Mallard leaves the solitude of his room with the open window symbolizing new life. Having left the freedom of her room she is now exposed to the outside world and life is not what she thinks because someone is outside her door with a key. Chopin really brings the irony together from the beginning to the end of the story. Richards was “too late” to block Mrs. Mallard's sight of Brentley, yet he “hurried” (326) to bring his sad news to the beginning of the story. Inadvertently ending her life within an hour and also giving her the chance to actually live for at least an hour. The most striking example of irony in this story is the fact that while Mr. Mallard is presumed dead, his wife comes back completely alive. When she finally emerges triumphant from her room, ready to live a long life, it is the sight of her husband alive that kills her. The people in her life think she is so happy to see her husband that it damages her weak heart while we readers know that she dies seeing her new lease on life slip away as her husband walks through the door. Kate Chopin's use of irony makes this story interesting and dynamic, while offering insight into the constraints of marriage for a Victorian woman at the end