Kate Chopin's 'The Story Of An Hour'

Words: 1532
Pages: 7
Open Document
The title of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tips off the reader that much will happen in the following hour. A title, in my mind, is the way the author would sum up the literature in just a few words if they had to. As a result, the title of a story can reveal more about how the author views the story that they are telling. The title “The Story of an Hour” informs the reader both of the format: story, and duration: an hour. This title creates a sense of mystery and intrigue that persists throughout the poem; what surprises does the story contain, what could possibly happen in just an hour? It also makes you think about your own experiences, and how, when dealing with something difficult, an hour can go from passing in the blink of an …show more content…
“A Rose for Emily” takes place in a town of Faulkner’s own creation, Mississippi County, Yoknapatawpha in the 1860s to 1930s. He actually used this town that he conceived as the setting in much of his work. The locale and time period of the story are significant to “A Rose for Emily” because this was around the time that slavery was abolished and Mississippi was in the South, where they had a hard time accepting their new way of life. The division between old ways and new ones in the South contributed greatly to the storyline and created a judgmental, high-tension atmosphere. For example, Emily was born before slavery was abolished, so she grew up during this period of adjustment. As a result, decades later, she was then alienated from the rest of the community, treated like a pariah, and not even required to pay taxes or adhere to any other societal responsibilities. Paradoxically, despite growing up during a time when Southerners tried to cling desperately to their beliefs, Emily is far less conservative than those in her community; she was engaged to a gay man, which at the time was about equivalent with being engaged to a black man. She also kept a former slave as a servant, which could either be viewed as stuck in the time of slavery, or as feeling less disgust towards people of other skin colors. The time and place that the story …show more content…
The wallpaper begins as something that the narrator simply finds unpleasant and perplexingly amorphous, stating it is “one of those sprawling, flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin ” and the color is “repellent, almost revolting” (Gilman 573). This reflects how she feels about the role that society has given to her. As the story progresses, she discovers “Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.” (Gilman 577) As a result of her illness, she begins to believe that the women in the paper are ghosts who are always “stooping down and creeping about” (Gilman 577). This is how the narrator feels herself, trapped and lost, being torn down by the oppressive domestic role of the woman from which she feels there is no escape. By the end of the story, the narrator has resolved to tear the wallpaper off the walls, freeing the woman trapped inside. She now realizes that the woman trapped inside the wallpaper was herself, and she “got out at last” “in spite of [John] and Jane” and “pulled off most of the paper, so [they] can’t put [her] back” (Gilman 584). Despite her husband’s
Show More

Related Documents: Kate Chopin's 'The Story Of An Hour'

Kate Chopin's 'Story Of An Hour'

The theme of “Story of an Hour” is based off her emotions such as the clouds and the blue sky. In the Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard was a married lady that suffered from heart trouble and found out the bad news of her husband’s death. She expressed her emotions from the bad news in by her surroundings in which takes part in creating the theme. In the text it states she sat in a chair by a window and she just stared out into the sky as if the clouds were the negative thoughts/events and the blue…

Words 552 - Pages 3

Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The story, “The Story of An Hour,” written by Kate Chopin. The protagonist, Louise is described with emotions after hearing the death of her husband, Brently, she locks herself in her room to mourn the loss, but unexpectedly begins to feel happiness. Louise’s relationship with her husband is so oppressive, that his sudden death was thought to be a reasonable means of escape. The authour uses various approaches, such as symbolism, and irony. Imagery gave the reader a sense of Louise’s escape from…

Words 555 - Pages 3

Women In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

give to them at the time. This can be seen clearly in two different stories that were written in the 19th century; "The Story of an Hour" written by Kate Chopin a prominent female writer of that time, and "The Necklace" written by Guy…

Words 1618 - Pages 7

Symbolism In Kate Chopin's 'Story Of An Hour'

Rufino English 102 25 May 2016 Death’s Symbolism as Joy “The Story of an Hour” revolves, mostly, around Mrs. Mallard, who is used to develop many themes throughout the story. The story is mostly comprised of the themes of freedom and death. Other themes evidently seen are time, confinement, marriage and emotional regression. Normally, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, and guilt amongst other feelings. However, “Story of an Hour” proves that death can not only bring sorrow and grief, but can…

Words 1165 - Pages 5

Free Will In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

superiority gave women no voice, no control and most importantly, a lack of free will. In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, the main character Mrs. Mallard has supposedly lost her husband in a horrible accident and ends up becoming happy for her potential freedom. This gets quashed when it turns out her husband was not involved in the fatal accident. In Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the main character is forced into bedrest and lacks any kind of free…

Words 381 - Pages 2

The Symbolism In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

in the right hands, can leave the audience with a better and more meaningful understanding of the themes behind a text as well as help to reveal a deeper characterization of the characters in a text. This can be seen in Kate Chopin’s aptly named short story, “The story of an hour”. In it, Chopin uses an overarching symbol of an open window to symbolize freedom as well as new opportunity while simultaneously using said symbol to expose the main character, Louise, and her deep desire for freedom and…

Words 976 - Pages 4

Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The Story of an Hour The story entitled “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin is talking about why a woman’s existence depends upon her relationship with the men around her. It is specifically about one woman’s process of dealing with death of her husband. Louise had a heart problem when the news comes to her that her husband was killed in a train accident. Three emotional states, and consequently life changing events affecting the woman are described in that story. In the first, the writer…

Words 517 - Pages 3

Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The Story of an Hour, is the story that I most enjoyed and is the most memorable. Evern though The Story of an Hour is a short story it goes into great depth of issues that women faced in the 18th annd 19th centruy, even a great bit of issues going on in cu.rrent time I like this story for several reasons. First I like the theme of “The Story of an Hour”. Oppressiveness of women in marrige, the story centers around the diffrent emotions Mrs. Mallard feels with recieveing the news of her husbands…

Words 315 - Pages 2

Irony In Kate Chopin's Story Of An Hour

In “Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin uses irony to demonstrate the people need freedom to survive. When Mrs. Mallard's husband died, she sat down looking through a window, to admire the beautiful atmosphere: “She could see in the open square before the house the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with new spring life”(Chopin 1). The beautiful weather represents how free and happy Mrs. Mallard felt but, this is ironic because her husband had just passed, therefore she should feel more sad and gloomy…

Words 176 - Pages 1

Oppression In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The Story of an Hour: Oppression In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin portrays Mrs. Mallard as a victim of oppression. Oppression is the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally and physically. During the time of the 18th century women did not have rights. Women had to live only for their husband. They were seen as a social status for the men. Throughout the story Mrs. Mallard shows different signs of oppression like words or actions. The first thing Mrs. Mallard does when she is…

Words 507 - Pages 3