Kate Chopin’s non-fiction work “The Story of An Hour” gives a detailed account of what Mrs. Mallard feels after heartbreak. Mrs. Mallard is inflicted with heart trouble as her husband dies. She feels there are freedoms and opportunities for her to take advantage of along with the grievance of her husband’s death. These complex issues are accounted for in her brief characterization of her last hour of life. Ironically her husband did not pass away, but she still creates a tragic ending.
Mrs. Mallard is presented as a character with strength and integrity. As she loses her strongest family tie Mallard must advance in her life. Women around this time period of the late nineteenth century were legally bound to their husbands’. A widow…