The story of an hour
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Kate Chopin was an American author from the late 19th century known for her stories set in Louisiana that explored themes of women's independence. Her most famous work, "The Story of an Hour", tells of a woman named Louise who is devastated to hear of her husband's death but then realizes she is actually happy to be free from her marriage. However, when her husband returns, alive after all, the shock of it causes Louise's death from a heart condition. The story examines themes of marriage as a repressive institution and a woman's struggle for identity and freedom within a patriarchal society.
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The story of an hour
- 1. the story of an hour By:Francisco Aresi
- 2. author:kate chopin biography Kate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty ; February 8, 1850 ¨C August 22, 1904, was an American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is now considered by some scholars to have been a forerunner of American 20th- century feminist authors of Southern or Catholic background, such as Zelda Fitzgerald.
- 3. Of maternal French and paternal Irish descent, Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She married and moved with her husband to New Orleans. They later lived in the country in Cloutierville, Louisiana. From 1892 to 1895, Chopin wrote short stories for both children and adults that were published in such national magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, The Century Magazine, and The Youth's Companion. Her stories aroused controversy because of her subjects and her approach; they were condemned as immoral by some critics.
- 4. books she wrote Her major works were two short story collections: Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Her important short stories included "D¨¦sir¨¦e¡¯s Baby" (1893), a tale of miscegenation in antebellum Louisiana, "The Story of an Hour" (1894), and "The Storm" (1898)."The Storm" is a sequel to "At the Cadian Ball," which appeared in her first collection of short stories, Bayou Folk. Chopin also wrote two novels: At Fault (1890) and The Awakening (1899), which are set in New Orleans and Grand Isle, respectively. The characters in her stories are usually residents of Louisiana. Many of her works are set in Natchitoches in north central Louisiana, a region where she lived.
- 5. Within a decade of her death, Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time.In 1915, Fred Lewis Pattee wrote, "some of Chopin's work is equal to the best that has been produced in France or even in America. She displayed what may be described as a native aptitude for narration amounting almost to genius.
- 6. the story of an hour plot Louise Mallard's heart condition makes sudden shocks life-threatening. When her husband Brently is believed to have died in a train accident, Louise's sister Josephine and her husband's friend Richards break the news to her very gently, mindful of her condition.
- 7. Louise locks herself in her room, where her sadness over her husband's death begins to give way to a new feeling of freedom and energy. Only yesterday she felt stifled in her marriage. Now she prays for life to be long so she can enjoy some time to herself. Fearing that Louise will make herself ill, Josephine begs Louise to open the door. Louise comes out at length, then walks downstairs in triumph, thrilled by the thought of freedom. Brently Mallard walks in the door, unharmed and unaware of the accident. Upon seeing her husband alive, Louise dies of a heart attack of "the joy that kills."
- 8. characters Louise Mallard:A woman whose husband is reportedly killed in a train accident. When Louise hears the news, she is secretly happy because she is now free. She is filled with a new lust for life, and although she usually loved her husband, she cherishes her newfound independence even more. She has a heart attack when her husband, alive after all, comes home. Brently Mallard:Louise¡¯s husband, supposedly killed in a train accident. Although Louise remembers Brently as a kind and loving man, merely being married to him also made him an oppressive factor in her life. Brently arrives home unaware that there had been a train accident.
- 9. Josephine:Louise¡¯s sister. Josephine informs Louise about Brently¡¯s death. Richards:Brently¡¯s friend. Richards learns about the train accident and Brently¡¯s death at the newspaper office, and he is there when Josephine tells the news to Louise.
- 10. Themes The Story of an Hour¡± suggests that marriage, regardless of the good intentions of the people it joins, necessarily results in repression and a loss of freedom. The story plays with both irony and tragedy as the shock that her friends fear will kill Louise restores her freedom, and the joy they anticipate for her is the heartbreak that kills her. Louise¡¯s sudden self-discovery, first greeted with fear and then joyful acceptance, reflects the female search for identity in a male-dominated world. The story focuses on the evils inherent in marriage as an institution, not Louise Mallard¡¯s specific relationship, about which we are told very little.
- 11. Vocabulary Hastened: To be quick to do something. Forestall:Prevent or obstruct an anticipated event or action by taking advance action. Aquiver:Trembling Twittering:Give a call consisting of repeated light tremulous sounds. Eaves:The part of a roof that meets or overhangs the walls of a building. Yonder:At some distance in the direction indicated; over there.
- 12. Elixir:A magical or medicinal potion. Shudder: Tremble convulsively, typically as a result of fear or revulsion.
- 13. Literary devices Metaphors: ¡ñ Storm of grief ¡ñ Breath of rain Metaphor/personification: ¡ñ Physical exhaustion that haunted her body ¡ñ Clouds that had met ¡ñ Thing that was approaching to possess her
- 14. Alliteration: ¡ñ Song which someone was singing ¡ñ The sounds, the scents Oxymoron: ¡ñ Monstrous joy Simile: ¡ñ She carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory