the Story of the Hour

Author

Kate Chopin

author

Kate Chopin

Character

Louise Mallard Brently Mallard (husband) Josephine Richards (Brently's friend)

Setting

Louise Mallard's house Beautiful spring day 1980s

Brently Mallard

Louise's husband

Josephine

Louise's sister

What ironies do you find in "The Story of an Hour"?

Louise's triumph is brief. The moment she accepts her freedom, she leaves her room; the moment she leaves her room, she loses her newly gained freedom. As Louise Mallard descends the stairs, Brently Mallard opens the front door and Louise Mallard is shocked to death. The doctors' explanation is the final irony of the story. Mrs. Mallard did die of joy, but it is not the joy of seeing her husband again.

main character:

Mrs. Mallard

Ironic

The author is saying don't get married because it is a form of slavery for woman, the women's vow for marriage is to love, to honor, and to OBEY She's being joyful because she won't be a slave anymore, and has her own life to live she's being held back by being a housewife After she says she is free, she dies Spring time new life, new birth She's being honest with her feelings She lived for her husband, but now she'll live for herself Free body and soul Brently had been far from the railroad accident, and did not even know there was one The doctors said that her death is caused by her overwhelming joy when she sees her husband alive, but she was actually disappointed because her brief moment of freedom was taken away from her (stereotype of male doctors)

From: "Story of an Hour"

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills

d

at the end of the story, the narrator ______ a crawls around the room b crawls over her husband's unconscious body c says she has gotten free despite her husband and jane d all of the above

d

the narrator in the story describes the home they have rented for the summer as a beautiful and stately b run down and spooky c like a prison d b and c

year written

1894

Richards

Brently's friend

Richards

Brently's friend, works at newspaper office

Describe the setting in paragraphs 4 to 6. Is this significant?

The storm of Mrs. Mallard's public grief passes quickly in the temporal organization of the narrative, and contrasts with her private response to the news in her room. In the confinement of her room, Louise Mallard finds release. The death of Brently Mallard is juxtaposed against the promise of life—the setting outside Louise's window is "all aquiver with the new spring life" (95). Behind her closed door, she drinks in "a very elixir of life through that open window" (96); she experiences a "monstrous joy" (96). Brently's death, then, signals Louise's rebirth.

The story is told in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person?

3rd person

d

the narrator begins to see ______ in the wallpaper a eyes b shadowy shapes c a woman d all of the above

a

when louise mallard first hears of her husband's death, she a cries b prays c jumps with joy

Did Mrs. Mallard die in the story?

yes

Theme

A women's role after marriage, a housewife

From: "Story of an Hour"

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Quotes

"Free, free, free!" Opening line which told us that she had heart trouble foreshadows the outcome of he dying

The main character of the story is...

Mrs. Mallard

important quotes

"aquiver with the new spring life", "lines bespoke repression", "But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air", "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease---of joy that kills"

Brently Mallard

"died" and happily married

symbols

"heart trouble" - her unhappiness in marriage, finally kills her open window- represents the new freedom that she gained spring beauty- instead of creating a somber mood for the bad news, it represents new beginning

From: "Story of an Hour"

She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"

Why is Mrs. Mallard's heart disease introduced in the first sentence of the story?

From the opening line of the story, we learn that Mrs. Mallard's health is poor. She suffers from "heart trouble" (95). The significance of this is fully realized when the shock of seeing her husband at the end of the story causes her death.

Mrs. Mallard's sister is?

Josephine

plot part

Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble so her sister is careful to break the news to her that he husband has died in a train accident because his name (Brently) was on the list of dead. Mrs. Mallard goes to he room and feels like she if free from her husband and is overjoyed my his death. then Brently walks in the front door and Mrs. mallard gets a heart attack and dies of "happiness".

What is Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news?

Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband's death with full understanding of its gravity. The third person narrator emphasizes that Louise does not experience "a paralyzed inability to accept its significance" (95), and the "storm of grief" (95) that follows reinforces the fact that she realizes the magnitude of what she has just been told.

The setting of the story is...

Mrs. Mallard's house

themes

the "forbidden joy of independence"- where Mrs. Mallard has to celebrate her joy in the secrecy of her room. the "inherent oppressiveness of marriage" she is trapped in an unsatisfying marriage

What are the "daring" themes of "The Story of an Hour"?

Brently Mallard "had never looked save with love upon her" (96), and yet she welcomes his death as an escape from an oppressive marriage. Chopin's description of Louise as "young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression" (96), and Louise's thought that "A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime" (96), comment pointedly and negatively on this marriage. Many readers have extrapolated this to be a comment on the position of women in nineteenth-century marriage. Louise's joy over being released by her husband's death from her marriage daringly flouts the conventional expectations of the dutiful wife that were current in Chopin's time.

From: "Story of an Hour"

No: she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

From: "Story of an Hour"

She did not know; it was too subtle and too elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, raching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Louise Mallard

protagonist, has a heart condition, husband "died", at first acted correctly then was happy husband died, unhappily married, and a babe

a

during her 'cure', the narrator is a forbidden to visit certain relatives b allowed to write c forced to sleep in the crib with her baby d a and c

Mrs. Mallard want to be?

free

Mrs. Mallard has trouble with her...

heart

Louise Mallard

heart condition, husband "died", at first acted sadly, and then she was happy, unhappily married, a babe

The fact that Mrs. Mallard is the one that dies and not Mr. Mallard is an example of...

irony

a

john and her brother are ________ a physicians b university professors c journalists

c

louise mallard feels _______ by her husband's death a betrayed b lonely c set free

Louise Mallard

main character, her husband allegedly dies

c

mr mallard was a ______ husband a absent b abusive c loving

b

mrs mallard has a diabetes b heart trouble c arthritis

a

mrs mallard looks forward to _____ a living only for herself b traveling to exotic places c marrying again

Did Mr. Mallard die in the story.?

no

The story takes place in the present, past or future?

past