"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin was is an ironic story that takes place when the main character Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's supposed death from her sister and her husband's best friend. When she first hears the news she does not act how they expect her to act. She lets out a short cry and then goes up to her room to be alone.
             When she first gets up to her room she is sad and begins to think about how she will spend the rest of her life alone, this is where her internal conflict begins. She begins to notice things in the nature around her as she looks out of a window and begins to realize how happy she is that her husband had died. She begins to think about all of the things that she is going to do for herself now that her husband was not around. At the time that this was written women's only role in society was to take care of their husband and do everything for them. Without her husband around she could finally start to live for herself. She feels like she has been reborn and she is finally "free."
             This feeling, that Mrs. Mallard is experiencing is short and sweet, however. She soon realizes that she too is soon to die. She feels sad at her life and what she could have done with it now with her husband deceased. However, she soon comes to grips with her fate. As she leaves the room with her sister and is walking down the stairs she is calm and collected. It is at that point in the story, when they are coming down the stairs that Mr. Mallard, unaware that everyone believes him to be dead, comes walking in. It is at this point that the irony kicks in. Mr. Mallard walks in alive and it is at the sight of him that Mrs. Mallard drops dead. The doctors proclaim her dead as the result of "joy that kills." It is at this point that Mrs. Mallard's internal conflict is completely resolved and she is at peace.
             In the short story Chopin's use of ...