The Story of an Hour

Infobox short story |
name = The Story of an Hour
title_orig = The Dream of an Hour
translator = None
author = Kate Chopin
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Literary Fiction
published_in = United States
publication_type = Magazine
publisher = Vogue
media_type =
pub_date = 1894
english_pub_date = 1894
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Story of an Hour" (1894) is a widely anthologized short story by American writer Kate Chopin. Critic Daniel Deneau says it is "Surely [her] best-known piece of short fiction." [Deneau, Daniel P. "Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour.'" The Explicator 61.4 (Summer 2003): 210-14.] It was originally published in the December 6, 1894 issue of Vogue magazine under its original title, "The Dream of an Hour". [ [http://www.katechopin.org/the-story-of-an-hour.shtml The Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin, characters, setting ] ] [Golden, Catherine. Charlotte Perkins Gillman's The Yellow Wall-Paper: A Sourcebook and Critical Edition. Routledge, 2004. 37. ISBN: 0415263581] It describes a woman's reaction to the news of her husband's sudden death and to the subsequent news that he is, in fact, alive. The body of the text has 20 paragraphs, 1009 words, and 4 characters. The story exemplifies Chopin's beliefs regarding women's roles in marriage and feminine identity.
*Louise Mallard, the protagonist
*Brent Mallard, her husband
*Josephine, Mrs. Mallard's sister
*Richards, Mr. Mallard's friend

Criticism

In "The Teeth of Desire: The Awakening and The Descent of Man," critic Bert Bender summarizes the theme of the story:

In "The Story of an Hour," on the other hand, Mrs. Mallardfeels the ecstasy of being liberated from what seems an agreeablemarriage after the apparent accidental death of her husband.But then she comes to question the meaning of love. (463) [Bender, Bert. "The Teeth of Desire: The Awakening and the Descent of Man." American Literature 63.3 (Sep., 1991): 459-473.]

References