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Analysis of Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 28, 2021

Originally entitled “The Dream of an Hour” when it was first published in Vogue (December 1894), “The Story of an Hour” has since become one of Kate Chopin’s most frequently anthologized stories. Among her shortest and most daring works, “Story” examines issues of feminism, namely, a woman’s dissatisfaction in a conventional marriage and her desire for independence. It also features Chopin’s characteristic irony and ambiguity .

The story begins with Louise Mallard’s being told about her husband’s presumed death in a train accident. Louise initially weeps with wild abandon, then retires alone to her upstairs bedroom. As she sits facing the open window, observing the new spring life outside, she realizes with a “clear and exalted perception” that she is now free of her husband’s “powerful will bending hers” (353). She becomes delirious with the prospect that she can now live for herself and prays that her life may be long. Her newfound independence is short-lived, however. In a surprise ending, her husband walks through the front door, and Louise suffers a heart attack and dies. Her death may be considered a tragic defeat or a pyrrhic victory for a woman who would rather die than lose that “possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” (353). The doctors ironically attribute her death to the “joy that kills” (354).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Chopin, Kate. The Complete Works of Kate Chopin. Edited by Per Seyersted. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969. Koloski, Bernard. Kate Chopin: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1996. Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969. Toth, Emily. Kate Chopin. New York: Morrow, 1990

The Story of an Hour Critical Analysis Essay

Looking for a critical analysis of The Story of an Hour ? The essay on this page contains a summary of Kate Chopin’s short story, its interpretation, and feminist criticism. Find below The Story of an Hour critique together with the analysis of its characters, themes, symbolism, and irony.

Introduction

Works cited.

The Story of an Hour was written by Kate Chopin in 1984. It describes a woman, Mrs. Mallard, who lost her husband in an accident, but later the truth came out, and the husband was alive. This essay will discuss The Story of an Hour with emphasis on the plot and development of the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who goes through contrasting emotions and feelings that finally kill her on meeting her husband at the door, yet he had been said to be dead.

The Story of an Hour Summary

Kate Chopin narrated the story of a woman named Mrs. Mallard who had a heart health problem. One day the husband was mistaken to have died in an accident that occurred. Due to her heart condition, her sister had to take care while breaking the bad news to her. She was afraid that such news of her husband’s death would cost her a heart attack. She strategized on how to break the news to her sister bit by bit, which worked perfectly well. Mrs. Mallard did not react as expected; instead, she started weeping just once.

She did not hear the story as many women have had the same with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms (Woodlief 2).

Mrs. Mallard wondered how she would survive without a husband. She went to one room and locked herself alone to ponder what the death of her husband brought to her life. She was sorrowful that her husband had died, like it is human to be sad at such times. This is someone very close to her, but only in a short span of time was no more. This sudden death shocked her. Her sister Josephine and friends Mr. Richard and Louise are also sorry for the loss (Taibah 1).

As she was in that room alone, she thought genuinely about the future. Unexpectedly, she meditated on her life without her husband. Apart from sorrow, she started counting the better part of her life without her husband. She saw many opportunities and freedom to do what she wanted with her life. She believed that the coming years would be perfect for her as she only had herself to worry about. She even prayed that life would be long.

After some time, she opened the door for Josephine, her sister, who had a joyous face. They went down the stairs of the house, and Mr. Mallard appeared as he opened the gate. Mr. Mallard had not been involved in the accident and could not understand why Josephine was crying. At the sight of her husband, Mr. Mallard, his wife, Mrs. Mallard, collapsed to death. The doctors said that she died because of heart disease.

The Story of an Hour Analysis

Mrs. Mallard was known to have a heart problem. Richard, who is Mr. Mallard’s friend, was the one who learned of Mr. Mallard’s death while in the office and about the railroad accident that killed him. They are with Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, as she breaks the news concerning the sudden death of her husband. The imagery clearly describes the situation.

The writer brought out the suspense in the way he described how the news was to be broken to a person with a heart problem. There is a conflict that then follows in Mrs. Mallard’s response which becomes more complicated. The death saddens Mrs. Mallard, but, on the other hand, she counts beyond the bitter moments and sees freedom laid down for her for the rest of her life. The description of the room and the environment symbolize a desire for freedom.

This story mostly focuses on this woman and a marriage institution. Sad and happy moments alternate in the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard. She is initially sad about the loss of her husband, then in a moment, ponders on the effects of his death and regains strength.

Within a short period, she is shocked by the sight of her husband being alive and even goes to the extreme of destroying her life. She then dies of a heart attack, whereas she was supposed to be happy to see her husband alive. This is an excellent contrast of events, but it makes the story very interesting.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below, a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song that someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window (Woodlief 1).

Therefore, an open window is symbolic. It represents new opportunities and possibilities that she now had in her hands without anyone to stop her, and she refers to it as a new spring of life.

She knew that she was not in a position to bring her husband back to life.

Her feelings were mixed up. Deep inside her, she felt that she had been freed from living for another person.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her… She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death, the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead (Sparknotes 1).

The author captured a marriage institution that was dominated by a man. This man, Mr. Mallard, did not treat his wife as she would like (the wife) at all times, only sometimes. This Cleary showed that she was peaceful even if her husband was dead. Only some sorrow because of the loss of his life but not of living without him. It seemed that she never felt the love for her husband.

And yet she had loved him sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this procession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! (Woodlief 1).

How could a wife be peaceful at the death of her husband? Though people thought that she treasured her husband, Mr. Mallard, so much and was afraid that she would be stressed, she did not see much of the bitterness like she found her freedom. This reveals how women are oppressed in silence but never exposed due to other factors such as wealth, money, and probably outfits.

As much as wealth is essential, the characters Mr. and Mrs. Mallard despise the inner being. Their hearts were crying amid a physical smile: “Free! Body and soul free!”…Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (Woodlief 1).

In this excerpt, Mrs. Mallard knows what she is doing and believes that she is not harming herself. Instead, she knew that though the husband was important to her, marriage had made her a subject to him. This was not in a positive manner but was against her will. It seems she had done many things against her will, against herself, but to please her husband.

Mrs. Mallard’s character is therefore developed throughout this story in a short time and reveals many values that made her what she was. She is a woman with a big desire for freedom that was deprived by a man in marriage. She is very emotional because after seeing her freedom denied for the second time by her husband, who was mistaken to have died, she collapses and dies. The contrast is when the writer says, “She had died of heart disease…of the joy that kills” (Woodlief 1).

Mrs. Mallard was not able to handle the swings in her emotions, and this cost her life. Mr. Mallard was left probably mourning for his wife, whom he never treasured. He took her for granted and had to face the consequences. Oppressing a wife or another person causes a more significant loss to the oppressor. It is quite ironic that Mr. Mallard never knew that his presence killed his wife.

Sparknotes. The Story of an Hour. Sparknotes, 2011. Web.

Taibah. The Story of an Hour. Taibah English Forum, 2011. Web.

Woodlief. The story of an hour . VCU, 2011. Web.

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Bibliography

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A Summary and Analysis of Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Some short stories can say all they need to do in just a few pages, and Kate Chopin’s three-page 1894 story ‘The Story of an Hour’ (sometimes known as ‘The Dream of an Hour’) is a classic example. Yet those three pages remain tantalisingly ambiguous, perhaps because so little is said, so much merely hinted at. Yet Chopin’s short story is, upon closer inspection, a subtle, studied analysis of death, marriage, and personal wishes.

Written in April 1894 and originally published in Vogue in December of that year, the story focuses on an hour in the life of a married woman who has just learnt that her husband has apparently died.

‘The Story of an Hour’: plot summary

What happens in that brief hour, that story of an hour? A married woman, Mrs Louise Mallard, who has heart trouble, learns that her husband has died in a railroad accident.

Her sister Josephine breaks the news to her; it was her husband’s friend Richards who first heard about the railroad disaster and saw her husband’s name, Brently Mallard, at the top of the list of fatalities. Her first reaction is to weep at the news that her husband is dead; she then takes herself off to her room to be alone.

She sinks into an armchair and finds herself attuned to a series of sensations: the trees outside the window ‘aquiver with the new spring life’, the ‘breath of rain’ in the air; the sound of a peddler crying his wares in the street below. She finds herself going into a sort of trancelike daze, a ‘suspension of intelligent thought’.

Then, gradually, a feeling begins to form within her: a sense of freedom. Now her husband is dead, it seems, she feels free. She dreads seeing her husband’s face (as she knows she must, when she goes to identify the body), but she knows that beyond that lie years and years of her life yet to be lived, and ‘would all belong to her absolutely’.

She reflects that she had loved her husband – sometimes. Sometimes she hadn’t. But now, that didn’t matter: what matters is the ‘self-assertion’, the declaration of independence, that her life alone represents a new start.

But then, her sister Josephine calls from outside the door for her to come out, worried that Louise is making herself ill. But Louise doesn’t feel ill: she feels on top of the world. She used to dread the prospect of living to a ripe old age, but now she welcomes such a prospect. Eventually she opens the door and she and Josephine go back downstairs.

Richards is still down there, waiting for them. Then, there’s a key in the front door and who should enter but … Mrs Mallard’s husband, Brently Mallard.

It turns out he was nowhere near the scene of the railroad accident, and is unharmed! Mrs Mallard is so shocked at his return that she dies, partly because of her heart disease but also, so ‘they’ said, from the unexpected ‘joy’ of her husband’s return.

‘The Story of an Hour’: analysis

In some ways, ‘The Story of an Hour’ prefigures a later story like D. H. Lawrence’s ‘ Odour of Chrysanthemums ’ (1911), which also features a female protagonist whose partner’s death makes her reassess her life with him and to contemplate the complex responses his death has aroused in her.

However, in Lawrence’s story the husband really has died (in a mining accident), whereas in ‘The Story of an Hour’, we find out at the end of the story that Mr Mallard was not involved in the railroad accident and is alive and well. In a shock twist, it is his wife who dies, upon learning that he is still alive.

What should we make of this ‘dream of an hour’? That alternative title is significant, not least because of the ambiguity surrounding the word ‘dream’. Is Louise so plunged into shock by the news of her husband’s apparent death that she begins to hallucinate that she would be better off without him? Is this her way of coping with traumatic news – to try to look for the silver lining in a very black cloud? Or should we analyse ‘dream’ as a sign that she entertains aspirations and ambitions, now her husband is out of the way?

‘The Dream of an Hour’ perhaps inevitably puts us in mind of Kate Chopin’s most famous story, the short novel The Awakening (1899), whose title reflects its female protagonist Edna Pontellier’s growing awareness that there is more to life than her wifely existence.

But Louisa Mallard’s ‘awakening’ remains a dream; when she awakes from it, upon learning that her husband is still alive and all her fancies about her future life have been in vain, she dies.

‘The Story of an Hour’ and modernism

‘The Story of an Hour’ is an early example of the impressionistic method of storytelling which was also being developed by Anton Chekhov around the same time as Chopin, and which would later be used by modernists such as Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf.

Although the story uses an omniscient third-person narrator, we are shown things from particular character perspectives in a way that reflects their own confusions and erratic thoughts – chiefly, of course, Louisa Mallard’s own.

But this impressionistic style – which is more interested in patterns of thought, daydreaming, and emotional responses to the world than in tightly structured plots – continues right until the end of the story.

Consider the final sentence of the story: ‘When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills.’ The irony, of course, is that Louisa appears to have accepted her husband’s death and to have taken his demise as a chance to liberate herself from an oppressive marriage (note Chopin’s reference to the lines on her face which ‘bespoke repression and even a certain strength’ – what did she need that strength for, we wonder?).

So it was not joy but disappointment, if anything, that brought on the heart attack that killed her. But the (presumably male) doctors who attended her death would not have assumed any such thing: they would have analysed her death as a result of her love for her husband, and the sheer joy she felt at having him back.

Chopin’s story also foreshadows Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Garden Party’ , and Laura Sheridan’s enigmatic emotional reaction to seeing her first dead body (as with Chopin’s story, a man who has died in an accident). If you enjoyed this analysis of ‘The Story of an Hour’, you might also enjoy Anton Chekhov’s 1900 story ‘At Christmas Time’, to which Chopin’s story has been compared.

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General Education

Imagine a world where women are fighting for unprecedented rights, the economic climate is unpredictable, and new developments in technology are made every year. While this world might sound like the present day, it also describes America in the 1890s .

It was in this world that author Kate Chopin wrote and lived, and many of the issues of the period are reflected in her short story, “The Story of an Hour.” Now, over a century later, the story remains one of Kate Chopin’s most well-known works and continues to shed light on the internal struggle of women who have been denied autonomy.

In this guide to Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” we’ll discuss:

A brief history of Kate Chopin and America the 1890s
“The Story of an Hour” summary
Analysis of the key story elements in “The Story of an Hour,” including themes, characters, and symbols

By the end of this article, you’ll have an expert grasp on Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” So let’s get started!

“The Story of an Hour” Summary

If it’s been a little while since you’ve read Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” it can be hard to remember the important details. This section includes a quick recap, but you can find “The Story of an Hour” PDF and full version here . We recommend you read it again before diving into our analyses in the next section!

For those who just need a refresher, here’s “The Story of an Hour” summary:

Mrs. Louise Mallard is at home when her sister, Josephine, and her husband’s friend, Richards, come to tell her that her husband, Brently Mallard, has been killed in a railroad accident . Richards had been at the newspaper office when the news broke, and he takes Josephine with him to break the news to Louise since they’re afraid of aggravating her heart condition. Upon hearing the news of her husband’s death, Louise is grief-stricken, locks herself in her room, and weeps.

From here, the story shifts in tone. As Louise processes the news of her husband’s death, she realizes something wonderful and terrible at the same time: she is free . At first she’s scared to admit it, but Louise quickly finds peace and joy in her admission. She realizes that, although she will be sad about her husband (“she had loved him—sometimes,” Chopin writes), Louise is excited for the opportunity to live for herself. She keeps repeating the word “free” as she comes to terms with what her husband’s death means for her life.

In the meantime, Josephine sits at Louise’s door, coaxing her to come out because she is worried about Louise’s heart condition. After praying that her life is long-lived, Louise agrees to come out. However, as she comes downstairs, the front door opens to reveal her husband, who had not been killed by the accident at all. Although Richards tries to keep Louise’s heart from shock by shielding her husband from view, Louise dies suddenly, which the doctors later attribute to “heart disease—of the joy that kills .”

Kate Chopin, the author of "The Story of an Hour," has become one of the most important American writers of the 19th century.

The History of Kate Chopin and the 1890s

Before we move into “The Story of an Hour” analysis section, it’s helpful to know a little bit about Kate Chopin and the world she lived in.

A Short Biography of Kate Chopin

Born in 1850 to wealthy Catholic parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Kate Chopin (originally Kate O’Flaherty) knew hardship from an early age. In 1855, Chopin lost her father, Thomas, when he passed away in a tragic and unexpected railroad accident. The events of this loss would stay with Kate for the rest of her life, eventually becoming the basis for “The Story of an Hour” nearly forty years later.

Chopin was well-educated throughout her childhood , reading voraciously and becoming fluent in French. Chopin was also very aware of the divide between the powerful and the oppressed in society at the time . She grew up during the U.S. Civil War, so she had first-hand knowledge of violence and slavery in the United States.

Chopin was also exposed to non-traditional roles for women through her familial situation. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother chose to remain widows (rather than remarry) after their husbands died. Consequently, Chopin learned how important women’s independence could be, and that idea would permeate much of her writing later on.

As Chopin grew older, she became known for her beauty and congeniality by society in St. Louis. She was married at the age of nineteen to Oscar Chopin, who came from a wealthy cotton-growing family. The couple moved to New Orleans, where they would start both a general store and a large family. (Chopin would give birth to seven children over the next nine years!)

While Oscar adored his wife, he was less capable of running a business. Financial trouble forced the family to move around rural Louisiana. Unfortunately, Oscar would die of swamp fever in 1882 , leaving Chopin in heavy debt and with the responsibility of managing the family’s struggling businesses.

After trying her hand at managing the property for a year, Chopin conceded to her mother’s requests to return with her children to St. Louis. Chopin’s mother died the year after. In order to support herself and her children, Kate began to write to support her family.

Luckily, Chopin found immediate success as a writer. Many of her short stories and novels—including her most famous novel, The Awakening— dealt with life in Louisiana . She was also known as a fast and prolific writer, and by the end of the 1900s she had written over 100 stories, articles, and essays.

Unfortunately, Chopin would pass away from a suspected cerebral hemorrhage in 1904, at the age of 54 . But Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and other writings have withstood the test of time. Her work has lived on, and she’s now recognized as one of the most important American writers of the 19th century.

American life was undergoing significant change in the 19th century. Technology, culture, and even leisure activities were changing.

American Life in the 1890s

“The Story of an Hour” was written and published in 1894, right as the 1800s were coming to a close. As the world moved into the new century, American life was also changing rapidly.

For instance, t he workplace was changing drastically in the 1890s . Gone were the days where most people were expected to work at a trade or on a farm. Factory jobs brought on by industrialization made work more efficient, and many of these factory owners gradually implemented more humane treatment of their workers, giving them more leisure time than ever.

Though the country was in an economic recession at this time, technological changes like electric lighting and the popularization of radios bettered the daily lives of many people and allowed for the creation of new jobs. Notably, however, work was different for women . Working women as a whole were looked down upon by society, no matter why they found themselves in need of a job.

Women who worked while they were married or pregnant were judged even more harshly. Women of Kate Chopin’s social rank were expected to not work at all , sometimes even delegating the responsibility of managing the house or child-rearing to maids or nannies. In the 1890s, working was only for lower class women who could not afford a life of leisure .

In reaction to this, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was created in 1890, which fought for women’s social and political rights. While Kate Chopin was not a formal member of the suffragette movements, she did believe that women should have greater freedoms as individuals and often talked about these ideas in her works, including in “The Story of an Hour.”

Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" a short exploration of marriage and repression in America.

“The Story of an Hour” Analysis

Now that you have some important background information, it’s time to start analyzing “The Story of an Hour.”

This short story is filled with opposing forces . The themes, characters, and even symbols in the story are often equal, but opposite, of one another. Within “The Story of an Hour,” analysis of all of these elements reveals a deeper meaning.

“The Story of an Hour” Themes

A theme is a message explored in a piece of literature. Most stories have multiple themes, which is certainly the case in “The Story of an Hour.” Even though Chopin’s story is short, it discusses the thematic ideas of freedom, repression, and marriage.

Keep reading for a discussion of the importance of each theme!

Freedom and Repression

The most prevalent theme in Chopin’s story is the battle between freedom and “repression.” Simply put , repression happens when a person’s thoughts, feelings, or desires are being subdued. Repression can happen internally and externally. For example, if a person goes through a traumatic accident, they may (consciously or subconsciously) choose to repress the memory of the accident itself. Likewise, if a person has wants or needs that society finds unacceptable, society can work to repress that individual. Women in the 19th century were often victims of repression. They were supposed to be demure, gentle, and passive—which often went against women’s personal desires.

Given this, it becomes apparent that Louise Mallard is the victim of social repression. Until the moment of her husband’s supposed death, Louise does not feel free . In their marriage, Louise is repressed. Readers see this in the fact that Brently is moving around in the outside world, while Louise is confined to her home. Brently uses railroad transportation on his own, walks into his house of his own accord, and has individual possessions in the form of his briefcase and umbrella. Brently is even free from the knowledge of the train wreck upon his return home. Louise, on the other hand, is stuck at home by virtue of her position as a woman and her heart condition.

Here, Chopin draws a strong contrast between what it means to be free for men and women. While freedom is just part of what it means to be a man in America, freedom for women looks markedly different. Louise’s life is shaped by what society believes a woman should be and how a wife should behave. Once Louise’s husband “dies,” however, she sees a way where she can start claiming some of the more “masculine” freedoms for herself. Chopin shows how deeply important freedom is to the life of a woman when, in the end, it’s not the shock of her husband’s return of her husband that kills Louise, but rather the thought of losing her freedom again.

Marriage as a “The Story of an Hour” theme is more than just an idyllic life spent with a significant other. The Mallard’s marriage shows a reality of 1890s life that was familiar to many people. Marriage was a means of social control —that is to say, marriage helped keep women in check and secure men’s social and political power. While husbands were usually free to wander the world on their own, hold jobs, and make important family decisions, wives (at least those of the upper class) were expected to stay at home and be domestic.

Marriage in Louise Mallard’s case has very little love. She sees her marriage as a life-long bond in which she feels trapped, which readers see when she confesses that she loved her husband only “sometimes.” More to the point, she describes her marriage as a “powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” In other words, Louise Mallard feels injustice in the expectation that her life is dictated by the will of her husband.

Like the story, the marriages Kate witnessed often ended in an early or unexpected death. The women of her family, including Kate herself, all survived their husbands and didn’t remarry. While history tells us that Kate Chopin was happy in her marriage, she was aware that many women weren’t. By showing a marriage that had been built on control and society’s expectations, Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” highlights the need for a world that respected women as valuable partners in marriage as well as capable individuals.

body-young-woman-looking-through-a-window

While this painting by Johann Georg Meyer wasn't specifically of Louise Mallard, "Young Woman Looking Through a Window" is a depiction of what Louise might have looked like as she realized her freedom.

"The Story of an Hour" Characters

The best stories have developed characters, which is the case in “The Story of an Hour,” too. Five characters make up the cast of “The Story of an Hour”:

Louise Mallard

Brently mallard.

The doctor(s)

By exploring the details of each character, we can better understand their motivations, societal role, and purpose to the story.

From the opening sentence alone, we learn a lot about Louise Mallard. Chopin writes, “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.”

From that statement alone, we know that she is married, has a heart condition, and is likely to react strongly to bad news . We also know that the person who is sharing the bad news views Louise as delicate and sensitive. Throughout the next few paragraphs, we also learn that Louise is a housewife, which indicates that she would be part of the middle-to-upper class in the 1890s. Chopin also describes Louise’s appearance as “young,” “fair, calm face,” with lines of “strength.” These characteristics are not purely physical, but also bleed into her character throughout the story.

Louise’s personality is described as different from other women . While many women would be struck with the news in disbelief, Louise cries with “wild abandonment”—which shows how powerful her emotions are. Additionally, while other women would be content to mourn for longer, Louise quickly transitions from grief to joy about her husband’s passing.

Ultimately, Chopin uses Louise’s character to show readers what a woman’s typical experience within marriage was in the 1890s. She uses Louise to criticize the oppressive and repressive nature of marriage, especially when Louise rejoices in her newfound freedom.

Josephine is Louise’s sister . We never hear of Josephine’s last name or whether she is married or not. We do know that she has come with Richards, a friend of Brently’s, to break the news of his death to her sister.

When Josephine tells Louise the bad news, she’s only able to tell Louise of Brently’s death in “veiled hints,” rather than telling her outright. Readers can interpret this as Josephine’s attempt at sparing Louise’s feelings. Josephine is especially worried about her sister’s heart condition, which we see in greater detail later as she warns Louise, “You will make yourself ill.” When Louise locks herself in her room, Josephine is desperate to make sure her sister is okay and begs Louise to let her in.

Josephine is the key supporting character for Louise, helping her mourn, though she never knows that Louise found new freedom from her husband’s supposed death . But from Josephine’s actions and interactions with Louise, readers can accurately surmise that she cares for her sister (even if she’s unaware of how miserable Louise finds her life).

Richards is another supporting character, though he is described as Brently’s friend, not Louise’s friend. It is Richards who finds out about Brently Mallard’s supposed death while at the newspaper office—he sees Brently’s name “leading the list of ‘killed.’” Richards’ main role in “The Story of an Hour” is to kick off the story’s plot.

Additionally, Richard’s presence at the newspaper office suggests he’s a writer, editor, or otherwise employee of the newspaper (although Chopin leaves this to readers’ inferences). Richards takes enough care to double-check the news and to make sure that Brently’s likely dead. He also enlists Josephine’s help to break the news to Louise. He tries to get to Louise before a “less careful, less tender friend” can break the sad news to her, which suggests that he’s a thoughtful person in his own right.

It’s also important to note is that Richards is aware of Louise’s heart condition, meaning that he knows Louise Mallard well enough to know of her health and how she is likely to bear grief. He appears again in the story at the very end, when he tries (and fails) to shield Brently from his wife’s view to prevent her heart from reacting badly. While Richards is a background character in the narrative, he demonstrates a high level of friendship, consideration, and care for Louise.

Brently Mallard would have been riding in a train like this one when the accident supposedly occurred.

Mr. Brently Mallard is the husband of the main character, Louise. We get few details about him, though readers do know he’s been on a train that has met with a serious accident. For the majority of the story, readers believe Brently Mallard is dead—though the end of “The Story of an Hour” reveals that he’s been alive all along. In fact, Brently doesn’t even know of the railroad tragedy when he arrives home “travel-stained.”

Immediately after Louise hears the news of his death, she remembers him fondly. She remarks on his “kind, tender hands” and says that Brently “never looked save with love” upon her . It’s not so much Brently as it’s her marriage to him which oppresses Louise. While he apparently always loved Louise, Louise only “sometimes” loved Brently. She constantly felt that he “impose[d] a private will” upon her, as most husbands do their wives. And while she realizes that Brently likely did so without malice, she also realized that “a kind intention or a cruel intention” makes the repression “no less a crime.”

Brently’s absence in the story does two things. First, it contrasts starkly with Louise’s life of illness and confinement. Second, Brently’s absence allows Louise to imagine a life of freedom outside of the confines of marriage , which gives her hope. In fact, when he appears alive and well (and dashes Louise’s hopes of freedom), she passes away.

The Doctor(s)

Though the mention of them is brief, the final sentence of the story is striking. Chopin writes, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills.” Just as she had no freedom in life, her liberation from the death of her husband is told as a joy that killed her.

In life as in death, the truth of Louise Mallard is never known. Everything the readers know about her delight in her newfound freedom happens in Louise’s own mind; she never gets the chance to share her secret joy with anyone else.

Consequently, the ending of the story is double-sided. If the doctors are to be believed, Louise Mallard was happy to see her husband, and her heart betrayed her. And outwardly, no one has any reason to suspect otherwise. Her reaction is that of a dutiful, delicate wife who couldn’t bear the shock of her husband returned from the grave.

But readers can infer that Louise Mallard died of the grief of a freedom she never had , then found, then lost once more. Readers can interpret Louise’s death as her experience of true grief in the story—that for her ideal life, briefly realized then snatched away.

In "The Story of an Hour," the appearance of hearts symbolize both repression and hope.

“The Story of an Hour” Symbolism and Motifs

Symbols are any object, word, or other element that appear in the story and have additional meanings beyond. Motifs are elements from a story that gain meaning from being repeated throughout the narrative. The line between symbols and motifs is often hazy, but authors use both to help communicate their ideas and themes.

In “The Story of an Hour,” symbolism is everywhere, but the three major symbols present in the story are:

The heart
The house and the outdoors
Joy and sorrow

Heart disease, referred to as a “heart condition” within the text, opens and closes the text. The disease is the initial cause for everyone’s concern, since Louise’s condition makes her delicate. Later, heart disease causes Louise’s death upon Brently’s safe return. In this case, Louise’s ailing heart has symbolic value because it suggests to readers that her life has left her heartbroken. When she believes she’s finally found freedom, Louise prays for a long life...when just the day before, she’d “had thought with a shudder that life might be long.”

As Louise realizes her freedom, it’s almost as if her heart sparks back to life. Chopin writes, “Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously...she was striving to beat it back...Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.” These words suggest that, with her newfound freedom, the symptoms of her heart disease have lifted. Readers can surmise that Louise’s diseased heart is the result of being repressed, and hope brings her heart back to life.

Unfortunately, when Brently comes back, so does Louise’s heart disease. And, although her death is attributed to joy, the return of her (both symbolic and literal) heart disease kills her in the end.

The House and the Outdoors

The second set of symbols are Louise’s house and the world she can see outside of her window. Chopin contrasts these two symbolic images to help readers better understand how marriage and repression have affected Louise.

First of all, Louise is confined to the home—both within the story and in general. For her, however, her home isn’t a place to relax and feel comfortable. It’s more like a prison cell. All of the descriptions of the house reinforce the idea that it’s closed off and inescapable . For instance, the front door is locked when Mr. Mallard returns home. When Mrs. Mallard is overcome with grief, she goes deeper inside her house and locks herself in her room.

In that room, however, Mrs. Mallard takes note of the outdoors by looking out of her window. Even in her momentary grief, she describes the “open square before her house” and “the new spring life.” The outdoors symbolize freedom in the story, so it’s no surprise that she realizes her newfound freedom as she looks out her window. Everything about the outside is free, beautiful, open, inviting, and pleasant...a stark contrast from the sadness inside the house .

The house and its differences from outdoors serve as one of many symbols for how Louise feels about her marriage: barred from a world of independence.

Joy and Sorrow

Finally, joy and sorrow are motifs that come at unexpected times throughout “The Story of an Hour.” Chopin juxtaposes joy and sorrow to highlight how tragedy releases Louise from her sorrow and gives her a joyous hope for the future.

At first, sorrow appears as Louise mourns the death of her husband. Yet, in just a few paragraphs, she finds joy in the event as she discovers a life of her own. Though Louise is able to see that feeling joy at such an event is “monstrous,” she continues to revel in her happiness.

It is later that, when others expect her to be joyful, Josephine lets out a “piercing cry,” and Louise dies. Doctors interpret this as “the joy that kills,” but more likely it’s a sorrow that kills. The reversal of the “appropriate” feelings at each event reveals how counterintuitive the “self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” is to the surrounding culture. This paradox reveals something staggering about Louise’s married life: she is so unhappy with her situation that grief gives her hope...and she dies when that hope is taken away.

Key Takeaways: Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour”

Analyzing Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” takes time and careful thought despite the shortness of the story. The story is open to multiple interpretations and has a lot to reveal about women in the 1890s, and many of the story’s themes, characters, and symbols critique women’s marriage roles during the period .

There’s a lot to dig through when it comes to “The Story of an Hour” analysis. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just remember a few things :

Events from Kate Chopin’s life and from social changes in the 1890s provided a strong basis for the story.
Mrs. Louise Mallard’s heart condition, house, and feelings represent deeper meanings in the narrative.
Louise goes from a state of repression, to freedom, and then back to repression, and the thought alone is enough to kill her.

Remembering the key plot points, themes, characters, and symbols will help you write any essay or participate in any discussion. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” has much more to uncover, so read it again, ask questions, and start exploring the story beyond the page!

What’s Next?

You may have found your way to this article because analyzing literature can be tricky to master. But like any skill, you can improve with practice! First, make sure you have the right tools for the job by learning about literary elements. Start by mastering the 9 elements in every piece of literature , then dig into our element-specific guides (like this one on imagery and this one on personification .)

Another good way to start practicing your analytical skills is to read through additional expert guides like this one. Literary guides can help show you what to look for and explain why certain details are important. You can start with our analysis of Dylan Thomas’ poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night.” We also have longer guides on other words like The Great Gatsby and The Crucible , too.

If you’re preparing to take the AP Literature exam, it’s even more important that you’re able to quickly and accurately analyze a text . Don’t worry, though: we’ve got tons of helpful material for you. First, check out this overview of the AP Literature exam . Once you have a handle on the test, you can start practicing the multiple choice questions , and even take a few full-length practice tests . Oh, and make sure you’re ready for the essay portion of the test by checking out our AP Literature reading list!

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Analysis of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

Self-Determination and Louise Mallard Living for Herself

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"The Story of an Hour" by American author Kate Chopin is a mainstay of feminist literary study . Originally published in 1894, the story documents the complicated reaction of Louise Mallard upon learning of her husband's death.

It is difficult to discuss "The Story of an Hour" without addressing the ironic ending. If you haven't read the story yet, you might as well, as it's only about 1,000 words. The Kate Chopin International Society is kind enough to provide a free, accurate version .

At the Beginning, News That Will Devastate Louise

At the beginning of the story, Richards and Josephine believe they must break the news of Brently Mallard's death to Louise Mallard as gently as possible. Josephine informs her "in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing." Their assumption, not an unreasonable one, is that this unthinkable news will be devastating to Louise and will threaten her weak heart.

A Growing Awareness of Freedom

Yet something even more unthinkable lurks in this story: Louise's growing awareness of the freedom she will have without Brently.

At first, she doesn't consciously allow herself to think about this freedom. The knowledge reaches her wordlessly and symbolically, via the "open window" through which she sees the "open square" in front of her house. The repetition of the word "open" emphasizes possibility and a lack of restrictions.

Patches of Blue Sky Amid the Clouds

The scene is full of energy and hope. The trees are "all aquiver with the new spring of life," the "delicious breath of rain" is in the air, sparrows are twittering, and Louise can hear someone singing a song in the distance. She can see "patches of blue sky" amid the clouds.

She observes these patches of blue sky without registering what they might mean. Describing Louise's gaze, Chopin writes, "It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought." If she had been thinking intelligently, social norms might have prevented her from such a heretical recognition. Instead, the world offers her "veiled hints" that she slowly pieces together without even realizing she is doing so.

A Force Is Too Powerful to Oppose

In fact, Louise resists the impending awareness, regarding it "fearfully." As she begins to realize what it is, she strives "to beat it back with her will." Yet its force is too powerful to oppose.

This story can be uncomfortable to read because, on the surface, Louise seems to be glad that her husband has died. But that isn't quite accurate. She thinks of Brently's "kind, tender hands" and "the face that had never looked save with love upon her," and she recognizes that she has not finished weeping for him.

Her Desire for Self-Determination

But his death has made her see something she hasn't seen before and might likely never have seen if he had lived: her desire for self-determination .

Once she allows herself to recognize her approaching freedom, she utters the word "free" over and over again, relishing it. Her fear and her uncomprehending stare are replaced by acceptance and excitement. She looks forward to "years to come that would belong to her absolutely."

She Would Live for Herself

In one of the most important passages of the story, Chopin describes Louise's vision of self-determination. It's not so much about getting rid of her husband as it is about being entirely in charge of her own life, "body and soul." Chopin writes:

"There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a will upon a fellow-creature."

Note the phrase men and women. Louise never catalogs any specific offenses Brently has committed against her; rather, the implication seems to be that marriage can be stifling for both parties.

The Irony of Joy That Kills

When Brently Mallard enters the house alive and well in the final scene, his appearance is utterly ordinary. He is "a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella." His mundane appearance contrasts greatly with Louise's "feverish triumph" and her walking down the stairs like a "goddess of Victory."

When the doctors determine that Louise "died of heart disease -- of joy that kills," the reader immediately recognizes the irony . It seems clear that her shock was not joy over her husband's survival, but rather distress over losing her cherished, newfound freedom. Louise did briefly experience joy -- the joy of imagining herself in control of her own life. And it was the removal of that intense joy that led to her death.

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The Story of an Hour

Kate chopin, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Women in 19th-Century Society Theme Icon

In “The Story of an Hour,” freedom and independence—not love, not friends, not family, not honor or glory or anything else—are held up as what make a life worth living. Though Louise is at first genuinely upset by the news of Brently ’s death—and though she makes it clear that she will greatly mourn the loss of her husband—over the course of the hour in which she believes him to be dead, she comes to see the incredible gift she has been given in the form of the freedom she will have as an unmarried (and well-off) woman. She delights in the fact that without a husband she will be able to spend the remainder of her days exactly as she pleases. While Louise ’s delight in her freedom is closely tied to her status as a woman in nineteenth-century American society, it is important to note that the story doesn’t limit its idea of the preeminent importance of independence only to women. As Louise herself thinks, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” In Louis e’s conception, it is both women and men who lack freedom; it is both women and men who, in all their interactions with each other, steal freedom from each other.

Yet, just as the story indicates society and the world’s resistance to female empowerment, so does it imply the impossibility of actual human freedom or independence. It is no coincidence that Louise ’s sense of the possibility of freedom only comes to her when she is locked, entirely alone, within her room. As her own thoughts about how men and women take each other’s freedom suggests, any social interaction or connection impinges upon freedom. And so it is further no coincidence that Louise ’s dream of freedom, along with Louise herself, dies almost as soon as she leaves the solitary ecstasy of her room.

Freedom and Independence ThemeTracker

Freedom and Independence Quotes in The Story of an Hour

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought. There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.

There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister’s waist, and together they descended the stairs.

The Story of an Hour

Personal Interpretation: The Story of an Hour

Written by Kate Chopin, the story is about things happened in an hour. The story took place in the late nineteenth century. At that time, women were men’s possession in marriage. They lived for their husband. In this story, Mr. Mallard was on the head of the list “killed” and Mrs. Mallard went away to her room after knowing her husband’s death. She wept at first but then realized she was free for the rest of her life and she would not be anyone’s possession. After a while, Mrs. Mallard opened the door, walked out happily with her sister, thinking that she will finally own her life. Surprisingly, the news of Mr. Mallard dead was not true and he appeared at the door. Mrs. Mallard faint and died when she saw her husband and the doctor said it was because she was too happy. This story is about women in marriage and it mainly shows the self-realization of women’s value by depicting her reaction after her husband’s death.

The author utilizes several rhetoric devices in this short story to convey her point and the one that gave me deep impression is when Mrs. Mallard started to realized her bright future without her husband and her attitude towards life started to change. In paragraph 17, the author said that “Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” (para.17)

This paragraph shows how she is anticipating her future life without her husband. The author used simple sentences to express her meaning. The punctuation the author used was barely normal as well. This moment is very important to the whole story.

In this paragraph, Mrs. Mallard is thinking about her bright future and the author makes a comparison between what she thinks about life now and what she thinks when her husband was alive to show her happiness. The author stated that Mrs. Mallard is now praying for a long life. However, it was just yesterday that she felt scared thinking about her life with her husband might be long. The contrast the author drew here clearly shows Mrs. Mallard’s negative feelings towards here husband and let the readers know that Mrs. Mallard is starting to have expectations of her life on her own. This contrast conveys a clear meaning of the self-realization of Mrs. Mallard since she started to think that she is able to live happily on her own.

The diction used in this paragraph is very interesting. The word “riot” clearly shows the huge amount of emotions Mrs. Mallard received after her husband died. The word “breathe” means say something with quite intensity. This word here shows that Mrs. Mallard are praying in a very low voice because she didn’t want anybody to hear her joy. Usually, a wife would want to die when their husband dies but Mrs. Mallard “breathed” her prayer to live a long life in order to not let anybody else to know her abnormal thought. Mrs. Mallard knows this thought is abnormal and she is subverting what a woman of the time was “supposed” to do or feel. This story challenges the norms in nineteenth century. The word “shudder” means tremble obviously, typically as a result of fear or repugnance. By using the word here, we can clearly see that Mrs. Mallard is afraid of and strongly dislike her life with her husband so she shuddered when she thought about her future. “ shudder” conveys information about how Mrs. Mallard use to view her life and her husband.

This paragraph also illustrates the motif of the short story. The whole passage is about how Mrs. Mallard finds her own value and learns to live for herself. In the article, the author describes in several places how much hope and happiness Mrs. Mallard got after her husband’s death. This paragraph is one of the places. Before, the author describes her emotions by her words “free, free, free”, her facial expressions and the physical changes of her body like pulse. This paragraph describes what she thinks in her mind that contradicts that she thinks before. After this paragraph, the author also describes at the end of the passage her expression and movements when she opened the door and went out with her sister.

In conclusion, the author employs lots of rhetoric devices to show the reader the self-realization of Mrs. Mallard and made the readers to actually feel Mrs. Mallard and her emotions. This is a very short story but it conveys so much information only by depicting the mental activity and facial expression of Mrs. Mallard. Although the setting of this story is far from our time, readers should realize the burden and control marriage used to have on women and avoid repeating the same mistake in contemporary society.

Chopin, Kate . “The Story of an Hour.” Vogue 1894 Print.

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The reality behind 'Civil War' and the possibility of a real second civil war

NPR's Andrew Limbong talks to Amy Cooter of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies about how realistic an idea of a second civil war is.

ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:

In the near future, the U.S. president has given himself a third term. He's disbanded the FBI. America has broken into various factions that are engaged in armed conflict. It's the premise of one of the buzziest films of the year, the A24 thriller "Civil War," directed by British filmmaker Alex Garland. The dystopian thriller imagines a near future in which a deeply divided United States is violently caught in, well, a civil war.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CIVIL WAR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Are you guys aware there's, like, a pretty huge civil war going on all across America?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) We just try to stay out. With what we see on the news, seems like it's for the best.

LIMBONG: The film may be fiction, but it has many viewers and pundits thinking about the parallels to reality in a United States that does often feel more and more polarized. But just how close is the film's reality to our own? To unpack that question, we called Amy Cooter. She's a director of research at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Amy, welcome to the program.

AMY COOTER: Thanks for having me.

LIMBONG: How much of this is, like, art-is-life, life-is-art film? Should we be wary of reading too much into the perils of real life?

COOTER: I think that it represents some real undercurrents that we have in the United States. I don't think that civil war is imminent, but I think there are some people who wish we would have one and wish that they could be effectively culture soldiers to reenact a civil order that they see as better for them and their families.

LIMBONG: When you say some people, who are those people?

COOTER: The groups I study tend to be folks who are militia members on the extreme end of the spectrum, or other folks who believe that some version of society that they believe existed in the past is better than what we have in our modern day, and they should do something to try to move us back to that past format.

LIMBONG: Most Americans do not foresee a civil war according to recent polls, but more than 40% of Americans think civil war is at least somewhat likely in the next decade. Is there a realistic scenario that could lead the U.S. to at least the verge of a civil war?

COOTER: I certainly hope not. I hope that our federal government, our states' governments, remain organized enough that armed militant groups who try to stir up various sorts of trouble can be controlled within the letter of the law. However, I think we are at a moment of extreme political division that may get worse before it gets better, and there are certainly some people who believe that they and their families are going to be put in a position where they have to defend themselves, whether it's against the government itself or against other factions that they see as being opposed to their interests.

LIMBONG: Does history here have any lessons that could be instructive to understanding the threat of civil war in this country?

COOTER: I think that as a sociologist, we tend not to be super optimistic. But one note of optimism that I do try to latch onto is that we've had moments of extreme divisiveness in our country before extreme political polarization, and so far, at least, democracy has won out and become increasingly inclusive over time. I think there are many more people who are pro-democracy who want to make this country a better place than there are small factions who want to be disruptive for everyone.

LIMBONG: Yeah. That's interesting. In your work, do you ever think about highlighting these groups gives them an outsized voice when we're looking at the raw numbers of people here?

COOTER: It's a concern that all of us who work in extremism and related studies have, and yet we also see that these groups have the outsized potential for harm. So if we look at the extreme factions, what our goal is is to try to understand the real risks of violence, to prevent them and also simultaneously understand that many times, they are simply the more vocal factions of folks who believe very similar things.

Just to reference the January 6 case, a lot of those folks weren't involved in formal, organized groups, but shared the same ideology, the same urgency for action. And frankly, a lot of folks had taken for granted the need to study militias and other groups before then because they assumed they were just outliers, that no other groups or no other individuals sort of agreed with them. And we were smacked with the reality that that's just not the case.

LIMBONG: Yeah. The movie depicts armed factions fighting not so much against, like, a central government, but sometimes against each other. A central thesis of the film is that, like in war, who's on what side gets kind of blurry. Do you think that's a fair representation of real-life fringe extremist groups and how they operate?

COOTER: I do. There is a lot of constant infighting, not usually violent, but very strong infighting across all of these group boundaries. And they would be a lot more powerful if they had an easier time getting along with each other. It's also the case that we have seen an increasing trend in groups opposed to these particular beliefs or this particular political spectrum. And hypothetically, if we're dealing with a world where some kind of pockets of violence, whether it's civil war or not, were occurring across the country, it's highly likely that some people would oppose these groups for various different reasons and also fight them. It wouldn't necessarily just be the government.

LIMBONG: Yeah. So these extremist groups, you've cited some that say they are ready to inflict violence. How much of a threat are they?

COOTER: This is something that's really hard to quantify. We know that even among militia groups, it is a minority of militia groups, a minority of militia members who are really proactively intending to do harm. The ones who are, as we said, can do outsized harm to society as a whole, but they tend to plan their actions amongst themselves. They've gotten a bit more understanding of monitoring and other things that happen online in recent years, and they're really hard to track and monitor.

LIMBONG: Do you think the U.S. government is adequately prepared?

COOTER: That's hard to say. My personal instinct is no. I think that various different government agencies have done more to be prepared since January 6. But I'm also sensing sort of a belief that that was a one-off occurrence, and therefore we don't have to worry about these folks so much anymore. We aren't really expecting another January 6, but I think we're underestimating the risk that different state buildings may face or different politicians as individuals may face or even different flashpoints of violence around elections or school board happenings as they continue to move forward this year.

LIMBONG: Amy Cooter is director of research at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Her forthcoming book is "Nostalgia, Nationalism, And The U.S. Militia Movement." Thank you so much for joining us.

COOTER: Thanks so much for having me.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

KateChopin.org

The kate chopin international society, “the story of an hour”, the story of an hour, by kate chopin.

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.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband’s friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of “killed.” He had only taken 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.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; 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.

There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow- creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

“Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. “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.”

“Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

But Richards was too late.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.

Kate Chopin wrote “The Story of an Hour” on April 19, 1894. It was first published in Vogue (the same magazine that is sold today) on December 6, 1894, under the title “The Dream of an Hour.” It was reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895, with two changes that are included in this version of the story. One of those change adds the word “her” to the first sentence of paragraph 14.

You can find additional accurate information about “The Story of an Hour,” about other Kate Chopin stories, about Chopin’s two novels , about her themes, and about her life at many places on this website.

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The Story of an Hour

Study Guide

Kate Chopin

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Full Plot Summary

Louise Mallard has heart trouble, so she must be informed carefully about her husband’s death. Her sister, Josephine, tells her the news. Louise’s husband’s friend, Richards, learned about a railroad disaster when he was in the newspaper office and saw Louise’s husband, Brently, on the list of those killed. Louise begins sobbing when Josephine tells her of Brently’s death and goes upstairs to be alone in her room.

Louise sits down and looks out an open window. She sees trees, smells approaching rain, and hears a peddler yelling out what he’s selling. She hears someone singing as well as the sounds of sparrows, and there are fluffy white clouds in the sky. She is young, with lines around her eyes. Still crying, she gazes into the distance. She feels apprehensive and tries to suppress the building emotions within her, but can’t. She begins repeating the word Free! to herself over and over again. Her heart beats quickly, and she feels very warm.

Louise knows she’ll cry again when she sees Brently’s corpse. His hands were tender, and he always looked at her lovingly. But then she imagines the years ahead, which belong only to her now, and spreads her arms out joyfully with anticipation. She will be free, on her own without anyone to oppress her. She thinks that all women and men oppress one another even if they do it out of kindness. Louise knows that she often felt love for Brently but tells herself that none of that matters anymore. She feels ecstatic with her newfound sense of independence.

Josephine comes to her door, begging Louise to come out, warning her that she’ll get sick if she doesn’t. Louise tells her to go away. She fantasizes about all the days and years ahead and hopes that she lives a long life. Then she opens the door, and she and Josephine start walking down the stairs, where Richards is waiting.

The front door unexpectedly opens, and Brently comes in. He hadn’t been in the train accident or even aware that one had happened. Josephine screams, and Richards tries unsuccessfully to block Louise from seeing him. Doctors arrive and pronounce that Louise died of a heart attack brought on by happiness.

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'Downtown Owl': '80s period piece doesn't know what it wants to be

Co-director lily rabe stars as small-town newcomer in disjointed adaptation of chuck klosterman novel..

Naomi (Vanessa Hudgens, left) invites newcomer Julia (Lily Rabe) out to the bar in “Downtown Owl.”

Stage 6 Films

Let’s talk about the high school football team in the disjointed and tonally uncertain Americana period piece “Downtown Owl,” an adaptation of the 2008 debut novel by the cool and acclaimed pop culture essayist and author Chuck Klosterman.

By my count, we see a maximum of eight players in a practice sequence, even fewer in a locker room scene. Granted, we’re not talking about “Friday Night Lights” or “Rudy” here — this isn’t a football movie — but even for a low-budget, indie-style film, it’s not that much of a financial strain to at least put enough extras in uniforms to reasonably approximate an actual team. The same goes for the high school classroom and hallway scenes here; it appears there are only a handful of students, only a couple of teachers.

All right, let’s say co-directors (and real-life partners) Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater are going for something approximating a filmed stage play, with dialogue ranging from gritty and grounded to self-consciously stylized. Still, whether it’s the depictions of high school life that are so unrealistic they take us out of the movie, or the inconsistent and frequently off-putting actions by Rabe’s Julia in the lead role, “Downtown Owl” never quite seems fully confident of its identity and purpose. It’s an occasionally interesting, well-acted mess.

The story kicks off with Julia arriving in the cloistered town of Owl, North Dakota, in 1983, where she has taken a temporary teaching job while her husband finishes his graduate thesis. Julia is immediately befriended by the boisterous and obnoxious Naomi (an overacting Vanessa Hudgens, affecting an accent that makes it sound like she watched “Fargo” one too many times), who has little trouble cajoling Julia into getting hammered nearly every night. (They’re usually the only women at the bar, which is populated by dull men with nicknames such as Dog Lover, Bull Calf, The Flaw Brothers and Brother Killer.)

Nearly every character in “Downtown Owl” is more of a type or a symbol. Old-timey townie Horace (the great Ed Harris) is the moral conscience of the town, who lives a life of overwhelming sadness while caring for his comatose wife. Bison rancher Vance (Henry Golding), a rather dim and uninteresting fellow, is still treated like a hero due to one unlikely play he made as a backup quarterback years ago. Sensitive football player Mitch (August Blanco Rosenstein), who doesn’t even like football, probably knows he’ll be going through a Vince state and then the Horace stage of his life in this nowhere town. We get it.

The filmmakers also fumble an absolutely cringe-y subplot about the football coach (Finn Wittrock) impregnating a student (Arden Michalec). Through all of this, Rabe plays it to the rafters, turning Julia into a mostly unlikable and at times pathetically misguided trainwreck who keeps making bad decisions. When Julia tries to offer guidance to a troubled student, the reply comes: “No offense, but if I needed to talk to an adult, why would I talk to you?”

Sublime ‘How I Learned What I Learned’ delves into life lessons that shaped writer August Wilson

Find anything you save across the site in your account

If I don’t make it, I love u

Best New Music

By Jenn Pelly

April 23, 2024

Whatever ineffable force makes music feel both contained and alive, Still House Plants have it. Their beautifully fractured sound seems made of nerve endings, like the band’s process is on view and we’re hearing the very moment of a Still House Plants song taking shape. The London trio of vocalist Jess Hickie-Kallenbach, guitarist Finlay Clark, and drummer David Kennedy, who met about a decade ago at the Glasgow School of Art, once said they practice only the starts and endings of their songs, which underscores how each one works: as a vessel for abandon.

Is it telepathy that guides them? When Still House Plants made their U.S. debut in New York last spring, they often communicated among themselves with just their eyes. Elongated silences held between notes would put the audience on edge before everything crashed together at exquisitely incongruous angles. On stage as on record, the trio inhabits the free space of punk and the capaciousness of free improvisation at their own frequency.

Like 2020’s Fast Edit , which established Still House Plants as one of the most exciting experimental rock bands around, If I don’t make it, I love u still eschews conventional song forms in favor of a kind of collective flickering, with rhythms that speed and slow by their own logic and carry the persistent charge of small epiphanies. But this is a bolder, clearer, preternaturally vivid iteration of their music; “I’ve been trying to get much stronger,” Hickie-Kallenbach sings on “MORE BOY,” a thesis. Kennedy brings the inquisitiveness of a free-jazz drummer while Clark uses their guitar to synthesize the glimmer of Midwest emo and ’90s slowcore with the choppy minimalism of no wave. Hickie-Kallenbach’s deep, soulful singing suggests Tirzah ’s R&B rasp if it were more elastic and ecstatic. The band applies the tropes of electronic music (samples, breaks, loops) in the way they construct, or more accurately deconstruct, songs with only guitar, voice, and drums. A Still House Plants song is a three-way search forward. It’s always a high-wire act.

The album is divided into 11 tracks, but it feels anchored more discernibly by specific moments within songs: notes and tones that make you think, What’s that? The answer might be some unknown glitter in the guitar, or some marvelous friction, like the sparks that punctuate “M M M” or the buzzsaw discord that cuts through “Silver grit passes thru my teeth” like a flash of shoegaze. The melted chords of “Pant” and wobbly edges of “3scr3w3” make me think fleetingly of Autechre (and it’s hard to imagine another band that could simultaneously conjure Autechre and American Football while speaking their own language entirely). On “MORE BOY,” when the drums pick up midway and Hickie-Kallenbach’s singing locks in, ascending over Clark’s chiming guitar, it’s chilling. The singer’s guttural vocals glitch, digging into a repeated phrase, as if she were sampling herself using only her voice. “MORE BOY” also proves Kennedy’s assertion in an interview with The Wire that withholding drum fills “helps in building up a continuous phrase that never finishes,” a liminal sound.

Still House Plants play with an egalitarian ethos; no one instrument dictates how a song moves. “It’s natural to think that the voice sits at the front, the drums drive, and the guitar is like the bricks, but we move all that around quite a lot,” Hickie-Kallenbach recently told The Quietus . Clark said that “it’s important to remember [the guitar] is just metal and wood,” and “not to get too caught up in what a guitar is ‘supposed’ to do.” Perhaps this extends to the way Hickie-Kallenbach’s lyrics, which are often inscrutable, don’t seem to determine what a song is about—as she told The Wire , she distances herself from the mandate to “narrativize” as the vocalist.

But when her words do ring clearly, If I don’t make it, I love u offers a unique mix of mystery and disclosure. “Deeply sensitive, deeply watchful, mostly head down,” Hickie-Kallenbach sings shyly on “no sleep deep risk,” putting a character inside the music’s abstractions; “I really like it my way.” On “M M M,” I’m pretty sure she croons, “I just want my friends to get me/I want most to support them,” between admissions that “I just want to be seen right” and “I wish I was called Makita,” the melisma of “called” lasting five full seconds. This heartfelt sentiment feels just as risky as the improvisatory bones of the music. It emphasizes the intimacy and vulnerability inherent in their cracked-open musical dialogue. The very title of the album is an emotional prism: If I don’t make it, I love u could be what you’d say to a friend when you’re not sure if you’ll make their birthday party, or it could be the most tragic text message ever composed.

There are precedents for Still House Plants’ postmodern collage and fragmentation. This is the process-oriented essence of ’70s post-punk, prioritizing deconstructed sounds over impossible wholeness—a fractured aesthetic for our fractured, plural selves. Still House Plants have cited other ’90s and early-’00s math-rock and slowcore influences (like Bedhead , Life Without Buildings , and Red House Painters , who inspired their band name). Yet to fixate on the past feels at odds with the unfixed music. If Still House Plants truly evoke anything about those predecessors, it’s how firmly their vision feels of its time—not only in the fevered assembly and unraveling of their stylistic melange, but in the fusion of emotional candor, electronic technique, and conceptual art strategies.

It speaks further to Still House Plants’ rare power that this record comes out via a tiny UK label called Bison, which was created after its founder, an employee of London avant-garde music hub Cafe Oto, saw a 2016 set by the band and established the imprint to release their debut. Maybe the space inside the tracks allows us to bring what we want to the music, but I associate Still House Plants with the conditions of how I first heard them, a time when my mind and heart were rearranging themselves with the stark, uneasy clarity of a new beginning. Note by note, If I don’t make it, I love u seems pitched to that generative, indeterminate energy. “It’s hard to know about anything,” Hickie-Kallenbach sings on “Pant.” “But feeling is good by me.”

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Recap: Tesla stock surges despite plunging profits as Musk talks robotaxis and cheaper cars

Tesla reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Elon Musk talked Tesla's plans for a robotaxi and cheaper EVs.
Shares rallied 10% in after-hours trading as investors shrugged off falling profits.

Tesla reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell.

The electric-vehicle maker posted first-quarter earnings-per-share that fell short of consensus forecasts, but exceeded estimates for gross margin. Tesla also said it will accelerate production of new models of low-cost vehicles.

Tesla stock climbed more than 10% in volatile late trading shortly after the results. The stock rose 1.8% on Tuesday trading, and but has struggled so far in 2024, falling 42% year-to-date through the close.

During the earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about Tesla's plans to unveil its Robotaxi later this year and the company's efforts to accelerate production of a more affordable line up of EVs.

Tesla’s shares are still up as the call ends

The stock is up more than 10% in after-hours trading as the call draws to a close.

Tesla's head of investor relations, Martin Viecha, announces his departure

Viecha says he's leaving the company after seven years in the role at Tesla.

He's the third executive to depart Tesla in the past week . Drew Baglino, Tesla's senior vice president of powertrain and electrical engineering, announced last week that he'd left the company. Rohan Patel, Tesla's vice president of public policy and business development, also left the company last week.

Musk says battery costs are falling

The number of orders for EV batteries from competing automakers has dropped, Musk says, adding that it seems Tesla's battery suppliers have excess capacity.

Musk says analysts should drive the latest FSD update

Musk says he strongly recommends that anyone who is thinking about the company's stock should test out the latest updates to the Full Self-Driving software.

"It is impossible to understand Tesla if you haven't done this," Musk says.

Musk takes a question about Tesla's price cuts

Musk says he thinks Tesla can stay cash-flow positive even with the potential of future price cuts .

"If you have a great product at a great price, the sales will be excellent," Musk says, adding that the company plans to keep making its cars and prices more competitive.

Analyst asks what 'sacrifices' Tesla is making with recent layoffs

Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja says the cuts will make Tesla more resilient.

"Any tree that grows needs pruning," Taneja says.

Musk says the company needs to reorganize for a new phase of growth.

"We're not giving up anything that significant that I'm aware of," Musk says.

Analyst asks if Musk is spread too thin and if he'll still be around in 3 years

Musk says he rarely takes a day off, and Tesla represents the majority of his work.

"I make sure Tesla is very prosperous," Musk says.

Musk says Tesla is in conversations with one major automaker regarding FSD licensing

Tesla has worked with automakers like Ford and GM to license its Supercharger technology in the past.

VP of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy dodges question on timeline of $25,000 EV

Moravy sticks to earlier remarks when asked directly about the cheaper model and its timeline, giving no specifics on a date or price.

Elon takes a question about FSD regulatory approval

"It's helpful that other autonomous car companies have been cutting a path through the regulatory jungle," Musk says.

Musk says he doesn't think there will be "significant regulatory barriers" to Tesla's Full Self-Driving software being approved for use more widely. The driver-assist software currently requires a licensed driver to monitor it.

Eventually, there will be 10 million Tesla robotaxis around the world, he says.

We're already onto questions

Individual investors will kick off things like usual, with the company taking questions from an online form where shareholders can upvote questions to the top of the queue.

CFO addresses layoffs

CFO Vaibhav Taneja says that the company's 10% reduction in overall headcount will save it "in excess of $1 billion on an annual run rate basis."

The earnings call kicks off

Musk, CFO Vaibhav Taneja, and Tesla's head of investor relations Martin Viecha are here to discuss the results.

Tesla takes a dig at hybrid cars

"Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs," the company says in its earnings release. "While positive for our regulatory credits business, we prefer the industry to continue pushing EV adoption, which is in-line with our mission."

Musk has dismissed the wildly popular, and often more affordable segment , in the past. In 2022, he called it a "phase," saying on X that it's "Time to move on from hybrid cars."

Read full story

Tesla says it’s moving up production plans for cheaper EVs

"We have updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025," Tesla's earning release says.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Tesla had canned plans for its $25,000 electric car. "Reuters is lying (again)," Musk wrote on X in response.

Tesla gives a preview of its ride-hailing service

The company is showing off the interface for an eventual ride-hailing service that would be accessible through the Tesla app. The interface shows that customers would be able to summon a car and control the temperature in the vehicle using the app, much like Uber.

Musk said earlier this month that Tesla plans to unveil its new robotaxi in August.

Tesla stock climbs 6% in volatile after-hours trading after company says it will accelerate the launch of 'more affordable' models

"We have updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025. These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms, and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up." — Tesla shareholder deck

Tesla misses 1st-quarter EPS and revenue estimates, beats on gross margin.

1st quarter

Gross margin: 17.4% vs. 19.3% y/y, estimate 16.5%

Adjusted EPS: $0.45 vs. $0.85 y/y, estimate $0.52

Revenue: $21.30 billion, -8.7% y/y, estimate $22.3 billion

Negative free cash flow: $2.53 billion vs. positive $441 million y/y, estimate positive $653.6 million

Capital expenditure $2.77 billion, +34% y/y, estimate $2.39 billion

Operating income $1.17 billion, -56% y/y, estimate $1.53 billion

Source: Bloomberg data

Barclays says Tesla is 'facing an investment thesis pivot.'

Barclays said in a note last week it expected Tesla's earnings call to be a negative catalyst for the stock as investors came to terms with the company's potential strategic redirection away from a low-cost Model 2.

"Facing an investment thesis pivot and a sea of uncertainty, this Tesla call is extra highly anticipated," a Barclays analyst, Dan Levy, said. "Expect negative catalyst."

Levy said he thought Tesla's closely watched first-quarter gross margins would be below consensus estimates on Wall Street.

Barclays rates Tesla at "neutral," with a $180 price target.

Bank of America says 'results matter, but growth factors may matter more.'

Bank of America said Tesla's headwinds are well known and are likely fully reflected in the stock price. That will make the company's commentary around the current state of EV demand and its future growth plans all the more important.

They think that could be setting up the stock for a positive reaction.

"Despite near term pressures, the unveiling of future growth drives has the potential to support the stock," Bank of America said. "Results matter, but growth factors may matter more."

While the bank doesn't expect Tesla to make any big product announcements during its earnings call, it could provide some hints on the highly anticipated Robotaxi event which is scheduled for August 8. Tesla could also reiterate its intention to launch a low-cost Model 2 in 2025 or 2026, which would likely be met with a positive price reaction in the stock.

Bank of America rates Tesla at "Neutral" with a $220 price target.

Wedbush says Tesla's upcoming earnings report is 'a moment of truth' for the company.

Analyst Dan Ives said the current environment for Tesla is reminiscent of the challenges and uncertainty the company faced in 2015, 2018, and 2020, but it could result in a loss of long-term shareholders.

"This time is clearly a bit different as for the first time many long time Tesla believers are giving up on the story and throwing in the white towel," Ives said.

Ives said it is crucial that Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms that a low-cost Model 2 is still on the company's product road map, and said that first-quarter results will likely take a backseat to any updates to the company's long-term vision.

Wedbush rates Tesla at "Outperform" with a $300 price target.

JPMorgan says Tesla's recent layoffs suggest the company's long-term growth prospects are dwindling.

Tesla's recent layoffs suggest the company's long-term growth prospects are dwindling, according to a recent note from JPMorgan .

">10% global layoff undermines hypergrowth narrative and should further dispel notion big 1Q delivery miss was somehow supply-driven," JPMorgan said.

Instead, Tesla's big first-quarter delivery miss was likely driven by a concerning decline in demand for electric vehicles, according to the note.

And the company's premium valuation is at substantial risk if growth is stuttering.

JPMorgan rates Tesla at "Underweight" with a $115 price target.

Tesla's consensus first-quarter adjusted EPS estimate is $0.52.

Adjusted EPS estimate: $0.52

EPS estimate: $0.41

Automotive gross margin estimate: 17.6%

Revenue estimate: $22.3 billion

Free cash flow estimate: $651.7 million

Gross margin estimate: 16.5%

Capital expenditure estimate: $2.4 billion

Cash and cash equivalents estimate: $23.24 billion

2nd quarter

Automotive gross margin estimate: 17.9%

Full-year 2024

Deliveries estimate: 1.94 million

Capital expenditure estimate: $9.91 billion

Main content

COMMENTS

What's a good thesis statement for "The Story of an Hour"?
A good thesis statement for this story might discuss the fact that the original title of the story was "The Dream of an Hour." A good paper could be written discussing all the various ways and ...
"The Story of an Hour" Summary & Analysis
After her initial sobs of grief subside, Louise escapes into her bedroom and locks the door. She refuses to let Josephine or Richards follow her. Alone, she falls into a chair placed before an open window. Absolutely drained by her own anguish and haunted by exhaustion, she rests in the chair and looks out the window.
What's a good thesis statement about identity for "The Story of an Hour
To write an essay over the theme of identity in "The Story of an Hour," it would be important to pay attention to the fact that the main character is called Mrs. Mallard until she retires to her ...
Analysis of Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour
Originally entitled "The Dream of an Hour" when it was first published in Vogue (December 1894), "The Story of an Hour" has since become one of Kate Chopin's most frequently anthologized stories. Among her shortest and most daring works, "Story" examines issues of feminism, namely, a woman's dissatisfaction in a conventional marriage and her desire…
The Story of an Hour Critical Analysis Essay
The Story of an Hour was written by Kate Chopin in 1984. It describes a woman, Mrs. Mallard, who lost her husband in an accident, but later the truth came out, and the husband was alive. This essay will discuss The Story of an Hour with emphasis on the plot and development of the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who goes through contrasting emotions ...
The Story of an Hour: Full Plot Analysis
Full Plot Analysis. As the brief nature of the story suggests, "The Story of an Hour" explores the sudden struggle that Louise Mallard faces as she reaches a major turning point in her life. The possibilities that exist in a world without her husband captivate her, but she also experiences guilt regarding the relief she feels after hearing ...
Analysis, Themes and Summary of "The Story of an Hour" by ...
This article includes a summary, as well as a look at themes, symbolism and irony. Summary of "The Story of an Hour". Mrs. Mallard, who has heart trouble, is gently given the news that her husband has been killed in a train accident. Her husband's friend Richards found out at the newspaper office, confirmed the name, and went to her sister ...
What is a good thesis statement for analyzing irony in "The Story of an
So, one thesis statement could mention the three types of irony and their connection to the narrative: In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," the interplay of situational, verbal, and dramatic irony determine the psychological condition of the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard, a condition that drives the narrative.
A Summary and Analysis of Kate Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour'
In some ways, 'The Story of an Hour' prefigures a later story like D. H. Lawrence's 'Odour of Chrysanthemums' (1911), which also features a female protagonist whose partner's death makes her reassess her life with him and to contemplate the complex responses his death has aroused in her. However, in Lawrence's story the husband really has died (in a mining accident), whereas in ...
The Story of an Hour: Summary and Analysis
Analyzing Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" takes time and careful thought despite the shortness of the story. The story is open to multiple interpretations and has a lot to reveal about women in the 1890s, and many of the story's themes, characters, and symbols critique women's marriage roles during the period.
The Story of an Hour: Study Guide
Overview. First published in 1894, "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin is a poignant and thought-provoking short story. Set in the late 19th century, the narrative follows Louise Mallard, a woman with a heart condition, who receives the news of her husband's death in a railroad accident. Initially overwhelmed by grief, Louise's ...
Analysis of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
Updated on May 24, 2019. "The Story of an Hour" by American author Kate Chopin is a mainstay of feminist literary study. Originally published in 1894, the story documents the complicated reaction of Louise Mallard upon learning of her husband's death. It is difficult to discuss "The Story of an Hour" without addressing the ironic ending.
The Story of an Hour Themes
Freedom and Independence. In "The Story of an Hour," freedom and independence—not love, not friends, not family, not honor or glory or anything else—are held up as what make a life worth living. Though Louise is at first genuinely upset by the news of Brently 's death—and though she makes it clear that she will greatly mourn the ...
PDF The Story of an Hour
Kate Chopin wrote "The Story of an Hour" on April 19, 1894. It was first published in Vogue (the same magazine that is sold today) on December 6, 1894, under the title "The Dream of an Hour." It was reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895. You can find extensive, accurate information about Kate Chopin's stories and novels as well as ...
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Plot Summary
The Story of an Hour Summary. Louise Mallard has a weak heart that puts her at risk if she becomes too animated. After hearing from Richards —a friend of the family—that Louise's husband Brently Mallard has died in a train accident, her sister Josephine takes great care to break the news to Louise in a gentle, measured way.
Freedom and Independence Theme in The Story of an Hour
In "The Story of an Hour," freedom and independence—not love, not friends, not family, not honor or glory or anything else—are held up as what make a life worth living. Though Louise is at first genuinely upset by the news of Brently 's death—and though she makes it clear that she will greatly mourn the loss of her husband—over ...
The Story of an Hour Full Text
The Story of an Hour. 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. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her.
Kate Chopin and "The Story of an Hour" Background
"The Story of an Hour" was published in 1894 and, along with "The Storm" (1898), is among Chopin's most famous stories. Although Chopin's female protagonists act in unconventional, even scandalous, ways, readers accepted this as simply part of the storytelling and didn't suspect Chopin of moralizing or trying to insert her ...
The Story of an Hour
Get an answer for 'What is a good thesis statement for analyzing irony in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin?' and find homework help for other The Story of an Hour questions at eNotes ...
Why is "The Story of an Hour" considered feminist literature
Kate Chopin 's "The Story of an Hour" is considered feminist literature since its narrative treats the central character, Louise Mallard, as a fully realized person with desires and deep feelings ...
The Story of an Hour
The story took place in the late nineteenth century. At that time, women were men's possession in marriage. They lived for their husband. In this story, Mr. Mallard was on the head of the list "killed" and Mrs. Mallard went away to her room after knowing her husband's death. She wept at first but then realized she was free for the rest ...
The Story of an Hour Critical Essays
Critical Overview. A popular writer during her lifetime, Chopin is best known today for her psychological novel The Awakening. Chopin's depiction of female self-assertion was regarded as immoral ...
The reality behind 'Civil War' and the possibility of a real ...
ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST: In the near future, the U.S. president has given himself a third term. He's disbanded the FBI. America has broken into various factions that are engaged in armed conflict. It ...
"The Story of an Hour" text
Kate Chopin wrote "The Story of an Hour" on April 19, 1894. It was first published in Vogue (the same magazine that is sold today) on December 6, 1894, under the title "The Dream of an Hour.". It was reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895, with two changes that are included in this version of the story.
The Story of an Hour: Full Plot Summary
Kate Chopin. Full Plot Summary. Louise Mallard has heart trouble, so she must be informed carefully about her husband's death. Her sister, Josephine, tells her the news. Louise's husband's friend, Richards, learned about a railroad disaster when he was in the newspaper office and saw Louise's husband, Brently, on the list of those ...
The Story of an Hour
I chose the thesis: "In 'The Story of an Hour,' Kate Chopin uses characterization to express a theme that circumstances can numb or deaden our true feelings."
'Downtown Owl': '80s period piece doesn't know what it wants to be
The story kicks off with Julia arriving in the cloistered town of Owl, North Dakota, in 1983, where she has taken a temporary teaching job while her husband finishes his graduate thesis.
Still House Plants: If I don ' t make it, I love u
The very title of the album is an emotional prism: If I don't make it, I love u could be what you'd say to a friend when you're not sure if you'll make their birthday party, or it could be ...
Tesla Earnings: Live Updates on Sales, Profit Results, Analyst Call
Read full story. Advertisement. 2024-04-23T20:45:02Z. An curved arrow pointing right. A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. ... "Facing an investment thesis pivot and a sea of uncertainty ...

Literary Theory and Criticism

Analysis of Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

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A Summary and Analysis of Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’

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“The Story of an Hour” Analysis

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Freedom and Repression

"The Story of an Hour" Characters

Louise Mallard

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“The Story of an Hour” Symbolism and Motifs

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Key Takeaways: Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour”

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Analysis of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

At the Beginning, News That Will Devastate Louise

A Growing Awareness of Freedom

Patches of Blue Sky Amid the Clouds

A Force Is Too Powerful to Oppose

Her Desire for Self-Determination

She Would Live for Herself

The Irony of Joy That Kills

The Story of an Hour

Freedom and Independence ThemeTracker

Freedom and Independence Quotes in The Story of an Hour

The Story of an Hour

The reality behind 'Civil War' and the possibility of a real second civil war

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The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin

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If I don’t make it, I love u