You didn't specify which Chopin work you were refering to
in your question, so I have assumed you are asking about "The Story of an Hour," which
seems to fit your query.
Irony plays an all important part
in this excellent short story. The central irony is built around the way in which Mrs.
Mallard's husband is reported dead, which obviously acts as a catalyst in how it makes
Mrs. Mallard realise how she has been oppressed in her marriage and now she can be
"free" in her widowhood, but then how this fact is revealed to have been a mistake at
the end of the story as Mr. Mallard comes into the house just after Mrs. Mallard has
reconciled herself to her husband's loss and has began to really look forward to her
freedom:
There
would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself.
There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men
and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a
fellow-creature.
It is thus
highly ironic that Mr. Mallard should re-appear after Mrs. Mallard has made this
realisation. In addition, let us not forget the crushing irony of the ending. Having
been told that Mrs. Mallard suffers from "heart trouble," the ending ironically shows
how everyone attributed her death to "joy that kills" as the sight of her beloved
husband filled her with so much happiness that her heart ceased to work. Of course,
knowing her thoughts of liberty and freedom, the reader is able to understand that in
fact, it was the thought of returning to the oppressed state of marriage that made her
heart give out.
As to the credibility of such ironies, I
don't think they are presented in a way that makes us doubt their credibility. Perhaps
it is a bit too convenient that Mr. Mallard returns precisely at the moment when Mrs.
Mallard is looking forward to her single life and after she has experienced her
epiphany, but life is made up of such ironies.
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