1
Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour”
Symbolism
“The Story of an Hour” was written by Kate Chopin, which focused on a woman who has
a delicate heart and found out she just lost her husband, Mr. Mallard who passed away in an
accident. Throughout the story, Chopin gave detail about how each character felt. The author
focused on the wife of Mr. Mallard, the main character was Mrs. Mallard, Louise, but she also
had a sister named, Josephine who was the one who told Louise about the passing of her husband
but she was also the person who tried to help her sister get through the pain and grief. The story
had conflicts, irony, different tones, and symbolism. There were many things I could have
analyzed but I’ve decided to analyze the symbolism in the story. The symbols I have decided to
focus on are Louise’s heart, the open window, and cushioned chair. These three symbols are all
