The events in ‘The Story of an Hour’ happen so quickly that one is amazed at the turns and twists. When Mrs Mallard, a heart patient, is told gently the news of the death of her husband, her reaction is instant, unlike those of many other women. She weeps at once, in complete abandonment, in her sister’s arms. Then she goes to her room to be by herself.

In the loneliness, she looks out of the window at a world that seems alive and fresh. She sobs occasionally and then muses over the event. Then suddenly a feeling of freedom seizes her. She dreads it at first. She stops feeling bad about it. She is excited about her free body and free soul. She has a vision of a life which she will live for herself. She will not be accountable to anyone. Her vision is suddenly broken by the voice of her sister.

Accompanied by her sister she comes down, and suddenly she finds herself face to face with her ‘dead’ husband. Richards, her husband’s friend, quickly tries to screen Mr Mallard from the view of his wife, but he is too late. Mrs Mallard dies instantly. The doctors who are summoned proclaim that she “died of heart disease – of joy that kills.”

Though the ending of the story is a bit melodramatic, yet it seems to be quite satisfying. Any other way of ending it would only diminish its charm. Supposing Mrs Mallard does not die and shows her happiness on seeing her husband alive, her earlier feelings of freedom, her dream of a free, independent life, become totally meaningless.

We feel that the ending is quite appropriate in the context. It clearly underlines the importance of time in our life. In less than an hour Mrs Mallard has an idea of a whole different future, different from her ‘unhappy’ past with her husband. Her excitement about her free life is justified if we take into consideration various cues in the text about her unhappy married life. Her dream gets shattered and the blow proves to be too much. Her weak heart sinks not out of ‘joy’ on seeing the face of her ‘dead’ husband but out of the sudden realization of the death of her dream.

Thus, the ending of the story is meaningful and justified No other change can be more apt in the context.