...Kate Chopin is one of the most famous writers in 19th century. Her short story “ The Story of An Hour” is one of the most outstanding works in her numerous novels. Although the length of this story is short, and it has less than two-thousands words, it wins the favor of many critics because its exquisite language, dramatic plot, changing creative skills, and deep themes. This story tells readers a one hour story in Mrs. Mallard’s life. Mrs. Mallard has heart disease, so her sister and her husband’s friend tell the news of Mr. Mallard’s death very carefully. They both think when Louise hears the news, she will get sick. However, Mrs. Mallard feels very excited, even looks like a goddess of Victory. Though the news makes her sad, she finally...
Words: 1088 - Pages: 5
...1 English 102-105 11 April 2014 A Journey of Self and Sexual Desire The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel about a woman who leads the typical life of a nineteenth century woman. During this era, a woman's role is to be a wife and mother. The main character, Edna Pontellier, begins to struggle with this obligatory role in society. Even though she is an upper woman in society, she has feelings of suffocation and frustration. She begins to neglect her duties such as caring for her children, housekeeping, and social visitations. She is also starting to have feelings for men other than her husband. Through Edna's Creole friends, she learns a great deal about freedom of expression. As a result, Edna Pontellier goes on a journey of self discovery and sexual desires through a series of life awakenings. In Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier and her family are vacationing at Grand Isle in southern Louisiana. While there, Edna becomes close to a gentlemen by the name of Robert Lebrun. Robert each summer at Grand Isle had constituted himself the devoted attendant of some fair damsel (Chopin 13). Throughout the summer, Edna spends time with Creole women who liberate her to seek independence from social norms. Their freedom of expression was at first incomprehensible to her (Chopin 12). Edna's character goes on a journey of self discovery and experiences a series of awakenings that lead...
Words: 1675 - Pages: 7
...Unsuccessful Marriages Ultimately Leading to Death in Kate Chopin’s Stories In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening and her short story Desiree’s Baby, they are both led by female characters in the nineteenth century. In both works, it creates an interesting setting considering the fact of societal roles and the way women were treated in this time period. Although in different locations, both women: Edna from The Awakening and Desiree from Desiree’s Baby can relate their struggles in their marriage. In both novels, it is evident to the audience that both couples lack a strong connection and at least one partner has a detachment from the other. In The Awakening and in Desiree’s Baby, Edna and Desiree’s relationship with their husbands negatively...
Words: 1204 - Pages: 5
...of an Hour” is a short story, written by Kate Chopin, which conveys the heavy use of irony and symbolism to express the feelings of the main character, Louise Mallard, as she deals with the sudden loss of her husband. Published in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” portrays a young woman who has learned of the death of her husband and is then overcome with a series of different emotions as the story progresses (Chopin). Evident in the story, the symbols portray a wide array of meaning as it describes the feeling of freedom that overcomes Louise as she begins to realize that the death of her husband is more of a blessing than a tragedy. Furthermore, the feelings that Louise begins to feel after she has come to her realization are apparent through the...
Words: 1194 - Pages: 5
...Kate Chopin, born on February 8, 1850 was a novelist and short stories author in the later years of her life. She grew up in the mid 1800's, which was during the time of the Civil War. Kate Chopin was not your ordinary, obedient woman in the time of her existence. Women were taught to be submissive and quiet while Kate was taught by her widowed role models to be independent and outspoken. One of Kate's most famous works was "The Story of an Hour" which is centered on a woman named Louise Mallard who is diagnosed with heart disease. Her husband died in a railroad accident and her sister Josephine informs her as delicately as possible because of her condition. At first, Louise Mallard is heartbroken and mourns her husband's death, then as she looks ahead to what her future holds, she realizes that she is...
Words: 751 - Pages: 4
...In the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the author uses Irony to showcase a freedom that was almost at the tips of the main character Mrs. Mallard’s fingertips, yet the short-lived glimpses of independence diminish within a short period of time. We understand that the pleasures she is feeling after she hears that her husband is dead is quite opposite to what most women would feel in this day in age. A perfect example of how the author etched in some irony into the story. However, this scene in the helps us understand just how oppressed women were in this era. A woman's status was determined by her husband, his success ultimately became her success. Any dream that girls had were ultimately squashed by her husbands career and...
Words: 264 - Pages: 2
...the literary elements helps you to focus more on developing it meaning. Research states that the theme is a broad idea, message, or moral of a story. It even goes to say that it is the central message of a literary work. But mainly to me whenever I want to identify the theme in a story I think of it as the main idea, or ask myself what the author is saying in the story. As I read the text the author “explain”? the theme as been define as “A story that representation the idea behind the story” (Clugston, R. W. 2010). As you continue to read the information that the author provides you with you learn that the theme also goes beyond the plot, by telling you what the story is about (Clugston, R. W. 2010). Truly, I think when the author Kate Chopin wrote this story, “The Story of An Hour” she was thinking about a friend, a love one,...
Words: 886 - Pages: 4
...The Awakening by Kate Chopin depicts the “mother woman” archetype juxtaposing Edna Pontellier’s desire to become independent and free of the limits of women in society in the 1900s. This juxtaposition of conformity and independence causes tension and drives the main conflict of the novel. Edna vacillates between consenting to the ideals of society and struggling to become independent and freethinking. Edna’s wavering perception of womanhood affects her relationships with other characters, who act as catalysts for Edna’s growth as a woman. She fosters friendships with Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, whose stark differences in personality and lifestyles cause a crisis of confidence for Edna, as she cannot truly escape from the confines of being a woman in an...
Words: 1436 - Pages: 6
...Can a person die of happiness? That’s what seems to happen in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”. Mrs. Mallard received the horrible news of her husband’s passing due to a train accident. However, as we read further into the story we realized that Mrs. Mallard is not that upset with her newfound freedom. But the narrative comes to a climax when Mrs. Mallard dies upon discovering that her husband is actually alive. Doctors pronounce the cause of death - “joy that kills”. It is debatable if someone could die from hearing good news. Mrs. Mallard believed that her husband died and she finally could be free to live her life, but was rudely awakened by seeing him alive. Her imaginative freedom was taken away from her and that’s what her heart couldn’t take. It was not the joy that killed Mrs. Mallard but rather discovering that her husband is alive and her freedom would be lost again, thus causing her death. The story takes place at a time when women were exploited, considered inferior to men. Women belonged at home, as an aide to her husband. Divorces were unheard of and flown upon. The opposite of society norm, Mrs. Mallard no longer wants to be tied down to her husband and marriage and we see it directly from the context of the story. Mrs. Mallard knows her place in society and would she suppose to do. Hearing the news at first, “she wept at once,” which is what we would expect a widow to do. But in her room, “there was something coming to her,” she whispers “"Free, free, free!" Louise...
Words: 930 - Pages: 4
...FREEDOM OF A WOMAN Susana Saldana Eng 125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Lora Carmichael 04/15/2013 In the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin (1984) Kate describes Mrs. Millard as being afflicted by heart problems. She is young and has “a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression.” It seems as Mrs. Millard is not happily married to Brently Millard. When she hears the news of his accidental death she has mixed feelings. At first she wept from the awful news her sister Josephine purveyed upon her but then stops and only sobs. She seems to have joyous moments after the death of her husband because of the freedom she will unveil. She will no longer be to the beck and call of her husband as it seems she is. Mrs. Millard feels she will now be free, free, free. Mrs. Millard realized she will now only rely on herself and not anyone else; she could finally do as she pleases. After Mrs. Millard realized this she begins to see her possibly new reality. “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.” Implying that she is now to undergo a new beginning. She seems happy and relieved she could start alone. Chopin’s theme for this story was Freedom of a woman from a marriage. This...
Words: 619 - Pages: 3
...Introduction: The Story of an hour is a short story written by Kate Chopin whose feminist ideas rocked the world in the early in the mid 1800’s where women’s lib movements were in their infancy. The lack of control over their lives make female emancipation a distant dream and it was due to the death of a loved one that much cherished independence of self could be attained. Kate Chopin lived life on her own terms and in her works allowed her support of women’s independence and sexual freedom to shine through which was shocking to the society still warped in long skirts and layers of petticoats. She focused her attention on love, sex, marriage, women, and independence and raged against the unjust world which viewed women as a lawful property. Her assertion that self matters above all love comes through brilliantly and the protagonists cry for freedom triumphs over her love for her husband.(Chopin) Plot overview: The story describes the one hour in the protagonists life where in she experiences heart wrenching grief, ecstasy of freedom and death. Louise Mallard is a typical housewife who is beset with the familiar problems awaiting the arrival of her husband. Her sister, Josephine at the beginning of the story breaks the story of her husband’s fatal accident gently and Louise cries in her arms with wild abandonment. The reader is introduced to the mysterious heart trouble which Mrs Mallard suffers from and this ailment keeps its date with Mallard’s destiny till the very end. After...
Words: 603 - Pages: 3
...gives Alcée and Calixta shelter during that storm and allows them to be together. The storm almost seems to have more of a presence than the house. One thing that stands out here, of course, is the fact that the storm is taking place during the important sexualized scene, keeping Alcée and Calixta within the house, and Bobinôt and Bibi outside of it. When the storm dissipates, Alcée and Calixta must go their separate ways, seemingly much richer for their encounter. When Bobinôt reenters his own home, he has no idea of the torrid encounter that just happened there. Clarisse, too, is removed from the main area of action – she's in another state. On a larger scale, the setting reminds us of the characters' places in the world. As the Kate Chopin International Society's site points out, there are some subtle class differences between the four main characters represented in "The Storm": Alcée and his wife Clarisse are Creoles, descendants of French settlers in Louisiana. Calixta and her husband Bobinôt are...
Words: 566 - Pages: 3
...about her husband death involving a train accident. Richards, a close friend of Mr. Mallard, knows that Louise does have heart trouble. So when relaying the information, they “ break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death (Kate Chopin IP1).” Going to her room, Louise locks herself in. Now standing there she’s finds a “roomy armchair” facing an open window. The sadness she’s feeling is gradually turning into joy. Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour” Louise Mallard experiences rare emotions when grieving, which leads to her ironical death. To begin Mrs. Louise Mallard suffers from a heart condition and when asked to believe the story of her husband’s departure, “she did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept significants (Kate Chopin IP3)." Her response was one-off; Mrs. Mallard sobs once and then locking herself in her room. Once sitting in her room she lets her mind run crazy, thinking of what she will do without Mr. Mallard? Could she ever do anything without him? However "There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it fearfully..creeping out of the sky, reaching Puhlmann 2 towards her through sounds, scents, and colors that filled the air(Kate Chopin IP9)." Louise originally shattered, but thinking she begins to like what her future might be like without Mr. Mallard. In this time period society thinks that women cannot do as much as men. At this time her mind is running a hundred miles an...
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...Corey Campbell June 29, 2009 English 098 Kate Chopin Essay Catherine O’ Flaherty was born February 8, 1851 (tombstone date). She would later marry Oscar Chopin and become Kate Chopin, critically acclaimed and condemned author of two novels (At Fault and The Awakening) and many short stories. She was a beautiful, intelligent woman who was able to tell powerful stories about the lives of people in the nineteenth century. Chopin’s insight writing revealed the hidden emotions, trials, and tribulations of the nineteenth century women. In the story of an hour, Chopin tells the story of Mrs. Mallard and the extraordinary changes including shock, acceptance and joy she endures during this hour in her home. Mrs. Mallard’s feelings are changed by the news of her husband’s death, the reality of living her life alone and the revelation that her husband was still alive. The glimpse into Mrs. Mallards private thoughts revealed a women momentarily saddened by the loss of her husband. “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 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”. Chopin reveals with these words that this woman is actually relived to be a widow and excited about experiencing life without the stress and...
Words: 519 - Pages: 3
...Kate Chopin In the late 1800’s marriage was known to be a male-dominated union. Women submitted to their men in all aspects of life, never speaking of the unhappiness that soon followed their marriages. Today society rarely speaks of discontent in the household, so writers express silent feelings through stories. Authors incorporate personal factuality or experience into the literary piece. In “The Storm”, author Kate Chopin, through character Calixta, relates marital problems, unsettled desires, companion necessities, and destiny to subdue persistent memories. Most evidently, Kate Chopin uses marital distress between Calixta and Bibinot to reflect on discreet complications throughout her own marriage. Critical author, Emily Toth states “Evidently no one described any marital discord in the Chopin household, but, then, Southerners rarely reveal secrets of the human heart to outsiders”(163). Like Calixta, obstacles were never noticeable, instead, shielded by temporary bliss. After Alcee offered Calixta a “sensual gift,” Bobinot offers her an equal gift but on that represents his different personality, “I brought you some shrimps, Calixta…Shrimps! Oh, Bobinot! You too good fo’ anything!...we’ll have feas’ to night!”(99). Here the audience understands voluntary submission. Though Bobinot “treated” her to intimate gifts rather than sexually stimulating ones, Calixta was perfectly content with Bobinots loving and devoted meaner. One apparent connection between Chopin and...
Words: 971 - Pages: 4
