“Story of an Hour”

Kate Chopin

English 9A Mr. Shimizu Nov. 2013

Born Katherine O’Flaherty in 1850 to an Irish businessman and a mother from the French community of St. Louis, MO. Raised by 3 generations of women after her father died.

Marries Oscar Chopin of New Orleans at 20 and has 6 kids with him. Family moves to Natchitoches (north-central LA) when his cotton brokerage goes under.

Oscar dies 12 years later, leaving her $250k in debt. Kate sells his businesses and moves back to St. Louis with her kids. Mother dies a year afterwards & she falls into depression.

Takes up writing as therapy and gets rep as a “local color” writer who realistically captures the Creole culture of LA. Tackles unpopular subjects like a woman’s right to have her own life and the individual vs. society.

Dies from a brain hemorrhage at 54 in 1904.

Setting: the plantation home of a socially prominent couple in 1890s Natchitoches, Louisiana.

When “Story of an Hour” was published in 1894, only Wyoming and Colorado had enfranchised women (in 1869 and 1893, respectively).Women in the U.S. had to wait until the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 for standardized suffrage (the right to vote).

Despite opportunities to enter the work force as teachers, salesgirls, and factory workers, women were largely still confined to the home. The higher the social status of the woman, the more restricted her life could be.

Characters

LOUISE MALLARD= the protagonist; a pretty, young woman with a heart condition

BRENTLY MALLARD= Louise’s husband

JOSEPHINE= Louise’s sister

RICHARDS = Brently Mallard’s friend

Point of View

This story is written in third-person omniscient point of view

PREVIEW OF CONFLICT

“There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.”

Louisiana law at this time stated that a wife was the property of her husband.

Imagine you were a married woman in this time period … how would you feel?

PREVIEW OF THEME

The original title of this story was “The Dream of an Hour” …

What do you think of when you hear the word “dream”?

How do your dreams generally match up to the reality you experience in your everyday life?

FORESHADOWING= a literary device where authors give readers clues/hints about what may happen later on in the story; used to build suspense and encourage readers to keep reading

SYMBOL= something that stands for or represents something else

FORESTALL= (v.) to prevent (¶2)

AQUIVER= (adj.) quivering, trembling (¶5)

BESPOKE= (v.) suggested, communicated (¶8)

ELUSIVE= (adj.) hard to find, catch, or achieve (¶9)

TUMULTUOUSLY= (adj.) loudly, noisily, confusedly, violently (¶10)

KEEN= (adj.) alert, sharp (¶10)

EXALTED= (adj.) superior, more powerful (¶11)

TRIVIAL= (adj.) unimportant, insignificant (¶13)

SELF-ASSERTION= (n.) determined promotion and expression of one’s identity, needs, desires (¶13)

IMPORTUNITIES= (n.) pleadings (¶18)

UNWITTINGLY= (adj.) unconsciously, unsuspectingly (¶18)

COMPOSEDLY= (adj.) calmly, coolly, unhurriedly (¶19)

GRIP-SACK= (n.) small suitcase (¶19)

SUGGESTED PLOT BREAKDOWN FOR “FIRST-PERSON REWRITE”

¶1-2= Richards hears of Brently’s death (maybe show Louise going about her day before she hears the bad news) ¶3= Josephine and Richards tell Louise (L) the news and she reacts ¶4-7= L retreats to her room and daydreams as she stares out the window (what does she see/hear? What effect does it have on her?) ¶9-10= L senses some new feeling coming over her and she is afraid of it

¶10= L gives in to this feeling and lets a few words escape her lips

¶11= L worries about how this feeling will change her, but decides she doesn’t need to feel ashamed about accepting this change in her thinking

¶12= L wonders why men & women try to control each other

¶13-14= L realizes what she has always wanted: self-assertion.

¶15-16= Josephine (J) asks her to come out of the room

¶16-17= L tells J to go away & imagines her new life ahead.

¶18= L comes out of the room and walks downstairs with J.

¶19= Brently Mallard walks in the door and shocks L.

¶20= L dies (maybe conclude your rewrite with her last thoughts).