DAVAO ORIENTAL STATE UNIVERSITY

THE STORY
OF
AN HOUR
By: Kate Chopin

Prepared by: GLADYS A. MESIONA

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

DISCUSSION OUTLINE

ABOUT THE PERIOD PLOT

AUTHOR WRITTEN SUMMARY

ANALYSIS
*About the Title
*Literary Devices
CHARACTERS
*Structure & Style
*Theme
*Setting
*Lesson
*Points found wanting
 H O I S
W

KATE CHOPIN
GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR THE STORY OF AN HOUR

American novelist and short-story writer known as an

interpreter of New Orleans culture. She helped introduce
feminist literature to the world during the twentieth
century through magazine publications, short stories, and
most notably, her novel The Awakening.

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 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
GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR
THE STORY OF AN HOUR

Chopin began writing fiction in 1889. She wrote about life

and people in Louisiana and focused her attention on love,
sex, marriage, women, and independence. She published her
first novel, At Fault, in 1890, when she was forty.

The novel was well received, and she went on to publish

short stories and essays addressing similar topics. She
published two collections of short stories, Bayou Folk (1894)
and A Night in Arcadie (1897), and became known as a writer
with a keen eye for local culture. “The Story of an Hour” was
published in 1894 and, along with “The Storm” (1898), is
among Chopin’s most famous stories.
GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR
THE STORY OF AN HOUR

Today, Chopin is known for addressing feminist issues many

years before the feminist movement became a major social
and political force in America. When Chopin was writing, the
feminist movement had barely begun, and in Louisiana,
women were still considered to be their husbands’ lawful
property. As a result, Chopin’s brazen, sensual, independent
protagonists were years ahead of their time.

“The Story of an Hour” reflects Chopin’s view of the

repressive role that marriage played in women’s lives as the
protagonist, Louise Mallard, feels immense freedom only
when her husband has died. While he is alive, she must live
for him, and only when he dies does her life once again
become her own.

Chopin died of a brain hemorrhage in 1904. She was fifty-

two.
 PERIOD IT WAS
WRITTEN
“The Story of an Hour” was written and published on April 19,
1894, right as the 1800s were coming to a close. As the world
moved into the new century, American life was also changing
rapidly.

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.”

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHAT ARE REALISM AND
NATURALISM
PERIOD?
The human cost of the Civil War in the United States was
immense: more than 2.3 million soldiers fought in the war,
and perhaps as many as 851,000 people died in 1861–65.
Walt Whitman claimed that “a great literature will arise out
of the era of those four years,” and what emerged in the
following decades was a literature that presented a detailed
and unembellished vision of the world as it truly was. This
was the essence of realism. Naturalism was an intensified
form of realism. After the grim realities of a devastating war,
they became writers’ primary mode of expression.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 PERIOD IT WAS
WRITTEN
In naturalism, if a writer wishes to depict life as it really is, he or
she must be rigorously deterministic in the representation of the
character's thoughts and actions in order to show forth the causal
factors that have made the characters inevitably what they are.

Unlike realism, which also seeks to represent human life as it is

actually lived, naturalism specifically connects itself to the
philosophical doctrine of biological and social determinism,
according to which human beings are devoid of free will”

(Greig E. Henderson and Christopher Brown, Glossary of Literary

Theory).

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 Summary
of the

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

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WHO ARE THE 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
Josephine
Richards
Brently Mallard
The doctor(s)
By exploring the details of each character,
we can better understand their
motivations, societal role, and purpose in
the story.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS

described as “young,” “fair, calm face,” with lines

of “strength.”
Louise’s personality is described as different
from other women
The protagonist of the story, introduced as being
“afflicted with a heart trouble”, which is who
great care is taken in telling her of her husband’s
death. She mourn her husband, but then begins to
feel relieved and liberated.

LOUISE MALLARD THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS
a caring sister of Louise
a friend of Brently’s
she’s only able to tell Louise of Brently’s death in
“veiled hints,” rather than telling her outright
she embodies the feminine ideals of the time,
acting as the picture-perfect wife figure.
She is overly concerned about her sister because
according to the standards of the time, she feels
this should ruin her world. Through her, we see
the norms of the time period contrasted to the
rebellious reaction of Louise.

JOSEPHINE THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS
he demonstrates a high level of friendship,
consideration, and care for Louise.
Richards is Mr. Mallard’s friend and is the first
person to hear of Brently’s death, coming over to
inform Louise safely.
He represents the standard image and
expectations of the man during the time period
responsible for protecting women. However, he
fails which could have been a bit controversial
for the time period.

RICHARDS THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS

the husband of the main character, Louise

He is assumed dead until the end of the story
when it is revealed that the news of his death
was a mistake. While we do not really meet him
or learn much about him, it is assumed he is the
typical husband of the time period.
He is out working and travelling, with his wife
home caring for his home.

BRENTLY MALLARD THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS

THE
the one swho said that Louise
DOCTOR (s) died because of heart disease

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

WHAT'S UP WITH THE
TITLE?
The title of a story serves as an important link to the plot. In
this case, the title “The Story of an Hour” aptly suits the main
plot of the short story. The introspection towards life and
independence takes place in one hour, at the end of which
Louise meets her sudden death.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 Foreshadowing
LITERARY Metaphor

DEVICES Imagery
Personification
Simile
THE STORY OF AN HOUR
 Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted
FORESHADOWING with a heart trouble, great care was taken to
break to her as gently as possible the news
of her husband’s death.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,
in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had
METAPHOR spent itself she went away to her room alone. She
would have no one follow her.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 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.
IMAGERY 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.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 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
PERSONIFICATION felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her
through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled
the air.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

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

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 The story is short, made up of a series of short
paragraphs, many of which consist of just two or three

STRUCTURE AND sentences. Likewise, the story covers only one hour in
Louise Mallard’s life—from the moment she learns of
STYLE her husband’s death to the moment he unexpectedly
returns alive. The short, dense structure mirrors the
intense hour Louise spends contemplating her new
independence.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 THEMES

Chopin’s story is short, it discusses the thematic ideas of

Freedom Repression
Marriage

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

 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
Freedom 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.

Simply put, repression happens when a person’s

thoughts, feelings, or desires are being
subdued. Repression can happen internally and
Repression externally. 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.

Mallard’s marriage shows a reality of 1890s

life that was familiar to many people. Marriage
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.
 THE SETTING

The Story of an Hour has been strongly linked with the ideals
of the women’s liberation movement of the 1960’s when
feminists took a stand to fight to give women more freedom in
America. The reason “The Story of an Hour” was an important
piece of literary work at this time was because of its radical
story. This idea is one of the key values of The Story of an
Hour” was an important work to show a woman’s break from
the norm of society.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

LESSON of the STORY

"the truth shall set you free"

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

POINTS FOUND WANTING

More details about their married life

More description about Mr. Mallard's character
About the heart condition of Mrs. Mallard
Thank
You!