Analysis of "Story of an Hour"
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Analysis of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
Melissa Hillard
Eng 125
Instructor Terri Hennessy
February 9, 2012
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story, written in 1894, about a woman who is told that her husband has died in an accident, and the emotional journey she takes as a result upon hearing the news. The purpose of this essay is to analyze what about this story catches the reader’s attention, and then to analyze this story using one analytical approach found in the text book, and finally to evaluate and analyze the meaning of this select piece of work using the analytical approach found in the text book.
Kate Chopin catches the reader’s attention with the title of this story. “The Story of an Hour” lets the reader know that the story is about events that happen within the span of one hour and leads to believe that lives will be forever changed because of these events. In the first two lines, “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.” the reader develops an idea of what the story will tell.
Louise is the main character in the story, and as such, she represents the oppression that women of this time felt in marriage. A way of making this evident is the way that the wife in the story is only referred to as Mrs. Mallard, indicating that she is just an extension of her husband, until she is relieved of her husband, then she is referred to as Louise, a person with her own identity. Kate Chopin shows that there was affection in the marriage by describing Louise thinking of her husband as, “never looked at her save with love”.
Louise is not portrayed as a cold hearted wife; instead she is imagined to be a good wife. Upon hearing of her husband’s death, “She wept at once with sudden, and wild, abandonment in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away to her room alone.” It is...
Melissa Hillard
Eng 125
Instructor Terri Hennessy
February 9, 2012
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story, written in 1894, about a woman who is told that her husband has died in an accident, and the emotional journey she takes as a result upon hearing the news. The purpose of this essay is to analyze what about this story catches the reader’s attention, and then to analyze this story using one analytical approach found in the text book, and finally to evaluate and analyze the meaning of this select piece of work using the analytical approach found in the text book.
Kate Chopin catches the reader’s attention with the title of this story. “The Story of an Hour” lets the reader know that the story is about events that happen within the span of one hour and leads to believe that lives will be forever changed because of these events. In the first two lines, “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.” the reader develops an idea of what the story will tell.
Louise is the main character in the story, and as such, she represents the oppression that women of this time felt in marriage. A way of making this evident is the way that the wife in the story is only referred to as Mrs. Mallard, indicating that she is just an extension of her husband, until she is relieved of her husband, then she is referred to as Louise, a person with her own identity. Kate Chopin shows that there was affection in the marriage by describing Louise thinking of her husband as, “never looked at her save with love”.
Louise is not portrayed as a cold hearted wife; instead she is imagined to be a good wife. Upon hearing of her husband’s death, “She wept at once with sudden, and wild, abandonment in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away to her room alone.” It is...