intentionally.

In "The Story of An Hour," the first example of verbal irony happens when Josephine is kneeling outside her sister's door, begging her to come out so she can comfort her. 

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door—you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door. 

"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No, she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. 

When Louise says, "I am not making myself ill," she actually means that she has never felt better. She realizes that her sister will not understand the double meaning of her words, but she says it anyway. Her relief and joy at her husband's death evoked a profound sense of freedom inside her. When she says, "I am not making myself ill," it is a statement to herself. In fact, it is possible that what had really been making her ill was her unhappy marriage. At the beginning of the short story, we are told that Louise has heart trouble. 

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

If her heart trouble was actually caused by the stress of an unhappy marriage, then Louise's statement "I am not making myself ill" is even more ironic, since the relief she feels after she is told of her husband's death is actually making her well. 

The next example of verbal irony happens after Brently Mallard returns, alive and well. At the prospect of being married to this man of "powerful will" again, Louise dies from shock and despair. 

When the doctors arrived they said she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills.

The doctors said she had died of "the joy that kills." They thought her joy was the joy of seeing that her husband was actually alive. In fact, her reaction to his appearance was the opposite. This is an example of verbal irony because what the doctors said was actually true, but not in the way they thought. Louise died because she had been exposed to a pure, living joy that she would never have experienced if her husband had simply come home that day like usual. It was not her day-to-day unhappiness that killed her. Experiencing freedom and happiness for the span of one hour and then realizing that she was still trapped resulted in her death.

In this story, all the neighbors and Mrs. Mallard's sister think Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief when she hears her husband has been killed in a train accident. In fact, even Mrs. Mallard doesn't at first understand her own feelings:

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.

It is only after she stops to think that the realization dawns on her: she is feeling joyful and liberated about her husband's death, not grief-stricken. This is ironic, because it is not how she or anybody else around her expects her to feel. She is not living by the "distraught widow" script. She is, as she thinks, "free, free, free!"

She, in fact, relaxes, joyfully realizing she can now be her own person.

As a final twist, however, when her husband appears and she learns the reports of his death were mistaken, she dies. All of this happens within a single hour. The irony here is that people think she has died of joy over seeing her husband alive, when the opposite is true.

The denouement of Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is ironic in that the death of Mrs. Mallard has been inevitable, not because she has a bad heart, but because she has had "a heart trouble," a repressed heart that in its elation cannot return itself to its former state of subjugation without damage--"a heart trouble."  Her joy, finally released, is what causes her death as she cannot go back to her life as the wife of Bently Mallard.

A victim of the institution of Victorian life, Mrs. Mallard has been under the "powerful will bending hers in that persistence" of her culture.  While she has felt love for her husband, she is like the prisoner who is released, but once outside, is told that he must return and serve more time. This would seem like a death sentence.

Kate Chopin's employment of irony is absolutely superb.  The opening line is ironic--"a heart trouble" that Mrs. Mallard has is a spiritual, not a physical problem; the "joy that kills" is also ironic, for the release of her imprisoned grief cannot be repressed again without fatal results because the anguish is too much for her heart.

I think the ending is ironic because it is so far removed from what we would expect to have happen.  In addition, the last sentence is full of irony because it is the opposite of what has really happened.

Up until the point that we see Brently Mallard, we assume he is dead and that Louise is going to be able to embark on this new life that she has been envisioning.  We assume that her life is at a beginning.  But instead, we find out that her new life is coming to an end both literally and figuratively.

The last sentence is ironic because of how badly the people have misunderstood what is going on.  They believe that Louise has died of happiness, but we know she has died of sorrow and disappointment.

An example of dramatic irony is the ending of “The Story of an Hour.” When Mrs. Mallard realizes that her husband Brently is alive after believing he was killed in a train accident, she collapses. Other characters—like her sister Josephine, Brently’s friend Richards, and the doctors—think that she died “of joy that kills.” The reader knows, however, that the other characters mistakenly blame her death on supposedly elated shock of seeing that her husband alive and well. Earlier in the story, behind closed doors and unbeknownst to others, Mrs. Mallard celebrates her freedom from an oppressive marriage.

When she thinks that her overbearing husband is dead, she feels a “monstrous joy” and realizes that she is “Free! Body and soul free!” Instead of fearing loneliness as a widow, she welcomes the chance to

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.

Her new identity as a widow affords her the freedom to live for and answer to no one; in fact, her new position in society brings unacknowledged liberty. True, she loved her husband but was expected to bend to his will. Now she possesses complete “self-assertion” and wishes for a long life, which ironically she does not have a chance to enjoy.

This is because her newfound elation or “monstrous joy” abruptly ends as soon as she realizes that Brently is alive and she is not free. The husband

stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

But Richards was too late.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.

The fact that other characters believe she died “of joy” is an example of dramatic irony. Unlike the reader, the other characters have no idea that Mrs. Mallard was secretly rejoicing her freedom from marriage and thus upset and horrified by his return. Her “piercing cry” is not a cry of joy but of a shriek of dismay. Richards naively tries to shield her from the shock of suddenly seeing Brently alive. Her “monstrous joy” for a new life of liberation is decidedly not the happiness of seeing her husband or “joy that kills.”

Finally, the doctors erroneously attribute the cause of Mrs. Mallard’s collapse to a weak but happy heart. They believe that the joy of spotting her supposedly beloved dead husband alive creates too great a shock for her heart to handle. Perhaps this is true—maybe the shock triggers a fatal heart attack. The underlying reason for her heart attack, however, is not from joy but from extreme distress at the realization that Brently is alive; it is the abrupt loss of that earlier “monstrous joy” of freedom that kills her.

Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is a masterpiece of the literary technique of irony; even the title is ironic in that so much that is unexpected happens in the life of Louise Mallard in just sixty minutes. Here are other examples of the three types of irony:

• Situational Irony 

Since irony always involves an incongruity, this type of irony is one in which the expectation and the fulfillment are not what is expected. Perhaps, the most salient example of situational irony is in the turn of events in the hour that suggest that Bently Mallard is dead and Mrs. Louise Mallard has fully come alive. For, incongruously the narrative abruptly changes and it is Bently Mallard who yet lives while Mrs. Mallard, who with "triumph in her eyes" as she descends the stairs from her room in which she has "breathed a quick prayer that life might be long"; perceives her husband as he comes through the door, and with a "piercing cry" abruptly dies.

• Verbal irony

This type of irony involves an incongruity of words. That is, verbal irony is a statement by the writer which means the opposite of what it appears to mean. While Chopin's story has several instances of verbal irony, one example is Chopin's use of "a heart trouble" at the beginning of the narrative. It seems that the phrase denotes a physical ailment, but Chopin does not intend for "heart" to denote the organ of the body. Instead, the reader later discerns, "heart" connotes the figurative heart; that is, the soul. Mrs. Mallard suffers from repression, a trouble of the soul.

• Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony involves differing perceptions by the reader than by a character in the story. For instance, when Mrs. Mallard will not allow Josephine to help her upstairs, it seems that she is so grief-stricken that she wishes to be alone. However, unbeknownst to the character Josephine, the reader learns that Louise Mallard wishes to be alone so that she can fully comprehend her freedom from repression as a Victorian wife:

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless....
There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully....She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching...
When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped...."free, free, free!"

Instead of grieving as Josephine believes, Louise Mallard rejoices in her new freedom. Since only the reader is privy to this knowlege and the character Josephine and, later, her husband Bently do not know her feelings, dramatic irony exists.

Indeed, it is this masterful use of irony in her very short story that gives Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" such powerful implications.

The best example of verbal irony in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is the short story's final line.
After receiving news of her husband's untimely death, Louise Mallard is initially very upset. She cries and briefly mourns before retreating to her bedroom to quietly process her feelings alone. During this time, she realizes that although she loves her husband, she is happy that he is deceased. Just days earlier, she felt dread when she thought of the future, but now, she looks forward to the future with new enthusiasm. She feels free and liberated by her husband's passing. Her life revolved around him and now she is excited to live for herself and pursue her own passions and interests for a change.

The story ends with an ironic twist in which we find out that Brently is alive and well. He was not involved in the accident thought to have killed him and shows up at his home with no knowledge that anyone ever believed him to be dead.

Upon seeing her husband alive, Louise has a heart attack and dies. In the story's closing line, Louise's doctors believe she died because she was overjoyed at seeing her husband alive:

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills.

This statement is ironic because it is not an excess of joy that kills Louise, but rather sorrow. She sees her husband alive and realizes that her freedom is gone. This sense of loss and disappointment is what kills her.

Verbal irony involves a statement that means something other than what it appears to mean (most often, it means the opposite of what is said).  The two examples of verbal irony that I can find in the story also involve dramatic irony, which is when the audience knows more than the character(s) in the story.  Therefore, when the doctors proclaim at the story's end that Louise Mallard died of "heart disease -- of joy that kills," they mean -- literally -- that her happiness at seeing her husband alive was too much for her heart; they are not employing verbal irony.  Rather, the author seems to be -- Chopin means that it was Mrs. Mallard's joy that "killed" her, just not the joy the doctors think: what really killed the protagonist was experiencing the joy of knowing that she would be free for the remainder of her life and then having that joy taken away.  Thus, we know more than the characters do, and we understand -- as Chopin wants us to -- that the doctors' statement isn't really true in the way that they mean it.

Further, when the narrator tells us early on in the story that "Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble," we assume that the trouble is with her actual, literal heart, the anatomical organ (and this seems to be what doctors' meant when they diagnosed her condition).  However, we later learn that the trouble is not with her literal heart, but her figurative heart -- the one we think of as the site of feeling or emotional happiness or pain: Mrs. Mallard is unhappy because she does not feel free, and there is, in fact, evidence to support the claim that her actual heart is quite healthy.  For example, after she's retired to her room to process the information about her husband, "Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body."  Her eyes were bright, and she felt more alive, not weak or faint.  Therefore, by having the narrator mention Mrs. Mallard's "heart trouble," Chopin refers to the character's emotional pain and suffering and not to a physical condition.  The words mean something other than what they appear to mean.

Verbal irony occurs when the speaker expresses one thing but means another. Often, that which is expressed is dramatically different (or even the opposite of) that which is said or written. An easy example is "he is as calm as a hurricane." The use of the word "calm" is ironic because hurricanes are violent and energetic. 

The narrator says that Mrs. Mallard, in recognizing her joy in her new freedom, "did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her." This seems like verbal irony but it is not. "Monstrous joy" is an oxymoron that accurately describes what the narrator is trying to communicate. Mrs. Mallard is so full of joy that she doesn't stop to think that it might be monstrous (because she is rejoicing after having just learned of her husband's death). 

The most clear example of verbal irony that I can find is the last statement of the story. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills." Mrs. Mallard dies of "the joy that kills." It is not "joy" that kills her. It is devastation because her joy is destroyed when she sees that her husband is alive. Her joy was caused by her freedom and independence. When she sees her husband alive, that joy is gone. "Joy" is ironic. 

Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows something important that a character in a story does not know. In "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin uses dramatic irony at the end of the story when the doctors assume that Mrs. Mallard has been overcome by the "joy" of seeing her husband, whom she had thought was dead. Because she had a heart condition, they think the shock of happiness killed her. In reality, however, it was the shock of disappointment that killed her because she had come to realize that her life would be so much better without her husband's benevolent "repression." It had recently dawned on her that life provided many more opportunities for her without the leadership of her husband. Mrs. Mallard lived in a period of history when husbands made most of the important decisions for their wives. Mrs. Mallard was looking forward to being free of that guidance and living life for herself. The doctors, being men, have absolutely no idea that Mrs. Mallard died because she simply could not handle the idea that all her dreams would have to be abandoned with the presence of her living husband.

The ending of the story is certainly an effective climax to the story in my opinion. The reader has been told that Mrs Mallard has heart trouble, and she is treated very carefully when given the news of her husband’s death. Those around her at least see the news as potentially damaging to her health.

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

Louise withdraws to her room after the news is given, and there is concern from her sister that she should not be alone. She is indeed in the throes of powerful emotion, but of joy and exultation, not intense despair-

She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"

Louisa had chosen to value her independence more than her status as a wife. Her death as a consequence of ‘the joy that kills’ could be seen by the reader as a blessed release or an eternal punishment. It is ironic that her only escape is in death; if not that of her husband, then her own.

This would, at least in part, be a matter of opinion, and opinions could easily differ. 

If Chopin has a weakness, it's that she's a bit didactic, or preachy.  She has an agenda when she writes fiction.  An agenda is entirely appropriate for an essay, but not usually for fiction.  Sophisticated fiction usually raises difficult questions and doesn't pretend to have easy answers.  Chopin somewhat avoids this, however, by making the husband blameless, or mostly blameless.  Her husband seems to be a good man and treats her well.  Chopin's problem is with the institution of marriage in a male-dominated society.  She is not husband bashing, in other words.

The question of the surprise ending, as it relates to Mrs. Mallard, deals mainly with two details revealed earlier in the story:  her heart condition and her excitement over being free. 

First, because she has a serious heart condition, a heart attack is not out of a question and is causal--there's a cause, it seems fairly legitimate.  Others in the story worry about her having a heart attack when she finds out her husband is dead, so it is a legitimate concern.

Her excitement is also clearly established.  She is ecstatic.  Though the story is even shorter than the "hour" of the title, her feelings of freedom are thoroughly established.

Thus, her heart condition and excitement would seem to make her fatal attack when her freedom is taken away unexpectedly legitimate.

Another issue is whether or not her husband not being in the accident and arriving at the home is legitimate.  But that is another issue, and you asked only about the characterization of Mrs. Mallard.

I think that it is in this arena where Chopin makes her greatest statement about what it means to be a woman through her characterization of Louise.  She depicts Louise to go through the entire range of the components that are involved in being "a woman" and does so in a very convincing manner.  When Louise hears of her husband's death, she expresses sadness and regret, as most would when hearing about the loss of a spouse.  Her ascent up the stairs and into the room, a "room of her own" as Woolf might say, reveals another characterization of her and this is steeped in her own sense of self.  Louise is able to express her own identity, her own wishes, and find her own voice.  This depiction shows Louise as a person who seeks to transform what is into what should be.  The ending undercuts this sense of hope and optimism, and it is here where one can see Chopin's full grasp of the situation.  On one hand, Chopin's statement through Louise's death indicates that women have a great deal of inertia to battle through, as Louise is hit with the realization that her dreams will never materialize as long as she is seen as wife first, woman second.  At the same time, the fact that Louise has engaged in such dreams and that Chopin has characterized her in such a manner to actually show that there might be a tension that exists between wife and woman helps to bring to light the problems within such a social setting.  It is this duality, one that reflect social conditions as what they are while simultaneously presenting a vision of what they can or should be, that is where Chopin's greatness lies and why the climax is so appropriate.

The first sentence of Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" clearly warns the reader about Mrs. Mallards weak and feeble nature, caused by what seems to be an external condition.

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

Later in the story Chopin offers more details which intrigue the reader; here we have a woman who suffers from heart trouble and yet is described as

young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength

Why would a woman this mellow be so sick in her heart? Louise Mallard's characterization continues to be described with her eyes now looking "dull" and "fixed" as in a sort of trance that Chopin describes as "intelligent thought". This is indicative of a woman who is transfixed in wonder, but the reader is still not aware that this wonder comes out of the joy of her prospects; for her husband's apparent death is, to Mrs. Mallard, the opening of a door leading to freedom.

In a style that resembles an ongoing train, moving faster and faster, Chopin adds more exhilaration and expression to the emotions that are felt by Mrs. Mallard; these are emotions of joy, excitement, and hope for a future where she can finally "live for herself".

There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.

The ironic and climactic ending unfolds with the shockingly surprising entrance of Brentley Mallard into the home. Not only is he not dead, but he is not even aware that there had been an accident! It is easy to imagine the level of frustration felt by a woman who had just minutes before tasted a much needed sense of freedom. Therefore, it is quite justifiable that, in the end, the poor woman dies of a sudden heart attack. What is more ironic is that the doctor calls Mallard's death as "the joy that kills".

As mentioned, there is foreshadowing that hints at Mrs. Mallard's terrible repression which has enfeebled her spirit to the point that her health has been impaired.  In the opening sentence,

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble,[not "heart trouble"] great care was taken to break to her...the news of her husband's death,

the indications are that Mrs. Mallard suffers from the imprisonment of the spirit that the femme covert  laws of the Victorian Age impose upon her.  This is why she is almost afraid to think that she is going to now possess "self-assertion." [A sob comes from her and she whispers "Free!  Body and soul free!"]  When this independence is suddenly and again removed, the quelching of her very spirit that has been set free kills her.

Mrs. Mallard was not a strong woman or she may have altered her life in some manner before she received the word of her husband's death. Although I found the ending sadly ironic, it didn't take me completely by surprise. It was probably a fitting end for a women who had an hour of freedom only to find it taken away once again.

I would say that it does.  During the hour that Mrs. Mallard thinks that her husband is dead, we see her as a woman who is very interested in controlling her own life.  She comes to have this feeling of intense freedom as she contemplates the rest of her life.  It is not at all unthinkable, then, for her to die when she finds out that this life is going to be taken from her and she will have to go back to her old, more oppressive, life.

In the context of "The Story of an Hour," a simple definition of irony is the difference between what everyone thinks is going on and what is actually going on--in this case, the difference between what Mrs. Mallard's friends and relatives think her reaction to her husband's death is and what is really taking place in Mrs. Mallard.

For example, when Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death in the train accident, she goes through what everyone observing her would expect--great anxiety, sorrow, fear.  The news is complicated by Mrs. Mallard's particular health problem, a weak heart, and everyone around her is trying to protect her.

The irony begins to grow after Mrs. Mallard goes upstairs, and after thinking about the fact that she is now going to be able to live her life independent of her husband, she fairly bursts with joy.  Admittedly, she tries to keep this joy in check, but as she hears the birds singing, and sees Spring bursting out everywhere, she realizes that her life is now unencumbered by a relationship that repressed her.  She admits, in fact, that although she loved her husband, she loved him only "sometime."  Clearly, this is a woman conscious of the repression of marriage and the freedom that has just been offered to her by her husband's death.

When she goes back downstairs, every observer wants to make sure her weak heart is protected, but when Mr. Mallard walks through the door, Mrs. Mallard has a heart attack and dies, an event that's attributed by her friends and sister essentially as too much joy for her heart to bear.

The irony here, of course, is that Mrs. Mallard drops dead not from joy at seeing her husband but because she realizes that her new-found freedom is gone.  Given the conventional attitudes of her time, Mrs. Mallard's death would never be attributed to its real cause--and that is the great irony of the story.

In Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," the woman is expected to feel badly about her husband's death.  The other characters are worried that her heart trouble could cause a problem because she is shocked and hurt by her husband's death.  And they worry about her becoming too distraught when she is by herself in her room.

In actuality, the opposite of all of the above happens.  That's irony. 

Her initial reaction to the death of her husband is what's expected, but not for long.  Instead, she feels a release, a sense of freedom.  Her subservience to her husband is over, and she rejoices.  Her heart causes her trouble when she finds out her husband is still alive, not when she hears that he is dead.  And she is anything but distraught.  During her time alone in her room, she discovers a sense of freedom she, apparently, has not felt for a long time. 

Chopin uses plot, character thoughts and dialogue, imagery, and symbolism to construct the story and reveal its irony. 

Quite simply, the greatest irony of Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" exists in the entire plot, not so much in  particular dialogues or scenes, although some characters misinterpret her reactions. That is, it is tragically ironic that shortly after the repressed Mrs. Louise Mallard watches the birds outdoors as they fly and senses her freedom, she walks down the stairs from her bedroom in order to enjoy the tremendous sense of relief that she feels, only to discover that her repressive husband is yet alive. Then, rather than finally escaping her dismal life of a subjugated woman, Mrs. Mallard suffers a shock so great that it deprives her of her life.  Thus, she is more subjugated than ever, for she must relinquish, not only her independence, but her very being.

With the theme revolving around Mrs. Mallard's repression, it is ironic that what sets her free works in contrast to be the agent of her death as the thought of relinquishing her new found freedom and sense of self is more than her heart can bear.

There is one central irony in Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour". The main character, Mrs. Mallard, is a woman who feels the stress of being a repressed wife. As a woman, the lines of her face show her to be much older than she really is. The stresses of her life have pre-maturely aged and overwhelmed her.

Upon learning of the death of her husband, Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her bedroom to think about the path her life will take. She looks out the window and notices the renewal that nature brings and begins to embrace herself as a free woman.

Soon after her epiphany, Mrs. Mallard emerges from her bedroom "like a goddess of Victory." Unfortunataley, and ironically, Mrs. Mallard's joy comes to an abrupt end. Mr. Mallard has not died in a train accident. Instead, he was not even at the site of the accident and is alive.

Here is where the story hits its ironic twist. After seeing that her husband is still alive Mrs. Mallard dies- on the spot. The irony of the story exists given that her husbands "death" allows her to find her freedom. Upon the realization that her freedom does not really exist, Mrs. Mallard succumbs to the fact that she is, again, a bound woman. This new epiphany kills her.

I'm not sure there is a "chief" irony in Chopin's "The Story of an Hour."  Does there have to be a "major" irony as opposed to "minor" ironies?  You can take your pick among many.  It is ironic that the news of the death of her husband is supposed to make her sad but instead makes her rejoice.  It is ironic that in a patriarchal society often the only chance a woman has to succeed is to improve her social/economic standing by marrying wealthy, but she feels a tremendous sense of freedom when she hears that her husband is dead.  It is ironic that the news that her husband is actually alive is supposed to make her rejoice but instead makes her drop dead.  If there is an underlying or "major" irony, it might be the reversal of roles:  it is not the male who is trapped here, it is the female.  She is so elated at the glimpse of freedom she experiences that the revelation that she is not free is too much to bear.

Irony can be found all throughout the story, indeed.  For example, it is ironic that Brently Mallard, who we had been told was dead, was indeed alive and walked in at the end.  It is ironic that at the end, Louise dies of a heart attack, when all through the story itself, it was her husband who we thought had died, AND that she died upon good news and not bad like they were worried about.

However, given the main theme that comes out in many of Kate Chopin's stories of women who are discontented in their alloted roles as houswives, the main irony would have to relate to the fact that Louise, upon the news of her husband's death, was not sad.  Sure, she wept, and, as the story states, "she would be sad" when she saw him at the funeral, but, her main reaction is overwhelming and exilerating joy.  That is not a typical reaction to the news of the death of a loved one--it is ironic in a way that supports Chopin's main point.  Her message conveyed the idea that sometimes, women of her time period were not happy in marriage, even if that marriage was good.  She wrote many stories that had women finding happiness outside the bounds of marriage itself.  Louise Mallard's reaction is quite extreme; she sits in her chair and is filled with elation at the possibility of freedom from being married.  She is overwhelmed with happiness, and that is the main irony that exists in this story, the one that comes through the most strongly.  I hope that helped; good luck!

Irony comes into play at the end of Chopin's short story.  Throughout the story we've heard how Mrs. Mallard's husband died in a train accident.  She cries then goes to her room to collect herself, or so her friends think.  While she is in her room, she thinks about her life and what it will be like now that she no longer has to "bend" to someone else.  She thinks about her life and how she is now "Free! Free! Free." While hugging herself with the excitement that life now offers her, her sister, Josephine, pleads to be let in.  Josephine knows her sister has "heart trouble" and is worried that she will cry herself sick.  The dramatic irony occurs when we, the audience, know that this is not the case.  In fact, it's quite the opposite.

When Mrs. Mallard finally emerges and glides down the stairs, the door opens.  Who can it be? Mr. Mallard, her husband! He is very much alive and was actually nowhere near the accident.  Josephine gasps as her sister collapses to the ground.  The doctors decide that it was her heart; the weakened Mrs. Mallard's heart was too happy to see her husband, and so it gave out.  We know the truth.  She was not happy that her husband was alive, and so she died instantly.  Quite the opposite of what one would expect to see when they find out their husband is alive.

[Because other questions have already been asked to enumerate the ironies in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," your two-part question was reduced to this one (see the links below). Since only one question may be asked at a time, and since it needs to be a fresh question, this part was chosen.]

Kate Chopin's magnificent use of irony and symbolism lend great meaning to her very brief short story.  Here are some ways in which Chopin puts these ironies to use to create a meaning that is more significant than it appears.

• "A heart trouble" that Mrs. Mallard has leads the reader to believe that she is somewhat of an invalid rather than a terribly repressed and anxious woman.  So, when her heart beats rapidly with joy with her realization that she is at last "free," the reader understands that Mrs. Mallard instead is the frail victim of circumstances rather than genetics. 
• Mrs. Mallard's "sudden, wild abandonment" with which she has wept is not from sorrow, but from the "abandonment" of Victorian repression.
• As she climbs the stairs, Mrs. Mallard is "pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul" is ironic because it is not grief, but repression in a patriarchal society that wears upon Mrs. Mallard.
• When the sob comes "into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams," Mrs. Mallard is releasing emotion rather than mourning for her husband.  She is overcome with the prospect of getting her individual life back.
• As Mrs. Mallard waits fearfully for the "thing that was approaching to possess her" as she sits in her chair looking out the window, she "strives to beat it back with her will" as though she does not wish to accept it.  But, in actuality, her fear is that it is too good to be true, not that it is terrifying in itself.  For, as she says the words "free, free, free!" the "look of terror that had followed it" goes from her eyes.  Ironically, her pulses beat and her flowing blood "warmed and relaxed every inch of her body." 
• She knows that she will cry, ironically, when she sees Bentley Mallard in the coffin because she has loved him. However, because she "saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely," Louise Mallard herself dies.
• Louise Mallard has "a brief moment of illumination" as she ponders the fact that she can 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."  Ironically, the mere reappearance of Bentley Mallard "imposes" upon Louise Mallard so much that she dies.
• Before she leaves her room, Louise Mallard drinks in the "very elixir of life through the open window"; She hopes that life "might be long." However, as she moves to the top of the stairs, death waits for her.
• Louise Mallard "carries herself unwittingly like a goddes of Victory"; yet, in a moment she is vanquished by the appearance of Mr. Mallard.
• After she descends the stairs, Mrs. Mallard dies "of heart disease--of joy that kills."  It is the sudden theft of her joy, the disease of repression, that stops the heart of Louise Mallard.

In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin gives us some hints that point to the story's ending while still allowing us to experience the ironic surprise she has in store. Let's explore how this works.

First, we are told that Mrs. Mallard has a weak heart. This is why her sister and friend are so gentle when they tell her about her husband's death. They do not want her to experience a severe shock if they can avoid it. Indeed, the shock is not severe enough to affect her heart at this point, yet the seed has been planted.

In fact, as Mrs. Mallard contemplates her new situation, she begins to feel a delightful freedom. She can finally live for herself. She has loved her husband, at least at times, yet now she can be her own person and live life on her own terms.

At the end of the story, however, Mrs. Mallard receives a severe shock that is too much for her weak heart. Here is what her sister and friend feared before, but ironically, it is not caused by the discovery of Mr. Mallard's death but rather his life. He is not dead, and when his wife sees him standing there, she falls over. Again ironically, the freedom she has just discovered has been swept away, and her heart cannot take it.