Irony Analysis of the story of an hour

第 1 页 共 5 页 专业班级姓名学号(密封线外不要写姓名、学号、班级、密封线内不准答题，违者按零分计)…………………………………………密…………………………封……………………………………线………………………………… 考试方式： 论文 太原理工大学现代科技学院英美小说选读卷 专业： 考试日期： 时间： 分钟 共 页 题 号 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 总 分 得 分 Irony Analysis of the story of an hour Abstract: Kate Chopin is the most important woman writer in America during 19 century. A story of an hour is the high-quality one among her short story. The most important writing skill in the story is irony. In this paper, through analysis the irony skill in the story to resolute how the author expression the ignore to the value of woman and bound of the freedom of woman by the means of artistic expression of irony and so on. Key words: irony self-awareness an story of an hour Outline: Ⅰ.Introduction Ⅱ. Irony Analysis of the story III. Conclusion The short story describes the series of emotions Louise Mallard endures after hearing of the death of her husband, who was believed to have died in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard suffers from heart problems and therefore her sister attempts to inform her of the horrific news in a gentle way. Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room to immediately mourn the loss of her husband. However, she begins to feel an unexpected sense of exhilaration. "Free! Body and soul free!" is what she believes is a benefit of his death. At the end of the story, it is made known that her husband was not involved in the railroad disaster and upon his return home Mrs. Mallard suddenly dies. The cause of her death is ambiguous and left foranalysis as it can range from her known heart problems to psychological factors. We can askourselves if the real reason for the death was knowing that she wouldn't be free after she sees that her husband isn't really dead.Ⅰ.IntroductionIrony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions. There is presently no accepted method for textually indicating irony, though anirony (punctuation) mark has been proposed. In the 1580's Henry Denham introduced a rhetorical question mark or percontation point which looks like a reversed question mark.This mark was also proposed by the French poet Marcel Bernhardt at the end of the 19th century to indicate irony or sarcasm.Ironic statements (verbal irony) are statements that imply a meaning in opposition to their literal meaning. A situation is often said to be ironic (situational irony) if the actions taken have an effect exactly opposite from what was intended. The discordance of verbal irony may be deliberately created as a means of communication (as in art or rhetoric). Descriptions or depictions of situational irony, whether in fiction or in non-fiction, serves the communicative function of sharpening or highlighting certain discordant features of reality. Verbal and situational irony are often used for emphasis in the assertion of a truth. The ironic form of simile, used in sarcasm, and some forms of litotes emphasize one's meaning by the deliberate use of language which states the opposite of the truth —or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection.Plot of the storyInitial SituationMrs. Mallard has a weak heartThis is the setup we need to know for all the events to come, as well as being a piece of characterization. The fact that Mrs. Mallard has a weak heart changes the way everybody has to behave to her. She has to be handled gently so that her heart doesn't get a shock. Just in case we forget, should she get a shock at any point, she could die. This results in instant and constant dramatic tension.ConflictMr. Mallard dies and Mrs. Mallard’s friends have to break the news to her gently.Not only has her husband died, Mrs. Mallard could very well die too upon hearing the news. His death puts them both in danger. Mrs. Mallard's friends have to take special care in letting her know what happened so that she doesn't die also.ComplicationMrs. Mallard mourns and tries to deal with her unusual feelings.In the case of this story, the complication stage itself embodies the idea of complicated. We'll explain: Mrs. Mallard complicates the traditional or expected reaction of a widow to a husband's death by reacting in a totally unusual way. Instead of refusing to believe the news or take it in, she instantly grasps it and cries her eyes out, before going off to be alone. All this is meant to show us that she's an unusual widow, and it prepares us for the climax to follow.ClimaxMrs. Mallard declares that she is free.Mrs. Mallard struggles with her grief, and then also struggles with a piece of new knowledge coming at her. She tries to avoid it, but can't completely push it off. Finally, she succumbs to the realization that she is free, and that she's glad. After the tragedy of hearing such bad news, and managing such changing emotions of grief and abandonment, Mrs. Mallard is so overwhelmed by her feeling of freedom that she can barely whisper.SuspenseMrs. Mallard comes out of her room, meets her sister, and starts to go down the stairs.Mrs. Mallard floats out of her room on the crest of Victory, feeling like she's conquered her sadness, her non-sadness, and her new desire for freedom. She sweeps out of her room like a new person, stronger for her grief, and excited about her life ahead. She's almost high with all the emotion and adrenaline floating about her as she keeps fixating on the idea that she's free at last.第 2 页共5 页第 3 页 共 5 页 学院系专业班级姓名学号(密封线外不要写姓名、学号、班级、密封线内不准答题，违者按零分计)…………………………………………密…………………………封……………………………………线………………………………… Denouement(Resolution) Mrs. Mallard walks in, far from dead, shocking everyone. Suddenly, a totally unexpected thing happens: Mr. Mallard comes home. Everyone's shocked, except Mr. Mallard, who has no idea of what's been going on. Even though Josephine and Richards are surprised too, they try to keep Mrs. Mallard from receiving the shock. But they can't. As if getting a shock wouldn't be hard enough on her heart, she's got all these emotions and excitement about freedom running through her body. Conclusion Mrs. Mallard died of joy. We readers have to piece together the fact that Mrs. Mallard has died based on what we know about her (the weak heart), her shock on seeing Mr. Mallard, and the narrator's dry statement that Richards couldn't prevent her new shock. Between that and the doctors' explanation for her death, we realize that Mrs. Mallard has passed away. Unlike her husband's death in the train accident, there's no room for error or miscommunication there. She can't return. The events foreshadowed in the "Initial Situation" have come true. Ⅱ. Irony Analysis of the story Dark irony plays a major role in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin. In the Story, there are many moments when Chopin's craft of writing feeds the irony of the story. One perfect example, "assure himself of its truth by a second telegram" (772). This sentence subdued me into believing that Mrs. Mallard's husband was dead, when in fact, we learn that he never died. In addition, Mrs. Mallard is a woman with a strong sense of passion and detest. In the end, she dies by the nature of story. Chopin brings a style of writing that has irony. In the beginning of the story, Chopin's introduces you to the heart trouble that afflicts Mrs. Mallard. Her condition is significant later because this ailment drives the story. However, the notion of this heart condition can be overlooked as being meaningless. Many readers could argue that this heart condition foreshadowed the climax of the story instantaneously but it does not. In the end of the story, we realize the significance of her sickness. It was a clever way to secretly introduce the weakness that ends Mrs. Mallard's life. Another, well deceptive measure used by Chopin's was to suggest that Mr. Mallard had died. In paragraph 2, Mr. Mallard's friend, Richards, confirmed twice that such allegations were in fact true (772). At that moment, I conceived that Mr. Mallard was dead. There was no other clue to believe otherwise and it was one of the strongest signs delivered in the story, because it left you unprepared for what was to come in the end. When Chopin wrote, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister'sarms", I felt her sense of passion and emotional attachment to her husband (772). Mrs. Mallard also opposed her husband as much as she cared for him. For a women being ill, and just being notified of her husband death, it's awkward to read how she describes the surroundings while in her room. She describes the tops of trees being, "all aquiver with the new spring life", and the air being filled with, "delicious breath of rain" (772). What all this symbolizes is a new beginning for Mrs. Mallard. At this particular moment in the story, it is a little elusive to make that judgment, however, in paragraph 11 it is very easy to ascertain. When Mrs. Mallard says, "Free, free, free!", it is very clear that Mrs. Mallard has come to an understanding that she's free from her unhappy marriage (772); "But she saw beyond thatbitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome." (772-773).There is also evidence provided in the text that tells us Mrs. Mallard was living a Victorian life giving me a reason to understand why she did not remorse like I would expect. "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence." (773). IntheVictorian era, women were seen as weak, helpless and incapable of making decision. Their focus was to tend to the house and care for the children. Mrs. Mallard was living that lifestyle which was the cause of her negative outlook on life and her joy for her husband's death.Sadly, Mrs. Mallard was destined to die. Throughout the story, Mrs. Mallard resentment for life is made clear. "It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long" and "And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not." (773). All of this attest to the conclusion that Mrs. Mallard dreaded her life. She did not love her husband and she look down on the possibility of a long life. It all movies the bad guy never comes out victorious and Chopin's was not going to let that happen in this story. Mrs. Mallard's death only made sense.What is amusing about this story is what is stated in the last line of the story, "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills" (773). Mrs. Mallard, who was joyful of being liberated, has a heart attack after the shocking realization that her husband was alive. Mrs. Mallard's death was inevitable by the course of the story but its ironic knowing that her enjoyment of her husband's death lead to the fatal reaction to him being alive.Setting and characterization analysis of the storySetting is the time and place that a story takes place. This story takes place in the 1900’s in Mrs. Mallard's house with Louise, Josephine and Richard. The majority of the story takes place in a specific part of the house, Louis's bedroom.To understand this you must understand the character ofLouise Mallard. Louise was young looking with fair skin and a calm face, who spoke repression and some strength. She also has a heart problem, which means the death of her husband has to be broken to her as gently as possible. But now there is nothing but a dull stare gazing into the patches of blue sky as if she was in intelligent thought.III. ConclusionShort as it is in length, the Story of an Hour affords us much for thought. Notably the author has wonderfully adopted the stream of consciousness in her novels and with her subtle description she has pro duced a ‘true-to-life’ effect. In this sense, we can decide that she is a good practitioner of it presented by William James. Thereby we can also see the pervasive influence of psychological analysis among the English writers. The plot and the irony skill in this passage is perfect.Reference[1]孙胜忠. 独到的表现手法,超前的女性意识——解读凯特.肖帮的短篇小说《暴风》[J ] . 名作欣赏, 2002, (4) :35–38.[2]孙胜忠. 反讽、象征与女性意识——评凯特.肖帮的短篇小说《一小时的故事》和《暴风雨》[J ] . 山东外语教学,2003,(5):95-98.第 4 页共5 页第 5 页 共 5 页 学院 系 专业班级 姓名 学号 (密封线外不要写姓名、学号、班级、密封线内不准答题，违者按零分计) …………………………………………密…………………………封……………………………………线………………………………… [3]金莉,张剑. 文学原理教程[ M]. 北京:外语教学与研究出版社, 2004.99-101. [4]刘千凤. 《一个小时的故事》中的叙事技巧[ J ].大众文艺,2004,(1)。