Curated set · answers marked
What immediately leads to Louise Mallard's death at the end of "The Story of an Hour"?
Rationale
At the story's conclusion, Brently Mallard walks through the front door, very much alive. Louise, who had just experienced a personal revelation of freedom and was looking forward to a life of independence, dies instantly upon seeing him. The doctors claim her death is due to "joy that kills," but Chopin's irony implies it is the crushing loss of the freedom she had briefly envisioned that triggers her fatal shock.
What immediately causes Louise Mallard's death at the end of "The Story of an Hour"?
Rationale
At the story's conclusion, Brently Mallard walks through the front door, very much alive. Louise, who had just tasted an hour of joyful freedom at the thought of his death, dies instantly. The doctors say her death is due to "joy that kills," but the true irony is that it is the shock — and the sudden loss of the freedom she had only briefly imagined — that causes her death.
What causes Louise Mallard's death at the end of "The Story of an Hour"?
Rationale
At the story's conclusion, Brently Mallard walks in through the front door, very much alive. Louise, who had just felt an intense sense of freedom and joy at the thought of living for herself, dies instantly from the shock of seeing him. The doctors claim her death was due to "joy that kills," but the real irony is that the reader knows it was the devastating loss of her newfound freedom that truly caused her demise.