About the author
Kate Chopin was born in 1851 in Saint Louis. The daughter of a businessman and a Frenchwoman from an aristocratic family, she was educated in private and exclusive schools. She contributed to many fashion magazines of the time and in 1890 published her first novel, At Fault. Her literary career was cut short by the publication of her novel The Awakening in 1899. It was severely condemned for its open treatment of adultery and marriages between members of different races. Chopin spent her last years in literary silence and deep despondency. History of an hour was first published in Vogue, in 1894.
About the story
Kate Chopin's "The
Story of an Hour" features the brief emotional journey of Louise
Mallard in the wake of being told that her husband has died.
After learning of her husband’s sudden death, Louise Mallard
locks herself in her room, where her sadness slowly begins to give way to a new
feeling of freedom and energy.
Just as Louise descends the stairs, filled with hope, her
husband walks in the door, unharmed and unaware of the accident. Upon seeing her
husband alive, Louise dies of a heart attack.
The Story of an Hour, a short story written by Kate Chopin, is truly a reflection of
the writer's life experiences and attitudes about women and independence.
Kate Chopin, a regionalist writer who focused much of her work
in Louisiana, was raised by strong women who taught her about self-reliance and
perseverance.
When her own husband died young, leaving her with six children
of her own to support, she turned to what she knew would be a therapeutic
activity - writing.
Successful and controversial, her stories reflect an honest
challenge of traditional gender roles and a questioning of social conventions.
Why must a woman's existence depend upon her relationship with
the men around her? Such questions were often the driving force behind many of
her Works.
It was not intended that The Story of an Hour become such a
well-known example of early feminist literature in the U.S.
Rather, Chopin meant to reflect in her writing her own struggles
with identity and thoughts about marriage, family, love and sexuality.
What she explores in The Story of an Hour is one woman's process
of dealing with death, specifically, the death of her husband.
What is surprising (and probably quite shocking to her early
readers) is the character's realization of what his death means to her.
Devastating news
At the beginning of the story, Richards and Josephine feel they must break the news of Brently Mallard's death to Louise Mallard as gently as possible. Josephine informs her "in halting sentences; veiled hints that reveal themselves half-disguised." Her assumption, not unreasonable, is that this unthinkable news will be devastating to Louise and threaten her weak heart.
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