The Story of an Hour

Chopin uses images of nature to symbolize self-determination as the natural state of the individual. When Louise retreats to her room in grief, it is the sight of dispersing clouds, the smell of rain, and the sound of sparrows singing that inspires her turn from grief to consideration of new possibilities. The “open window” that frames Louise’s experience of the natural world further symbolizes the new opportunities that have become available to her.

Chopin uses sensorial descriptions of the natural world to propel Louise’s psychological shift. She suggests that Louise’s feelings are similarly natural, despite being incongruent with social expectations. Later in the story, Louise pictures the “Spring days, and summer days […] that would be her own” (Paragraph 19), again connecting fair weather to her own happiness and sense of possibility. When Brently returns, “travel-stained, composedly carrying his […] umbrella” (Paragraph 21), he metaphorically brings the rainstorm home with him, returning Louise to her previous state of marital subjugation.

The state of Louise’s heart symbolizes her emotional state and builds narrative tension. Initially, Richards and Josephine endeavor to keep Louise as calm as possible while breaking the news of Brently’s death, not wanting to aggravate her heart condition.