Analysis of Kate Chopin's the Story of an Hour

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In 1894, Kate Chopin wrote “The Story of an Hour.” The story is about a young woman, named Mrs. Louise Mallard, whose husband died in a railroad accident. Mrs. Mallard struggles with heart troubles, and her sister must break the news to her gently in order to prevent her from having an attack of some sort. Eventually, the news is broken, but Mrs. Mallard takes the news differently than most wives would. Kate Chopin uses literary tools such as figurative language, symbolism, and characters’ qualities to elaborate the details of her short story “The Story of an Hour.”
On February 8, 1850, Kate O’Flaherty was born to become a renowned author, Kate Chopin. She grew up among widowed women: her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, for her father had died. All of them were notorious for their intelligence and independence. She was sent to Sacred Heart Academy in St. Louis at age five until her father died. Chopin returned home for two years and then went back to Sacred Heart Academy, where she was also known for her intelligence, for she was at the top of her class. After winning numerous medals, she was elected into Children of Mary Society. All of her siblings had died, leaving her the only child to live past 25. She married at age 20 to Oscar Chopin. When her husband died, she moved in with her mother. Soon after, her mother died as well. Chopin started writing to support her six sons. Almost immediately, she was successful and her first novel was published in 1890. “The Story of an Hour” was written four years later. After numerous pieces of literature, she died in August 1904 of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving a lasting legacy of triumph (Wyatt).
In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin used figurative language such as personific...

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...rotecting husband. Some may say he was abusive towards his wife, and others could think he was just a man who wanted to be up to society’s standards when it came to taking care of his wife. He probably worked hard and came home late every day just to provide for his wife in the hope he could create a family with her. Although many may not think you could inquire very much about Mr. Mallard, he was one of the main characters of the story. One has to “read between the lines” to truly understand his place.
If Kate Chopin had not used the literary tools she did, some being figurative language, symbolism, and descriptions of characters, her short story probably would not have turned out as astounding as it did. She used each one to work the way she needed them and to highlight each detail of her story.

Works Cited

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/katebio.html

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