Story Of An Hour Critical Analysis

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour,” emotionally illustrates the hour in which a young woman with a heart condition finds out her husband has been killed in a mining accident. In the beginning, she grieves over the loss of her husband, but she soon becomes relieved and joyous when she realizes that she is now free. However, her husband returns after having been far from the mines for the day and her heart problems return and she dies. Kate Chopin was an early feminist author and was well acquainted with death after losing many siblings as a child, her husband (who left her a large amount of debt), and her mother with whom she was very close. As a means of therapy, Chopin took up writing and her ideas about feminism and death are very clear. In “The Story of An Hour,” Chopin uses multiple symbols and an allusion to a Greek god to illustrate and support the idea that male oppression harms the souls and lives of women.

Setting in a story can create certain moods, influence the way we feel about a character, and change the reader's perceptions. “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman named Mrs. Mallard, who learns of her husband’s death. This tragic news causes a range of emotions and internal conflict for the main character. The century, season, and room, in which the story takes place, prepares readers for the overflowing emotions and gives clarity to the character’s frame of mind. Kate Chopin uses the setting to help set the structure of the story.

The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin is the tragic story of a woman whose newfound position as a widow gives her strength. She develops a sense of freedom as she embraces her husband's death as an opportunity to establish her own identity. The tragedy is when her newfound identity gets stripped away as the appearance of her husband reveals that he is still alive. The disappointment from this tragedy kills her with a heart attack symbolizing the many conflicts that she faced throughout the story. The conflicts the character faces within herself and society show that the social norms for women were suppressing to their strength and individuality as human beings.

In the Victorian era women were treated unfairly. Women did not have any freedom or independence. In two stories I read called “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, had a setting taking place during the Victoria era. Both readings assimilated on the feministic interpretations of women repression and liberation. The stories had women characters that felt trapped in their marriages and wanted to be free. The women lived in a men dominant society and were treated inferiorly to their husbands. In “The Story of the Hour” a woman name Mrs. Mallard felt trap in her marriage that she no longer wanted to be in. She struggled with her marriage because she wanted to have her own identity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a nameless woman

When Louise is given the news of her husband’s death by her sister and a family friend Richard she “wept with sudden abandon” without questioning the validity of the news as others may have done. She accepted the news and wept in the arms of her sister Josephine.

“Love, the deadliest of all deadly things. It kills you both when you it and when you don’t.” quoted by Lauren Oliver. Two short stories with the common factors of love and death show us that love can be fatal in its various forms. In this essay, we’re going to explore the development of the common theme in the Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Isabel Allende’s “An Act of Vengeance.”

Tabitha D. Brooks English 102 Professor Kalwa Comparison/Contrast Short Stories February 24, 2016 The Oppression of Main Characters: Examined By Chopin and Faulkner Short stories have diverse beginnings with insightful endings. The authors of short stories tend to create suspense and give readers trigger endings in just few pages of their writing. They also use ironic statements to project their characters feeling and emotion.

In Chopin’s The Story of an Hour Chopin shows that, Independence is something that can be enjoyed very much however when they lose such a joy, their feelings can come to be worst than without their independence in the first place.

The conflict in the story is both an internal and external conflict in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. Mrs.mallard struggles with society and its ways women were treated ,and also how her feelings are of how she thinks she's free. First thing lets introduce the story. The setting is back in the 19th century, and Mrs. mallard received news that her husband was in a bad accident and killed. She then went up stairs to a room by herself. Thats when the conflict we’re going to talk about begins.

In the short story “The Story of an Hour,” a young women, Mrs. Mallard, had heard about her husband’s death, she felt rathered relieved by the news. Is that such a bad thing to feel? She felt grief but then real life hit her, the life of a struggling women in a patriarchal society, and she was happy he was gone. In Kate Chopin’s story, she shows many examples of regionalism, realism, naturalism, and romanticism.

Upon reading the letter, Armand froze. Tears are running down his face as he stands, immobilized by the realization of what he’s done. He ruined everything for himself. His wife, his poor baby; they’re all gone. Guilt overflows his soul as he quivers in shock, the letter falling out of his hand like a bird shedding a feather - slowly, while also losing a part of himself.

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” the main setting takes place in the 1800’s, this is a time where men are dominant and the idea of self-independence is not something often thought about. The minor setting of a railroad accident in the 1800’s set the tone for the roles of the sexes set forth in society. The major setting being Mrs. Mallard’s house after hearing news of her husband’s death continues the theme of status and roles being important but it also sets the reader up for the thought of shift of power. Kate Chopin uses irony, tone, setting and theme to focus on the concept of women being able to accept self-independence and being separate from the obligation and oppression of marriage.

In the short story "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin, the author, presents the reader with an obscure view of marriage. Chopin's main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, experiences the excitement of freedom instead of the devastation of loneliness after she receives the news of her husband's death. Mrs. Mallard disturbingly finds out that Brently, her husband is still alive. She know knew that her only chance at freedom is gone. The disappointment instantly kills Mrs. Mallard. Published in the late 1800s, the overbearing nature of marriage presented in "The Story of an Hour" may very well reflect, but not restricted to, that era.

​In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” marks the narrow passage between life and death. Mrs. Mallard finds out that her husband, Brently Mallard dies. His death was confirmed by the brother-in-law. The brother-in-law finds about the tragedy through a telegram; then confirms the death by a second telegram. The looming task of telling Mrs. Mallard of her husband’s death was delivered by her sister Josephine. Josephine did not think that her sister Mrs. Mallard would take the news well. After hearing the news Mrs. Mallard was sad and wept with despair. Mrs. Mallard went to be alone and retreated to her room. In the story a comparison is made when Mrs. Mallard was in her room and the differences of the comfy chair that Mrs. Mallard sought solace in, and the physical exhaustions that hearing of death plays on opposite sides of the spectrums. In death, in the form of tragedy, there is no comfort. Often people are left with holes and what if’s. Death in the form of illness usually shows comfort. In the story, there is a conflict of comfort and exhaustion.

To begin, as mentioned earlier, the stories took place in the Victorian era. Both women were stuck in societal ways of how women should act in a marriage. Through the use of setting, the author allows readers to understand societal relationship dynamics. In “The Story of an Hour” the setting took place in Mrs. Mallard’s home. Mrs. Mallard was confined inside the home while her husband was away at work. Already the author shows how she submissive in her marriage. The author of “The Story of an Hour” showed through his reading that even if a wife did not care to be married, she stayed. Mrs. Mallard was in a marriage that she no longer wanted to be in, but due to societal standards divorce was a no good so she stuck it out. “Her fancy was running riot along those days