In The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin uses symbolism, foreshadowing and especially irony to guide us along in the story. This piece is filled with these three literary devices. From beginning to end Chopin never stops making you wonder what is going to happen next but by the end of the story if you look back on what you just read you notice the clues she was hurling at you the whole time.

First of all, symbolism plays a part in this story. One symbol that is used is when she is sitting in front of the window after she hears the news of her husband's passing. The window is open and everything outside of the window is free but from where she is sitting she is very much still trapped. Her husband dying is like the window to the free world opening up. Another symbol Chopin uses is Louise's heart troubles. These problems represent her attitude towards her marriage and her lack of freedom because of her marriage. She cannot keep going the way she is living pretty much. One last symbol that is used is the spring season. When we think about spring we think of new beginnings and fresh blooms and this is precisely how Louise looked upon the situation of her husband dying. This event was going to be her fresh start to her new found independence. All of these symbols all relate to her freedom she thought she was going to get to experience without having to play the role of the wife anymore. 

Another one of the main literary devices Chopin uses is foreshadowing. In the line, "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death" gives us a huge idea of what is to come. This is foreshadowing that something bad is to happen to Mrs. Mallard but we are just not sure what it is. By them saying that her heart would act up at the thought of death there is no way it would not act up when her husband expectantly shows up. Chopin uses the blue sky and birds to foreshadow the freedom and relief Louise feels when she is told of the death of her husband. If she would have used stormy skies with thunder and lightning there would have been a much gloomier feel and how she felt would have been unsure but since she did not go that route we as readers know that she is ecstatic over the news. Going along with that same idea is when Chopin is describing Mrs. Mallard's face as being beautiful but "whose lines bespoke repression."  This is telling us that she is repressed by her marriage and that she is having a hard time staying in it. All she is wants is to be free from the life that she is living and start all new where all she has to be worried about is herself and what she wants to do.

This is a very ironic story as a whole. It all begins at the very beginning of the story when Josephine and Richards want to break the news of the death of her husband. This is ironic because they think it is really going to break her heart but in all reality it is the best news they could have given her. She is ecstatic over the news because that gives her the one thing she is striving for in life, which is freedom from her role of Brently Mallard's wife. Her sister thinks that Louise might die in the room after the news of her husband's death and this is ironic because as she stares out the open window she realizes all the opportunities she now has and this is one of the happiest hours of her life. Her death at the end is also very ironic. She thought she was about to finally get to live the life she has always wanted but in reality that all comes to end really quickly. The most ironic thing is that the doctor diagnosis her with being so happy that her husband was alive. This is beyond ironic because it is quite the opposite. She dies from the shock of her husband being alive and her not getting to live her dreams and not getting out of her repressed life.

As we can see Kate Chopin uses many literary devices to navigate her way through this story. Her use of irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing make The Story of an Hour a huge success and really interesting to read. The ending is one that the reader can never see coming and the shock of her husband not actually dying in the accident at his work was just so crazy. Louise dying at the end of  "joy that kills" is the most ironic turn to a story and the reader gets a good shock from it. 
