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Analysing short stories: irony and endings
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Short stories have to work fast: few characters, one key situation and often a powerful twist. Two of the Part 2 stories are famous for their endings.
'The Story of an Hour' (Kate Chopin, 1894)
Louise Mallard, who has heart trouble, is gently told that her husband has died in a railway accident. She weeps, then sits alone in her room by an open window and slowly realises she now feels free. She whispers 'free, free, free!' When her husband walks in, alive and unaware of the accident, she dies. The doctors say she died of 'the joy that kills'.
Method: situational and dramatic irony. The reader knows her joy was in freedom, not in his return.
Method: situational and dramatic irony. The reader knows her joy was in freedom, not in his return.
'The Necklace' (Guy de Maupassant)
Mathilde Loisel longs for a wealthy life. She borrows a diamond necklace from a rich friend, Madame Forestier, to wear at a ball, and then loses it. She and her husband secretly buy a replacement with borrowed money and spend ten years in poverty repaying the debt. At the end, Madame Forestier reveals that the original necklace was fake and almost worthless.
Method: a twist ending that reverses everything, with irony about appearance and reality.
Method: a twist ending that reverses everything, with irony about appearance and reality.
Writing about prose
Characterisation: what details reveal the main character?
Setting and symbols: the open window and spring in Chopin; the necklace itself in Maupassant.
Structure: how the story builds to its turning point and ending.
Narrative voice: third person, but close to the main character's thoughts.
Setting and symbols: the open window and spring in Chopin; the necklace itself in Maupassant.
Structure: how the story builds to its turning point and ending.
Narrative voice: third person, but close to the main character's thoughts.
Why is the ending of 'The Necklace' ironic?
- Mathilde wanted to look wealthy.
- She gave up ten years to replace a necklace.
- The original was fake: her sacrifice was for nothing, caused by appearances.
Answer: Ten years of hardship were spent replacing something that was never valuable, exposing the danger of caring about appearances.
Know each story's key events, characters, symbols and ending. Irony and twist endings are central to 'The Story of an Hour' and 'The Necklace'. Always explain the effect of the ending.
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