"There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it?..."See in text(The Story of an Hour)
This paragraph and the next one mark a shift in perspective and, therefore, a significant shift in tone. Earlier, Louise was observed from a distance, with a focus on other characters’ thoughts rather than her own. They saw her as fragile and vulnerable, which determined the language and tone of the story. Now, her own thoughts take center stage—“What was it?” is a question she is actually asking herself—and the whole tone of the story becomes more optimistic and excited. This optimism foreshadows her eventual feeling about the news of her husband’s death.
"She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same..."See in text(The Story of an Hour)
Chopin contrasts Louise Mallard with how other women would be expected to react to such news: shock, paralysis, and an inability to comprehend events. However, Louise is not paralyzed by the news; she understands it immediately. Her ability to accept her husband’s death foreshadows her eventual reaction to the news, her true feelings about it, which she may not even understand at this point.
