I.

INTRODUCTION

A. THESIS STATEMENT

Kate Chopin (1851–1904) was a respectable authoress that had enough courage

to make questions to the harsh societal rules in her age. This thoughtful woman left us

many stories, and a well-known story among them was “The story of an hour”, an

impressive work which touched readers’ feelings and mind deeply. Although the story

was really short, it was very rich and complete, and every word in it carried deep

sense and a lot of meaning. This famous short story showed the inherent conflict

between the social traditional requirement of a completely obedient wife and

women’s need for personhood.

B. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

By going through this work and finding out what actually caused the death of

the main character (Mrs. Mallard) at the end of the story, we can understand this

unhappy woman as well as her age more deeply.

C. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

(1) Was Mrs. Mallard happy with her marriage?

(2) What were the reasons of her different feelings after hearing the bad news?

(3) What was the actual reason of Mrs. Mallard’s death at the end of the story?

II. BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

A. METHOD OF STUDY

In this research paper, I would like to use Library research method to complete

the document. The majority of my research paper were collected and revived

selectively from the huge source of information on the internet. Beside that, I also

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want to give my own ideas about the marriage of the main character and the actual

reason of her death in the end of the story.

B. LITERATURE REVIEW

With “The Story of an Hour” Chopin explores the inherent conflict between the

traditional requirement that a wife from her life around her husband’s and a woman

need for discrete personhood. (Le Thi Thanh. American Literature)

Chopin suggests the role of women in the family and society should be

changed. However, Chopin also accepts the fact that there are limits to these changes.

(Le Thi Thanh. American Literature)

“Chopin presents life as a series on unexpected events, which may be taken

both positively and negatively” (Le Thi Thanh. American Literature)

The theme of the story is things that we want in life might come too late so live

life for yourself to the fullest while you can. Some of the major literary elements

within the story are imagery, similes, metaphors and irony.

(http://www.tqnyc.org/2004/NYC040522//shortstories/storyofanhour/storyhourmain.h

tm - Dominique)

“The whole story was a rising action until you got to her death at the end of the

story.” (http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/2/6/141658/5544)

C. AUTHORESS AND WORK

Kate Chopin was born in 1851 in St. Louis. In 1870 she married Oscar Chopin

who was a cotton broker. After her husband’s death, she returned with their six

children to St. Louis.

When she was nearly 40 years old, she published her first novel, At Fault

(1890). Her stories began to appear in Century and Harper's Magazine. Two

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collections followed after that that was entitled Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in

Acadie (1897). Her last major work was a novel named The Awakening (1899).

Surprisingly, The Awakening was denied membership in the St. Louis Fine Arts Club.

After her mother died in 1899, she wrote freely about sex and love. Her works was

rediscovered in the 1960s and a third collection of her stories was published in 1991

entitled A Vocation and a Voice.

III.DEVELOPMENT

A. CHARACTERS

Louise Mallard (Mrs. Mallard): She was the main character of the story. In this

story, Kate Chopin referred to her by her married name. She had "heart trouble."

Josephine: Josephine was Mrs. Mallard's sister. It was her who told Mrs.

Mallard of her husband's death and who implored Louise to let her into the room after

she had shut herself inside. Josephine, a woman who embodied the feminine ideal,

assumed that Louise was suffering terribly from the news, not knowing that her sister

was actually overjoyed with the prospect of being a widow.

Mr. Mallard: Mrs. Mallard's husband who was considered to be dead after the

railroad accident.

Richard: He was Mr. Mallard's friend. He was in the newspaper office when the

news of the train accident arrived. After confirming the news, he went to Mrs.

Mallard's house to inform her about her husband’s death.

B. BRIEF SUMMARY OF “THE STORY OF AN HOUR”

This short story is about an hour in the life of the main character, Mrs. Mallard.

She was afflicted with a heart problem. Bad news came and about that her husband

had died in a train accident. Her sister (Josephine) and her husband’s friend (Richard)
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had to break the horrifying news to her as gently as possible. They both were

concerned that the news might somehow put her in great danger with her health.

Ironically, Mrs. Mallard reacted to the news with excitement. Even though the news

was heartbreaking, Mrs. Mallard was finally free from the depressing life she was

living. She kept whispering "Free! Body and soul free!” She was happy because she

did not have to live for anyone but herself now. At the end of the story, Mr. Mallard

opened the door and was surprised. Mr. Mallard did not have any idea about the

accident. With a quick motion, Richard tried to block Mr. Mallard's view of his wife

but it was too late. The doctors said that she died of a heart attack. The story ended

with a short phrase "of joy that kills".

C. THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS OF MRS. MALLARD’S DIFFERENT

REACTIONS AFTER HEARING THE BAD NEWS.

In normal circumstances, when a person’s spouse passes away, one will think

that the surviving spouse would be upset for his/her loss, and normally they will cry,

etc. However, upon hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard began to weep, a reaction that

Chopin noted as different from most women who would refuse to believe it. She wept

with wild abandonment in her Josephine’s arms. After that she went away to her room

alone. She sat there and saw all the scenes outside the open window. Mrs. Mallard's

reaction was not the typical hysteria of a wife who had lost her husband. Louise

Mallard sat in her room and looked out the window. She recognized that there was

something coming to her and she was also waiting for it. "The delicious breath of rain

was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a

distant song reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves."

She began to realize that her husband’s death might bring her a new life. That new life

might not be worse than before she heard the bad news, and even it would be better.

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Here we see two things which make us feel that way: "a comfortable, roomy

armchair" is a symbol of security and comfort in spite of her husband's death. And

"the open window” symbolized connection to the world and new life. She could feel

something creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents,

and the colors that filled the air. The window itself could be seen to take on a different

perspective in the story. It was a window that opened into a different realm, free of

constraints, where new life was budding everywhere. She could see the beautiful blue

sky which was the symbol of hope and the new free life. She journeyed in her mind,

wandered freely to enjoy and appreciate the life she saw through her window. It was a

completely contrast to Mrs. Mallard's old life which had been restricted and limited.

And after Mrs. Mallard recognized all of them, she began to say over and over

under her breath “free, free, free!” She could not beat the new feeling that was

approaching to possess her back because she really did not want to refuse it at all. She

kept whispering “Free! Body and soul free!” Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news of

her husband's death was that of a woman freed from a long prison term. She was

shocked into silent disbelief, overcome with emotion, struck with a sense of relief at

being free from the burden of an unhappy marriage. She was now a widow who

would be accepted in society, free to make choices, to have friends, to attend social

events, to decide each day what she would do according to what she wanted. There

would be no more connection to the will of a husband whom she had “sometimes”

loved. If we know that in the nineteenth century in Louisiana, women’s right was

limited and most married women were considered to be the property of their

husbands, we can easily understand her different reactions and feelings after hearing

the bad news of her husband’s death. Mr. Mallard was not a bad man, but in that age

the husbands always controlled their waves. And after hearing the bad news, his wife

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finally recognized that in the new life after her husband’s death, she would have

freedom…

D. FROM MRS. MALLARD’S PROCESS OF FEELINGS WHICH WAS

ANALYZED ABOVE, WE CAN SEE THAT THE ACTUAL REASON OF HER

DEATH IS CONTRARY TO WHAT THE DOCTORS SAID.

Sadly, Mrs. Mallard’s new life was brief, cut short by the sudden return of her

husband, who was not anywhere near the train accident. At the end of the story, Mr.

Mallard opened the door and was surprised. Mr. Mallard did not have any idea about

the accident. Richard, who though that Mrs. Mallard could not bear one more

shocking event, tried to hide him from her view but it was too late. When the doctors

came, they said that she died of heart disease. “Of joy that kills” was what they

concluded from her death. They were right when said that she died under a heart

attack, but “of joy that kills” was completely not the reason of her sudden death. The

actual reason was her disappointment when seeing her husband alive. It meant she had

to continue living a depressing life that had no meaning of excitement included. This

poor wife, along with her bad heart, was so stricken and died right there on the spot.

She was unable to stand the thought of continuing living under the control of her

husband after imagining the new free life she could have alone. Chopin made it seem

like there was so much for Mrs. Mallard to live for, but when Mrs. Mallard saw her

husband alive, there was not anything worth living for to her…

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 E. LITERARY ELEMENTS

In this short story, there were some essential literary elements such as

symbolism, metaphors, irony, similes and personification.

Symbolism was a strong element in this short story, mainly because I could

point out a symbol in most of the detailed paragraphs. For example, the window in her

room stood for a different realm, free of constraints, where new life was budding

everywhere. It also symbolized the connection to the word with a new life. Beside

that, the blue sky was the symbol of hope and freedom, etc…

Metaphors were other common terms in this story. Metaphors were more

common because they came up more than the views I had for symbolism. In the 7 th

paragraph, it said "except when a...to sob in its dreams” This let the reader realize the

grief that Mrs. Mallard was suffering. Chopin made a comparison to a child crying

itself to sleep to how Mrs. Mallard was handling her grieving. This was metaphorical

because Mrs. Mallard was acting the way a child would act. Mrs. Mallard excluded

herself from everyone by sitting in a room all alone. A child would do the same thing

if he/she met something too bad.

There were also similes within this story. The passage from "There was a...” to

“…of victory." in the 20th paragraph clearly stated simile. This stated how she over

came the grief and repression of her husband. I think Chopin used this simile because

it was a very strong and bold representation of a woman realizing her ability to live

the way she wanted to.

The other literary element that appeared in the story was irony. The first irony

view was the title of the story, "The Story of an Hour." This was ironic because, just

by the title, this story must have occurred within an hour, but Chopin made it seem

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like it was a few days at least. This was ironic because Mrs. Mallard only needed an

hour to realize that she did not need her husband to be happy, whereas it would take

another wife, maybe a few years to fully recover from a spouse's death. And the final

irony in this story was the ending, the diagnoses of the doctors, “of joy that kills.”

IV. CONCLUSION

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” successfully presented the heart-breaking

conflict between the traditional requirement and women’s personhood. The social

restriction was one of the actual major elements that prevented Mrs. Mallard from

having a happy marriage and a life of her own. It was not her mistake. It was the

mistake of her age and her location that leaded to her unhappy marriage and even her

death. The authoress Kate Chopin created a sense of desperation from the beginning

and death was the only means to an absolution, whether it was the death of a person

(Mrs. or Mr. Mallard) or the death of a concept (marriage).