I think it is pretty clear that the resolution, or
denouement, of "The Story of an Hour" comes in the final
sentence:
When
the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that
kills.
It is a surprise
ending with an ironic twist: Louise descends the stairs as a new woman, basking in the
knowledge that she will be free of her domineering husband; but when she sees that he is
not dead, but instead very much alive and standing in front of her, Louise dies from the
shock of the realization that her new dreams will not be fulfilled. No one else in the
room, however, realizes the joy that she had experienced during the past hour from the
knowledge that she would now be free to live life in the manner she wishes, without the
incumberment of a man to direct her every move. The doctors instead assume that she has
died from the happiness of seeing her husband alive--"the joy that kills"--the exact
opposite of what Louise was actually feeling. The doctors have mistaken her new heart,
one that is now filled with joy and hope for a new future, for a diseased one that was
not strong enough to take the shock of seeing her husband alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment