth, and like every storm it eventually fades away. The author then uses the image of a window in Louise’s room to convey a symbol of clarity introspection, which foreshadows how she will feel later in the story. The author then describes a beautiful day outside the window, which promotes a feeling of longing to enjoy life in Louise. An important aspect of the scene outside the window was the patches of blue sky. This image coincides with Louise emergence of her “intelligent thought. ” Louise recognizes the aspects of the world outside the window (the color, scents, and sounds ect. she also becomes aware that she is happy no longer being bonded to her husband. This is supported in the passage by the imagery of her body language and excitement for example “her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. ” When Louise reaches a full acceptance of the idea of her freedom and joy, the author states that Louise is “drinking in the very elixir of life through that window. ” Finally Kate Chopin used Louise’s “dying of heart disease- of a joy that kills,” after seeing her husband to demonstrate, ironically, the shock and disappointment Louise felt upon seeing her husband alive.
