What do Josephine and Richards represent in "The Story of an Hour"?

In Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" Josephine (Mrs. Mallard's sister) and Richards (a friend of Mr. Mallard's) represent two typical stereotypes regarding gender.

Josephine tells her sister about her husband's death in "in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing." This shows the typical female reaction to both death (an overly emotional time) and the hint that something else may be of concern (many sisters have very close relationships-Josephine probably knows about Mrs. Mallard's concerns about her own life).

On the other hand, Richards made sure to:

the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

This indirect characterization shows the procedural mind of the man. A woman, like Josephine would have probably not taken the time to check the message twice. Richards is calculating and wants to make sure he knows everything before giving Mrs. Mallard the news.

This being said, Josephine seems to represent one side of Mrs. Mallard: the emotional side; whereas, Richards seems to represent the analyzing side. Readers see the transformation of Mrs. Mallard in her bedroom. She, for purpose only, seems to 'turn male'- is able to detach emotion and look at the bigger picture.

In the end, her female self returns and the emotion kills her.

Brently Mallard's friend Richards is very much the messenger of death in "The Story of an Hour." As well as bringing Louise Mallard news—fake news, as it turns out—of her husband's death, he is also partly responsible for Louise's own tragic demise at the end of the story.

The news of Brently's death briefly gives Louise a glimpse of freedom from the numerous restrictions of her married life. Without Brently in her life, she'd now have the freedom to do all those things she'd always wanted to do but couldn't. In other words, Richards has, by bringing her the "bad" news, unwittingly given Louise hope of a better life. So it's not surprising that when Brently walks through the door, very much alive and well, Louise instantly keels over with shock and dies on the spot.

In that sense, one could say that Richards did indeed bring a message of death; however, it was Louise's death, not Brently's. The message that he practically broke his neck to bring to Louise was a kind of spooky premonition of her own death. Naturally, she was unable to see this, but we, as readers, realize this after she dies. This is therefore a classic example of irony.

"The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin, is a very short story which makes its point quickly and effectively. The main character (protagonist) of the story is Mrs. Brently Mallard. She is a woman who is "afflicted with heart trouble"; so when her sister, Josephine, has bad news to deliver, she does so cautiously and gently. Josephine comes to the house and tells her sister than her husband, Brently Mallard, has been killed in a train crash.

Josephine tells her sister this news hesitantly, but Mrs. Mallard does not act as expected. Though she goes to her room, apparently to mourn, Mrs. Mallard is really just coming to the realization that she is now free.

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

She envisions

a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

Alone in her bedroom, Mrs. Mallard has been quietly rejoicing over her new freedom, but her sister does not know that. Josephine assumes her sister is devastated at the loss of her husband and wants desperately to offer some comfort. 

Josephine is everything her sister is not. Josephine assumes that Mrs. Mallard is reacting to the news of her husband's death as she would have--with genuine mourning and grief at the loss of the man she loves. Of course, Josephine never learns of her sister's true reaction, because Brently Mallard unexpectedly appears and his wife "died of heart disease--of the joy that kills."

In "The Story of an Hour," what do Josephine and Richards share, and how does this contribute to the story's irony?

Josephine and Richards both serve as foils for Louise in the story in that they respond predictably to the news of Brently's death whereas Louise responds unpredictably.

Although the story begins with a dangling modifier leaving some ambiguity, readers may assume that Josephine, Louise's sister, and Richards, a friend, are alike in that they both know of Louise's heart condition and are therefore both careful to break the news of her husband's death to her gently. After breaking the news, both Josephine and Richards remain in Louise's home, even though she obviously wants some time alone. Presumably they are willing to let her have her way, but only within parameters. Such behavior on their part would be considered normal and compassionate. Although Josephine is the one who, after a relatively short time, comes to Louise's door and peeks through the keyhole, demanding she come out, readers can infer that Richards is in agreement with Josephine here. He waits at the bottom of the stairs and watches the two sisters as they descend when Louise has been successfully extracted from her solitude. Both Josephine and Richards are understandably solicitous towards Louise: Josephine "clasped her sister's waist," and Richards moves quickly to block Brently from Louise's view when he appears unexpectedly.  

The overall irony of the story is that Louise's reaction is the opposite of what one would expect. She rejoices internally when she realizes her husband's death means freedom for her; she dies, not of "the joy that kills" as the doctor pronounces, but from shock that her recently realized joy has been killed by the appearance of her husband. 

Richards and Josephine's attitude toward Louise adds another layer of irony. Their smothering solicitude toward Louise--despite their desire to be loving--mirrors the smothering effect Louise's marriage has had on her independence and ability to pursue her personal desires. Marriage is a good thing, and Louise loved her husband ("sometimes"); nevertheless, she found her relationship constraining. In the same way, the good intentions of friends and loved ones can be overpowering and restricting. 

Josephine and Richards display normal and typical reactions toward Louise, but Louise has ideas of her own--ideas that her husband, her sister, and her friend know nothing about.

One item that the two characters in Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" -- Josephine and Richards -- literally have in common is that both are present at the story's beginning. At this point in the story they are united in their purpose to gently break the news of the husband's reported death to the wife and main character of the story, Louise.

Their commonalities extend further, of course. They are also united in their desire to protect Louise. Josephine pleads that Louise open her bedroom door: "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." Similarly, Richards tries to intervene at the story's end, when everyone learns that the husband indeed is not dead: "He [the husband] stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife."

There may be several ways to talk about the irony in this story. What strikes me as very ironic in the story is that neither Josephine nor Richards understand Louise's actual thoughts about her husband's reported death. From start to end, they only see her as sensitive and vulnerable and as needing close supervision. Her own thoughts, the reader learns, are very different from what these two characters expect. 

What is the significance of Richards' character in The Story of an Hour?

Richards is a very briefly developed character, but we can learn much from him by his actions. He comes to help gently break the news to Mrs. Mallard that her husband has been killed in a train accident. It is he that first receives the news, and he takes care to confirm it himself and make sure that Mrs. Mallard is told as soon and as carefully as possible. Because of these actions, we are inclined to think of Richards as careful, caring, and concerned. We also might think of him as naive or narrow-minded. Mrs. Mallard turns out to be stronger than anyone has given her credit for, including Richards. At the end of the story, Richards tries to shield Mrs. Mallard from the new shock of her husband being alive. Again, we see here the limitation of his character. He mistakenly believes Mrs. Mallard's shock will come from her excitement of her husband returning home, missing her true feelings completely.