Kate Chopin 's The Hour

He arrives home and Chopin made clear to the reader that “he had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know” about the railroad disaster that had pronounced him dead. Because of this unexpected surprise, Mrs. Mallard falls dead and doctors the “said she died of a heart disease – of joy that kills”

Kate Chopin is known for being criticized for empowering the subject of female sexuality and independence. In Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, it is placed in a time where men were known as being the head of the household while women were only in charge of raising the children and caring for the home. In the 1890s, women didn’t have so much power to themselves compared to today’s society where female empowerment is frequently encouraged. Chopin’s story narrates a sequence of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions that goes within the motion of the story. As she overcomes the sudden death of her husband, her emotion of grief soon turns into the sudden feeling of freedom, later on emerging into a strong independent woman.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is an immaculate illustration of how a short story can have the ability to make a considerable impact on an entire nation. Chopin manipulates her writing effectively with her outstanding applications of certain literary techniques. Moreover, these techniques such as pathos, irony and symbolism, amplify the intensity and overall impact women oppression had on Chopin and many other women during the late nineteenth century. In addition, the story overshadows the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, and her persevering fight to overcome the mournful news regarding the death of her husband. She was informed about her husband's death by her sister Josephine, who told her in a rather gentle fashion which ultimately caused Mrs. Mallard to go to the hospital with an unfortunate affliction of heart trouble. Initially, Mrs. Mallard rhapsodically struggled in trying to cope with this news as it left her in a paralyzed state of sorrow but she then realized that she gained a great deal of freedom due to to her husband's death. Furthermore, Chopin leaves out many details within her text, which obligates the reader to fill in the gaps within Chopin’s iceberg imagery like writing and gain a perception of women’s mistreatment during the mid 1800’s.

A woman's role in society is ever-changing. For many year's women were subjected to strict societal norms, ideals and were defined by the male figures in their lives. Gender roles and relations still make themselves apparent in society's perpetuating inequality, whether through traditional beliefs adapted over the years or societal norms embedded into all aspects of life, including literature. As time passes, women have striven to set their own standards and are now able to stand unapologetically tall in society. Many different factors have aided in allowing women to rebel and evolve against conformity, one significant element being literature. More specifically, literature that breaks barriers for women in allowing their portrayal to defy degrading roles and literature that brings the expectations of women in society to light.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” was published in 1894 in Vogue, during a time when women do not have any legal rights. They have low education level and have no opportunity to work; what they can do is stay at home and manage the family. All their lives, they rely on their husband. Women at that time do not think about why they should be treated this way; they were being silenced by society. Kate Chopin uses the character Mrs. Mallard as the representative of all women who wants freedom at that time, and she criticizes the way society treats them, yet the difference of Mrs. Mallard’s values compared to society’s makes her become egotistic and her death end up not changing people’s mind of how to treat women properly.

Looking at the early and late 19th century paintings, one can see that majority of them showed women and children in their respective roles. Motherhood was revered and something to be honored and commemorated. The women were seen only in the roles of wives, mothers and caretakers and society considered this their appropriate place. Women who were single were termed as 'spinsters ' and were not given the same status in society as married women. In the story of an hour, the author, Kate Chopin describes the emotions of a woman who is married and tied down to this oath for the rest of her life. The author uses the ways of the society during that time to construct a story that accurately reflects the feelings of majority of women of that

In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, is about pleasure of freedom and the oppression of marriage. Just like in Kate Chopin’s story, inside most marriages, even the ones that seem to be the happiest, one can be oppressed. Even though, one might seem to be happy deep inside they miss the pleasure of freedom and living life to the fullest. Just like, in this story Mrs. Mallard feels trapped and when she hears about her husband’s death she first feels distraught, but ultimately realizes that she has gained her freedom. This news leads her to an inner battle within herself, as she tries to keep those feelings from coming out. The story culminates when she dies of a heart attack, because she realizes that her husband is not dead and she would be returning to her old pointless existence. This story has many great literary elements that keep the story interesting throughout its plot, by using great foreshadowing and symbolism.

When we think about marriage, we think it is happy moments with loved ones. It is knowing that someone has your back. Also, it is wishing you were the one having the operation or the ill. Not him. It is hard work that not all people can handle. Marriage is hard work that needs to be made from love. Wife needs to be the person that keeps the house in good look and supports her husband. As for husband he needs to be the head of the family that helps his wife to keep their marriage. Marriage is built on love, understanding and support of each other. In the marriage, it is important to keep each other happy. If the love and happiness disappear from marriage, it is hard to keep the family together. In those two short stories there is love, but

“The Story of An Hour” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young nineteenth-century woman, Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences an epiphany about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the reader to cogitate a hidden meaning weaved into Kate‘s short story. Chopin had an idea that women felt confined in their marriages, and the idea is brought out through the protagonist’s initial reaction, excessive joy, and new perspective of the world following the upsetting news.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short yet complex story, describing Mrs Mallard’s feelings. It focuses on the unfolding emotional state of Mrs Mallard after the news of her husbands death, and has overflowing symbolism and imagery. It is an impressive literary piece that touches the readers’ feelings and mind and allows the reader to have a connection to Mrs Mallard’s emotional process. Although the story is short, it is complete with each word carrying deep sense and meaning. It is written in the 19th century, a time that had highly restrictive gender roles that forbade women to live as they saw fit. Mrs Mallard experiences something not everyone during this time has the luck to have; the happiness of freedom that the reader only

When an author uses humanistic elements in his or her writing, such as emotion, those works tend to hold more meaning to the reader. Emotion can serve as the catalyst within literature in order to give the audience something to empathize upon. This technique allows the author to make a direct connection with the reader since he or she probably has an understanding of how various emotions can effect an individual; this is a consequence of being human. The broad variety of different emotions that Kate Chopin fit into “The Story of an Hour” presents the story with a perspective that is very intelligible. While some readers may not understand what it is like to live a sheltered life due to marital convention, Chopin laid out the emotional path that the protagonist takes and simplified it into individual, coherent feelings that a woman in the late nineteenth-century might have went through under these circumstances; she did an efficient job at telling the story of shock, suspense, and surprise during this poor lady’s last hour.

In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin demonstrates her ability to show characters’ drastic changes in personality and mentality through their way of thinking. Chopin’s protaggonist, Mrs. Mallard is suffering from the news of Mr. Mallard’s death, but her feelings are changing throughout the story. Mrs. Mallard is a feeble wife, who undergoes the grief of her husband’s death, finds relief and freedom, and for that she becomes a strong and independent woman. The story greets it’s readers with Mrs. Mallard’s fragility.

Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor discusses many topics and insights that can be found in literature. Foster explains how each are used and the purposes they serve while providing numerous examples. Many of Foster’s insights can be found in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” which was written during a time in history when women were often restricted by society and marriage. The story speaks of a woman who felt freed from the burden of marriage when she thought her husband died, only to die the moment she realized he was actually alive. Foster’s insights about weather, heart disease, and flight that are evident in “The Story of An Hour” greatly influence the story’s interpretation in several ways.

“The Story of The Hour” fully answers its title. It is a story about a woman living her last hour. Not so many things happen during that hour, but in contrast, many thoughts fly through main character’s head and a reader can form an accurate portrait of a woman’s life from these thoughts. Somebody tells her that her husband is dead. After that she dives into the whirl of thoughts regarding the impact of husband’s death on her future. Some facts or beliefs make this woman think that her husband’s death is a rather fortunate event. It all ends soon after that, when she sees her husband alive and dies. In “The Story of The Hour” Kate Chopin doubts mere foundation of a thing called “marriage” and suggests an alternative viewpoint based on early examples of a feminist movement.

In the past many decades the definition of what a marriage means changed dramatically in some areas. For the author of both stories, Kate Chopin, she wanted the reader to get something out of the story. She likes to explore all types of themes in her stories such as, racism, the roles of women, and adultery. With these themes and messages she struggled to have most of her stories published. In many of her stories she passed along these messages through the manner of a marriage. In her short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “Desiree 's Baby” she showed just how different marriages could be as well as how similar they can be. Chopin portrays the lives of the main characters, Louise Mallard from “The Story of An Hour” and Desiree Aubigny