Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" displays the different emotions felt by the main character Mrs. Mallard after being given the news of her husband's death in a train accident. Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with sorrow and can hardly control her emotions. She later begins to come to peace with her husband's death when she is surprised to learn that her husband is in fact fully alive. The shock of the moment ultimately is too much for Mrs. Mallard's diseased heart and a doctor later states "she had died of heart disease   of the joy that kills" (Chopin 224). At first glance one can come to the conclusion that Mrs. Mallard dies of joy when she sees her husband alive, yet through imagery of blue skies representing hope, allusions toward open doors and new beginnings, and the irony of Mr. Mallards return Chopin shows in reality Mrs. Mallard dies from the thought of her new found freedom being taken away. 

After learning Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death Chopin describes the setting by saying "There were patches of blue sky showering here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other" (Chopin 223). The clouds are meant to represent the sadness and gloom of the death of Mr. Mallard. However when looking through the dark clouds blue skies can be seen. The blue skies in the background represent hope and a future of happiness past the seemingly dark current situation. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard gazing at the blue skies by saying "It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought" (Chopin 223). In this moment Mrs. Mallard's perspective begins to chance and she beings to deviate from her extreme feeling of sadness. 

A feeling begins to arise over Mrs. Mallard that she cannot exactly explain or understand fully what it means. Chopin explains this situation by saying "She said it over and over under her breath: 'free, free, free!'" (Chopin 223). Mrs. Mallard was overcome with the feeling of being free from her husband. She no longer would have to worry about what her husband wanted, nor worry about trying to fulfill his needs she would be free to do as she pleases. This feeling of freedom is explained by Chopin by saying "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Chopin 224). Chopin is trying to display how humans become possessive of our spouses. Men and women feel as though they have power over one another and that the other should not be able to freely do as they please, or in other words, humans try to strip the freedom away from their companions. Mrs. Mallard has lost this feeling of being condemned, and now for the first time is overcome with an extreme feeling of freedom. 

Chopin presents an extreme case of irony by saying "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long" (Chopin 224). Mrs. Mallard had dreaded the fact that her life may be drawn out and long. She is now presented with this new life of freedom where she is finally free to do whatever she chooses. This feeling of freedom reverses her perspective from dreading living a long life to praying that she will be able to live the longest life possible. The extreme irony is seen in the fact that Mrs. Mallard will die only a few short moments later. Throughout the story Chopin continuously alludes to an open window as well as an open door. The open window and the open door symbolize a new beginning. Mr. Mallard has passed away and now all of a sudden Mrs. Mallard is presented with a brand new array of opportunities. She now has the freedom to do as she pleases and no longer has to worry about pleasing the needs of her husband. Chopin chooses to bring Mr. Mallard back to life in a very ironic way "Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brantley Mallard who entered" (Chopin 224). The open door is often refereed to and represents a new beginning. It is extremely ironic that Mr. Mallard returns through an open door which leads to the death of Mrs. Mallard.  

The doctor claims that "she died of heart disease-of the joy that kills" (Chopin 224). From context it can be taken that Mrs. Mallard died from being overjoyed and overwhelmed from seeing that her husband had not died but rather was alive. Diving into the deeper meanings behind Chopin's story this is found to not be the true cause of death. The true cause of death is not that Mrs. Mallard died of a heart attack, but rather she died from an extreme level of disappointment. She had been presented with a new world full of new opportunities and freedom to do as she pleased, but when Mr. Mallard walks through the door all of that is stripped away from her immediately.  Mrs. Mallard, in the time of hearing of her husband's death, had thought of all of the new possibilities in life and how things were going to be different. The feeling of disappoint when she learned that he was alive was truly too much for her heart to withstand. 

Chopin describes Mrs. Mallards love for her husband by saying "And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not" (Chopin 224). It is possible that Mrs. Mallard loved the idea of being free more than she loved the idea of having her husband still alive. While she may have loved her husband being free would have led to no worries and being able to focus on her own life and own opportunities. Chopin says "What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of the possession of self-assertion" (Chopin 224). This shows that human being may care and love for another human being, but it is outweighed by the love for one's self. When presented with the opportunity to love another and worry about the needs of another it is easy for humans to fall in love with the idea of pursuing their goals and taking advantage of their own opportunities. Chopin shows through imagery of hope, allusions towards new beginnings, and irony of Mr. Mallard's return that in fact Mrs. Mallard died from having her newly found freedom so abruptly taken away. 

