Example of essay on how irony is used in literature

Kate Chopin’s, the story of an hour, is well crafted in terms of its plot, content, and character choice. However, one of the overarching literary devices that Chopin employs is irony. First of all, the story begins with a friend contemplating on how to explain the news of the death of Mr. Mallard to his wife. Mr. Richard struggles to make sure that the news of death is unveiled to Mrs. Mallard in a way that it would not cause harm to her due to her heart condition. Josephine who is the Mrs. Mallard’s sister is used as the individual who slowly exposes the events that had transpired to Mrs Mallard. Ironically, the reactions of Mrs. Mallard were contrary to what was expected. Instead of the conventional feeling of sadness that engulfs people upon receiving the news of the death of their loved one, Mrs Mallady sits in a room and feels a sense of freedom. Instead of mourning for her husband, she feels that she is now at will to do whatever she wants because her husband was dead. It is ironic that she was married to MR Mallard yet she seems not to have loved him. It is not normal for a person to feel a sense of freedom upon the death of a husband. It is also ironic that even her own sister who was close to her did not understand that Mrs. Mallard did not love her husband. On the other side of the door, Josephine thought that Mrs. Mallard was grieving while in retrospect Mrs. Mallady was enjoying the beautiful weather and the twittering of birds on the outside.
The climax of the irony in this novel is when it turns out that Mr. Mallard was not dead. It is ironic that there had been telegrams that confirmed that he was dead yet the story establishes that the man was very far from the place of the accident. In fact, Mr. Mallard was not even aware of information that was being circulated that had died. Kate Chopin is able to turn this story around such that Mrs. Mallard turns out to be the victim of death. Chopin explains that upon the site of her husband, Mrs. Mallard cannot handle the turn of events. One of the questions that come out of this is the question of whether Mrs. Mallard dies due to the joy of seeing her husband or due to the fact that her presupposed freedom had been halted as a result of the fact that her husband was finally alive and kicking.
In conclusion, Irony is one of the key stylistic devices that is employed in Chopin’s story of an hour. Kate Chopin begins by illustrating the irony behind the reactions of Mrs. Mallard upon the death of her husband. Instead of the lady showing sadness she is remorseful and feels a sense of freedom in the death of her husband. Chopin then ironically reverses the trajectory of the plot of the story such that Mr. Mallard turns out to be alive and Mrs. Mallard in turn dies after she receives the information that her husband was alive. In addition, Mrs. Mallard dies not because of grief but as a result of the joy of seeing her husband.