Why Did Kate Chopin Write A Story Of An Hour

This becomes vital as the story unfolds with important and sensitive information pertaining to Mrs. Mallard. The narrator states, “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” (p174). Had the story been told in the first person, the audience would uncover different reasoning of her weak heart. Chopin’s omniscient third person narrator also allows Mrs. Louise Mallard’s character to maintain a sympathetic and sense of understanding to the reader. The narrator almost seems to be excusing Louise’s process of thought and behavior as she goes through her process of grief and later, relief.

The Short Story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin explores the emotions of Louise Mallard a woman with a heart disease. In the hour that the story is told, it ranges from showing Mrs. Mallard different reactions to learning of her husbands death to him surprisingly showing up alive and eventually her untimely death from a heart disease. Although only a brief period of time is shown, many emotions are revealed through the third person omniscient point of view. This point of view shows more than just the protagonists thoughts and is not limited to one person. It allows the readers to know something about Mrs. Mallard that she does not as the story ends after Mrs. Mallard has already died. The readers can be more sympathetic towards Mrs. Mallard.

Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.

Self-Identity and Freedom The story of an hour by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to her husband’s death. In this short story, Chopin portrays the complexity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as she is saddened yet joyful of her loss. Kate Chopin’s story argues that an individual discovers their self-identity only after being freed from confinement.

“The face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment 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.” This moment in “The Story of an Hour,” is relatable to Kate Chopin's own life. Though Kate loved her husband dearly, she was restricted from a lot of the things she wanted to pursue.

Today, most people would assume that the reaction to a loved one’s death would be immediate grief; however, that would not be the case in the late 1800s. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” women were expected to grieve differently than men. The story conveys the main character Mrs. Mallard’s distress and joy after she discovered the supposed death of her husband. The story does not demonstrate Mrs. Mallard following the stages of grief that would be expected when grieving over her husband. In spite of the fact that Mrs. Mallard was grieving she was likewise encountering joy and satisfaction since she then realizes that she is currently free.

Then the candor of the woman 's whole existence, which every one might read, and which formed so striking a contrast” (Chopin, p.

Chopin wants the reader to realize that in her time, women were stereotyped in a male dominated society. After hearing about her husband’s passing, Mrs. Mallard began to have a sense of peacefulness coming from the outside world. This doesn’t mean that she was happy about the death of her husband, but she felt a newfound independence. Stereotypically, married women were considered to be housewives during the early 1900s. Women were told by their husbands what to do because in those times it was believed that men had higher authority than women.

Chopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself, and she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her. During the late nineteenth century, women quite frequently had to suppress themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin successfully uses vivid imagery, point of view, and irony that gives a different view of marriage that is not typical of today.

Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

Kate Chopin was born named Catherine O’Flaherty in St.Louis on February 8, 1850. Chopin was brought up in a home dominated by women. Her father, a successful Irish businessman died when she was five years old. Her mother was Eliza Faris came from a old French family that lived closely to St.Louis. Chopin spent her childhood in a attic constantly reading new books as well as being told stories about her great-great-grandmother who was a very successful person. Chopin had high hopes as being as or more successful as her great-great-grandmother.After attending an all girls school and moving on to college, she met Oscar Chopin, a french born cotton factor. They married in 1870 and had a total of six children. Her first writings only really started once Oscar died in 1884, her writings consisted of a poem called “If it Might Be” and a piece of music called “Polka for Piano”. Within her twelve years of writing, she produced a play, a few novels, and almost 100 short stories. She later died on August 22, 1904.

Universidad de Costa Rica Carlos Contreras Flores B01884 Literary Criticism The Story of an Hour Divided in Two Millenniums Throughout human history, literature has giving people an insight of what the role of women were in different time periods. In most scenarios, literature has served to establish or spot the role of women as secondary, where they were mere subjects or objects of chauvinism. Although the role changes from time to time, it has one particular characteristic, which is the restraining of their liberty or right to choose. In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin illustrates throughout the character’s fate the only way to escape from the gender role that women were meant to have at 19th century. She achieves

The Contrast of The Story of an Hour While Mrs. Mallard is just starting a new life, so to say, for herself, her life she has known comes to an end. She is just able to become “free, free, free!” (57) when she loses her life. Kate Chopin uses contrast with the news Richard’s gave, the way Mrs. Mallard felt in the room and the doctor’s news to show how women perceived marriage in the 19th century in her story The Story of an Hour.

To the untrained eye, a story could be viewed one-dimensionally; a tale might only appeal to emotion while logic is left out in the cold. Equally, logic may be forgotten while emotion is heavily focused on. However, through the use of Critical Lenses, readers can begin to see greater depth in literature. As readers find connections through Critical Lenses, they become more educated on various topics, more aware of social, political, and even logical abstractions. Instead of failing to retain the intent and content of the material, they even can remember details of stories more vividly when truly examining literature rather than reading it once for entertainment (or chore). Lenses help readers to focus in on literature in more specific ways, in turn, readers understand

Mallard’s death is inevitable, she rebels to societies standards by embracing her newfound freedom, which makes her character symbolic of women during this time period as well as the institution of marriage. Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble becomes an imperative symbol to her decision to rebel against society’s expectations as well as her emotional distress ultimately resulting in her demise. The heart is often a symbol of love as well as marriage, but we find in the first sentence of this story that Mrs. Mallard’s heart is periled with trouble both literally in a physical capacity as well as metaphorically in an emotional capacity. For example, Chopin states, “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble” which explains the reason that news of her husband’s death must be broken “gently” to her (Chopin).