The Story of an Hour

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The Story of an Hour

'The Story of an Hour' is one of Kate Chopin's most famous short stories. There is a great deal of marital instability in the story by Chopin because most of her well-known stories and novels deal with a woman who wishes for freedom or a marriage that is out of balance. In 'The Story of an Hour,' Chopin deals with an ironical twist; it is that the wife in the story, Louise Mallard, does not realize she is displeased with her marriage until she is told that her husband has been killed in a train accident. For an hour, Louise believes her husband's death and sets about planning her future in her mind; when she discovers the rumor of his death is not true, she dies of a heart problem at the end. The common argument in the story is that whether Louise dies of happiness or sadness about her husband's news. There are many ironies, echoes and foreshadowing occur throughout the story such as weeping, celebrating and dying. The theme appears one way, but in actuality, it means another way. Kate Chopin uses Louise Mallard to reflect events and feelings in her own personal life in 'The Story of an Hour.'

An online informative article 'Kate Chopin: The Woman' gives detail that Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis on February 8, 1850. Her father, Thomas O'Flaherty, who was very successful in many business ventures, got killed in a work-related accident when Kate was only five years old. Her mother, Katherine O'Flaherty never remarried after her husband's death. Her grandmother and great-grandmother had also been a widow at very young age and never remarried. Her father left behind a family of four generations of women all living in the same house ('Kate'). The article goes on to mention that when Kate wa...

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Chopin, Kate. ?The Story of an Hour.? Current Issues and Enduring Question: A Guide to

Critical Thinking and Argument with Readings. Boston: Bedford, 2002. 444-45.

?Kate Chopin: The Woman.? Angelfire. 13 Nov. 2003

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Ker, Christina. ?Ahead of Her Time: An Overview of the Life and Work of Kate Chopin.?

Empirezine. 25 Nov. 2003 .

Rutherford, Candice. ? Kate Chopin?s ?The Story of an Hour.?? HotBot. 26 Nov. 2003

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Ryan, Steven. ?Depression and Chopin?s Story of an Hour.? 2002. Questia. 30 Nov. 2003

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Stipe, Stormy. ?The Book that Ruined Kate Chopin?s Career.? InfoTrac OneFile. Gale.

(Jan.1999). NCLive. 1 Dec. 2003 .

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