Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is an example of a modern short story. It meets all four criteria that make it a modern short story, such as emphasis on subtle characterization, implications rather than explicit facts, emphasis on revelations, and examples of dramatic irony. This story meets the first criterion of a modern short story by emphasizing subtle characterization. An example of this is when the narrative adds phrases that describe how the characters feel and aren’t relevant, making the plot go by slowly. An example of this is the phrase, “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” This phrase isn’t important to the story, but it characterizes Louise by showing what she

An example of this is that the story implies that Louise may not have loved her husband as much as she thought she did. This criterion is shown by stating, “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” This quote shows that after the initial shock of her husband’s death, she may have been glad that he died so she could live for herself.
The story meets the third criterion by emphasizing revelation rather than effect. This is shown when Louise has a revelation about how she is now “free” because her husband is no longer there to control her. In the phrase, “She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will,” this third criterion is represented.
The fourth criterion is that the story uses dramatic irony so the readers have more knowledge of the events than the characters do. The readers know how Louise feels about her husband’s death but the other characters don’t. This is shown in the