Exploration on Rhetorical Devices in “The Story of an Hour”

Abstract：This paper analyzes some main rhetorical devices in Kate Chopin's short novel “The Story of An Hour”including symbolism，contrast and irony，which are benefit to promote the theme.

Key words：rhetorical devices，The Story of An Hour

Kate Chopin's“The Story of an Hour”condenses a woman's short life with her abrupt changes of emotion by the news concerning her husband.In order to make the readers sensible to the theme of this story，the author introduces various kinds of rhetorical devices to vivify her exploration toward the inner world of the leading character.

To appreciate in details，symbolism is widely used in this story in terms of two aspects： names of characters and concrete images.The former could be certified as the

followings.The leading character's name，Mallard，is a kind of wild duck，which symbolizes her characteristics with the implication that she is like a wild duck which should freely swim in the water without being deprived of freedom in a cage.The name of Mrs.Mallard's sister，Josephine，with the meaning of

“he would be stronger”in English，represents the qualities of plainness，giganticness，appropriateness，strictness and so on.Hence “Josephine”stands for those female figures who ultimately devote themselves to their husbands in the 19th century，as well as the figures who would be extremely grieved for their husbands' death.Besides，Brently，the name of Mr.Mallard with the meaning of steep gully，symbolizes the husband's powerful and prominent position as the backbone of a family，who usually treats his wife as private property.As for the latter，there are many symbolic images in this story especially in the 4th to 6th paragraph.The room of Mrs.Mallard has some specific symbolic meanings.When she went into the room and closed the door，it implies that she got rid of grief.To Mrs.Mallard，the room is as imprisoned as a cage which made her in an isolated situation.However，the open window represents the only way through which Mrs.Mallard could communicate with the outside world.The blue sky and the spring stand for hope，and the clouds for freedom，trees and rain for life.All those descriptions to the scenery give a hint that Mrs.Mallard could end up her misery past and begin a new life journey.

Apart from symbolism，contrast is another device to vivify

the author's writings.The author compares the outside world and the inside world together: the former one is free and active whereas the latter trapped and dead.Mrs.Mallard felt

oppressive and was yielding to the traditional constraints，thus this contrast arouses readers sympathy and

comprehension.Another example can be found in Mrs.Mallard's reaction at the news of her husband's death.She accepted the reality immediately which is different from other wives.This contrast outlines Mrs.Mallard's specialties in

characteristics.Though her appearance is delicate，she holds an usual mind with the hatred for women's low positions and the eagerness to freedom.Mrs.Mallard is like a contradictory combination: frail in body but strong in mind; obedient in outside but rebellious in inside; both love and unlove toward her husband; freedom in desire but restraint in reality.Even the complex relationship of live and death is a contrast: before Mrs.Mallard realized that her husband's death would bring her freedom，she was physically living but mentally dead; however，after that，she was relived both in body and in mind; at last，while her husband came back，her life as well as her thoughts went to an end.

Besides the two listed above，the author also

employed irony as a way of expression.At the beginning of this story，the author adds irony to describe how careful

Mrs.Mallard's relatives are when they told her husband's death，she locked herself in the room and everybody regarded her as over-sad.However，her tears were the celebration of her escape and reborn.This irony is suitably used to reflect her earnest eager for freedom.Though not willing to see her husband's death，she would rather lose her husband for the exchange of her freedom.It espouses how strong her eager for freedom was.What ironic most is the state words of Mrs.Mallard's friend who told her the news.He was the first one to know the news whose origin was quite certain.However，Mrs.Mallard's husband got back at last and she died.Readers may laugh at the doctor's diagnosis because the saying of Mrs.Mallard's dying of sadness is teemed with satire.

Additionally，many other types of rhetorical devices can be found in this short story，like metaphors and similes.No matter what kind of rhetorical devices she uses，the author just intends to emphasize her writing theme，to describe the awakening of women's mind，to explore the true method for women to get freedom. References：

[1]李公昭.The Story of An Hour.美国文学选读[M].西安：西安交通大学出版社，2009.