Literary Analysis Essay On The Story Of An Hour

Literary Criticism Essay

Throughout Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” there are different amounts of settings that are revealed as more of the plot is revealed. A setting can and does exists in every form of fiction such as in this short story. They represent place, elements of time and social context. These elements that I just mentioned create particular moods, qualities in characters and different forms of themes. This particular short story deals with the ying and the yang of the emotions of a young woman. She discovered her independence in her husband’s death, then it was the “tragic” discovery that in reality her husband was still alive. There are certain factors of the setting that reveal certain characteristics about Louise Mallard, whom is one of the main characters. The meat of this story takes place in the spring of the 1890’s, in a timeframe of about an hour, and in a house that belonged to the Mallards. This is extremely significant to the meaning of the story.

Louise Mallard’s husband was supposedly killed in a railroad and when she heard of this news she was broken. The story says that, “she wept at once," and "went away to her room alone" (12). One day, as she was looking out her second story window, she began to have a change of heart and a sense of independence from her husband. She notices "the delicious breath of rain," " a peddler . . . crying his wares," "notes of a distant song," "countless sparrows . . . twittering," and "patches of blue sky," "all aquiver with the new spring life" (13). This newfound independence from her husband causes her to utter the words "free, free, free!" (13). One can only wonder how she could develop such an independence so suddenly. Was it the rebirth she saw ...

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...es. Often she did not. What did it matter!" Louise thinks to herself (13). It might also have been that she was not able to live for herself and would always be bound to him like a slave to his master. Whatever her reasoning may be, the social aspects are the most essential part of the setting in this short story.

A setting does more than convey who, what, when, where and why of the story. A setting is like a template for the story to take part in. In this story, Chopin develops the story based on what the woman’s duties were during the 1890’s. The specific setting--the time of year and the structure of the Mallard house--also gives clues to help readers understand Louise and attempt to determine the cause of her death. Louise may die of heart disease, as the doctors say at the end of the story, but setting indicates that the disease was not "joy that kills" (14).