Hour
Kate Chopin
Story of an Hour - Facts
Written on 19, Apr,1894, published the same year by Vogue magazine on Dec, 6, 1894 under name “ THE DREAM OF AN HOUR”. It was reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895.
The story of an hour in the life of Mrs.
Louise Mallard
Deals with the issues of female selfdiscovery and identity
"The Story of an Hour" is a short story centering on a young married woman of the late nineteenth century as she reacts to a report that her husband has died in a train accident.
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The action takes place in a single hour at the home of
Louise Mallard in the last decade of the nineteenth
Century.
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Mrs. Louise Mallard: Young, attractive woman who mourns the reported death of her husband but exults in the freedom she will enjoy in the years to come.
Brently Mallard: Mrs. Mallard's husband.
Josephine: Mrs. Mallard's sister.
Richards: Friend of Brently Mallard.
Doctors: Physicians who arrive too late to save
Mrs. Mallard.
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1. FREEDOM
2.IDENTITY AND SELFHOOD
3.ROLE OF WOMEN IN
MARRIAGE
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At first, freedom : like a terrible thing to
Mrs. Mallard-who's restricted in lots of ways: +through her marriage,
+by her bad heart
+inside her home
She has considered freedom as an upperclass, married lady. She can tell freedom's coming for her, and she dreads it.
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Once it arrives, though, it fills her with an overpowering joy.
Yet, she experiences this mental and emotional freedom while being confined to a room. As soon as she leaves that room, the freedom she'd only just barely begun to understand is taken away from her.
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After a moment of grief, Mrs. Mallard feels free for the first time once she realizes her husband has died.
She mutters over and over to herself
"free, free, free!" and hugs herself with excitement. Looking out her window she imagines how her life will be now as she now will have the opportunity to live solely for herself and not for someone else.
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This moment of self enlightenment is shortlife.
The importance of this self-revelation is revealed when the story ends and she realizes that it was a mistake and her husband is actually alive.
When he comes through the front door she can’t face the fact and she collapses.
She does not feel that she can live without the freedom that she had just imagined for herself. THE STORY OF AN HOUR
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THEME:
Role of Women in Marriage
-Chopin broaches a subject that was not very popular in her time—the right of the husband to dominate the wife in a marriage. - In the story Louise Mallard is elated that she would no longer have to bend to the will of her husband.
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Symbol
Heart
Trouble
The open window 9/21/2013
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Facts :
Louise
has the heart trouble,
It seems to make the announcement of Brently’s death so threatening,
A person with weak heart,
She would not deal well with such news. THE STORY OF AN HOUR
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After :
Louise on her new independence, her heart races, pumping blood thru her veins. THE STORY OF AN HOUR
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After :
Louise
on her new independence, her heart races, pumping blood through her veins
At the end of the story :
She died, the diagnosis of “ heart trouble” It seems appropriate because the shock of seeing Brently was surely enough to kill her.
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Doctor’s conclusion: She had died of overwhelming joy- IRONIC- because it had been the loss of joy that had actually killed her. In deed, Louise seems to have died of a broken heart, caused by the sudden loss of her much loved independence.
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Represents
the freedom and opportunities that await her after her husband has died.
From the window, Louise :
Sees blue sky, fluffy clouds, treetops,
Hears people and birds singing,
Smells a coming rainstorm,
Ponders the sky,
Feels the first hints of elation.
She experiences thru her senses which suggest joy and spring-new life.
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She feels that the Open Window:
Provides her with life itself,
Provides a clear, bright view into the distance & her own bright future, which is now unobstructed by the demands of another person.
Turns from the window and the view, she quickly loses her freedom.
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1. What is Mrs. Mallard's response to her husband's death in "The Story of an Hour"?
A Joy
B Annoyance
C Sadness
D Anger
2. What occurs at the end of "The Story of an
Hour"?
A Mr. Mallard returns home.
B Josephine reveals that she lied.
C Louise Mallard revels in her room.
D Louise Mallard falls down the stairs.
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3. In "The Story of an Hour," which word does Louise repeat
to herself in her room?
A Free
B Why
C Life
D Death
4. What does NOT characterize Mrs. Mallard's face in "The
Story of an Hour"?
A Strength
B Calmness
C Repression
D Depression
5. In what season does "The Story of an Hour" occur?
A Summer
B Spring
C Winter
D Autumn
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