✤ By : Kate Chopin

The Story Of An Hour

-What Does The Title
Mean?
It refers to the only and last hour in Mrs. Mallard's
life when she enjoyed freedom from the
restrictions of her married life and domineering
husband. This hour covered receiving the news of
her husband's death and his arrival. In this hour,
she went to her room and sat with herself and
started imagining the beautiful days coming
ahead. But to our surprise her husband, who was
far away from the accident, came to put an end
that happy free hour which proved to be the last
hour in her entire life also.
 Author
Kate Chopin. She is born in 1851
and died in 1904. She is a female
American short story writer, best
known as the master of irony and
surprising endings. One of her
recurring themes—the problems
facing women in a society that
repressed them.
 - Setting
The action takes place
in a single hour in an
American house in the
last decade of the 19 th

century.
 - Point of view
The story of an Hour is
narrated through a third-
person omniscient point-
of-view.
- Summary of the story
The short story describes the series of emotions Louise
Mallard endures after hearing of the death of her
husband Brently Mallard, who is believed to have died
in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Louise Mallard suffers from
heart problems; therefore, her sister, Josephine,
attempts to inform her of the horrific news in a gentle
way. Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room to
immediately mourn the loss of her husband. However,
she begins to feel an unexpected sense of exhilaration.
"Free! Body and soul free!" is what she believes is a
benefit of his death, until she discovers her husband
standing in the doorway of their house, alive. The shock
 - Characters
1) Louise Mallard : Young, attractive woman - whose
husband is reportedly killed in a train accident. When
Louise hears the news, she is secretly happy because
she is now free. She is filled with a new desire for life.
Although she usually loved her husband, she
cherishes her new found independence even more.
She has a heart attack when her husband, alive after
all, comes home.

2) Josephine : She is Louise’s sister. Josephine

informs Louise about Brently’s death.
3) Brently Mallard : Louise’s husband, supposedly
killed in a train accident. Although Louise remembers
Brently as a kind and loving man, merely being
married to him also made him an oppressive factor in
her life. Brently arrives home unaware that there had
been a train accident.

4) Richards : Brently’s friend. Richards learns about

the train accident and Brently’s death at the
newspaper office. He is present when Josephine tells
the news to Louise.

5) The doctor : A physician who declared Mrs.

Mallard's death of "joy that kills”.
 - Figures of speech
1) Symbols :
✤ Heart Troubles The heart : is a symbol of an
individual's emotional core. The first sentence of the
Story informs us that Mrs. Mallard has heart
troubles. Her physical heart problems symbolize her
emotional heart problems as it relates to marriage.
✤ Springtime : The new, exciting life that Mrs. Mallard
thinks is awaiting her.
Patches of Blue Sky : Emergence of her new life.
✤ Open window : Way to free life.
✤ Birds : Freedom.
 - Figures of speech
2) Metaphor : Is a comparison between unrelated things that share a
common quality.

✤ When the storm of grief had spent itself ,she went away

to her room alone It means that the emotional damage
Mrs. Mallard feels inside her is like the physical damage of
a storm.
✤ The delicious breath of rain was in the air As Rain helps

growth and causes plants to flourish and bloom. The

connotation helps us to focus on the way that Mrs. Mallard
is now going to bloom as an individual in which she is free
from her married state.
 - Figures of speech
3) Personification : Giving human quality to an
object thing.

✤A physical exhaustion that haunted her body.

✤ The tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new

spring life.
✤ The notes of a distant song which some one was

singing reached her faintly.
✤ The clouds that had met.
 - Figures of speech
4)Simile : Comparing one thing to another by
using
✤ likewith
She sat and her
as. head thrown back upon the
cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except
when a sob came up into her throat and shook
her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep
continues to sob in its dreams.

✤ There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she

carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of
Victory. The goddess of victory represents
Louise's triumph and victory over “repression”.
 - Plot Structure
1.Exposition : Mrs. Mallard is sickly and suffers from a weak heart.
Her sister, Josephine comforts her, concerned that the news she is
about to hear will kill her.
2. Rising Action : Josephine and Richards, a friend of Mr. Brently Mallard, gently reveal
that Mr. Mallard has been killed in a railroad disaster.
3. Climx : the climax is when Mrs. Mallard begins to feel joyful over her
renewed life. Since her husband is no longer alive, she can be set
free and start over, which is symbolized by the spring time. This is
the climax, because it leads to what happens to her, which is death.
4.Failing Action : After Mrs. Mallard comes to the conclusion that
she is now free to live a happy life, she and Josephine walk down,
just as Mr. Mallard, unharmed by the tragic accident, comes through
the door .
5.Denouement : Mrs. Mallard collapses, dead. The Doctor said "that
she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills." He thought she was
 - Themes
1.Repression of women in a male-dominated society:
Society in late 19th century expected women to keep house,
cook, bear and rear children only. Women were deprived from
their basic rights and were regarded valueless. The Story of an
Hour hints that Mrs. Mallard’s husband—perhaps a typical
husband of his day—dominated his wife.

2.Freedom as a sense of life: If there is no freedom there is

no life. In spite of Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition, she receives
the news of her husband's death as an open way to life and
freedom. Later on, She discovered that her husband is still
 - Quotation
“Free! Body and soul free," she kept whispering
The emotions Mrs. Mallard feels in this moment are
powerful and strong. This can be seen in the repeated use
of exclamation points, the repeated emphasis on the idea
of "freedom," and the combination of her entire body and
soul being caught up in this feeling. However, it seems
like the feelings are almost too strong to be expressed. So
she can only "whisper" .
The End
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