The-story-of-an-hour-英文鉴赏

1、1a feminist perspectivethe story the story of an hour,written by kate chopin is a short but powerfulstory. the ending of the story of an hour halts sharply, without much space betweenthe climax and the ending. the ending reveals the themes of the short story,epitomizes the writing techniques the wri

2、ter used, reinforces the plot and the ironicrelationship between characters, makes the elementheart disease a clue throughoutthe whole story, and leaves us readers much margin to think about such as the nature of the protagonist.the story begins with two nonperson subject sentences. “knowing that mr

3、s.mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her asgentle as possible the news of her husbands death.” this tells us the situation withmrs. mallard: troubled with heart disease, fragile, unable to bear any shock andcarefully protected. the protection is restriction

4、as well. in the first sentence thenarrator revealed mrs. mallards heart trouble. and there are several repetitions of thedisease in whole story. the second place is “josephine was kneeling before the closeddoor with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. louise, open the door! ibeg; open

5、the door-you will make yourself ill. what are you doing, louise? forheavens sake open the door.” the third place is “go away. i am not making myselfill. no; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open door.” the fourth is“she breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. i t was o

6、nly yesterday she had2thought with a shudder that life might be long.” the fifth is in the ending “when thedoctor came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills.” the firstrevelation is at the very beginning of the story. the last one is at the end. mrs.mallards heart trouble is an i

7、mportant clue that goes though the whole article. its thecenter of the story. but these are not simply repetition. the point of view and the wayof presenting are different. the first place is narrated from the limited omniscientpoint of view and centers on how people regard the disease and how will

8、they treather. the second quotation is from the perspective of mrs. mallards sisters andshows her concern. the third and the fourth are from the protagonist herself. the thirdone is stated through dialogue and the fourth contains a compare showing mrs.mallards attitude toward life before and after t

9、he news. the repressed marriagemakes her life wearing on rather slowly and she does not want to live a long life withthis condition. but the news brings her hope and imagination. each repetition carries with it some other related information which enriches the plot of the story.“he had only taken th

10、e time to assure himself of its truth by a second te legram,and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less friend in bearing the sad message.”richard is mr. mallards friend. he knew about the disease and he is also the onetrying to protect mrs. mallard. his hastiness is because of the disease.

11、 these two areclosely related. in a hasty he came to tell the bad message. that why the mistake wasmade. he was not even sure of the husbands death. this chain of events-richardcame back hastily, they happened to tell mrs. mallard before they saw the body and it3was only an hour before her husband c

12、ame back-might be coincident. this hastiness makes the reappearance of the husband possible and reasonable.in the end the doctors said mrs. mallard died of joy that kills. but actually it isnot hard to think that the reason for her death is not joy but sorrow that kills. she wasshocked to see her hu

13、sband came back. in the shattering disappointment and sorrowthe heart disease as repeated previously killed her. she was very joyful when shecarried herself out of the room, like a goddess of victory. but no one knows. there isa conflict between mrs. mallard and society. all they knew were she had h

14、eartdisease and she supposed to be sad at the news of her husbands death. but no onethought it weird that she did not die of sadness but joy. they guessed the reasonaccording to the traditional moral principles and from the perspective of man. whilethe reader know whats happening. but the characters

15、 in the story dont. the endingseems to be reasonable but actually is a fallacy. this presents us a dramatic irony, sharpening the surprise ending and lending us a lot to think.the end of the story leaves us enough margins to think about why is mrs.mallard so happy at her husbands death? and so sad a

16、t his return? is she really a vilewoman that curses her husband to die? if the answer is affirmative, what makes her socold-blooded? does the couple really love each other? mrs. mallard livedsuperficially a happy life in other peoples eyes according to the conventio nal andsecular criteria. her husb

17、and was gentle. when the door opened, “it was brentlymallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella.” this was the only direct description of mr. mallard. he should be a4considerate gentleman. mrs. mallard had “two powerless white slender hands”, so shedi

18、d not have to work very hard to live. she is not impoverished in material life, buther ego is swamped in the then patriarchal society. she is not equally treated as man.“and yet she had loved him-sometimes. often she had not. what did itmatter! what could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in fac

19、e of this possession ofself-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being.”this sentence answers the question whether she loves her husband or not. she lovedhim to some degree. but compared with freedom and self-assertion, love does notcount for much. she is deep inside inhibited. she lived a two-facet life. but she is notvile or cruel, becaus