Kate Chopin

The story "The Story of an Hour" is by a women named Kate Chopin. She wrote the story in 1894. It starts out by talking about a women who is about to find out her husband is dead. The man was killed in a train accident and one of their family friends who works at the newspaper office. This shows the time period very well because it showed how slowly news is passed and how at that time it got to the newspaper before the family because they couldn't even contact them yet. They knew the widows devastation to the loss of her husband would be grand and expected it. Her reaction was quite large as it is said in the story, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone." (Chopin). The story then went on into describing the women's surroundings as she went into a room by herself. The vivid descriptions remind me very much of Emerson's writings because he is a very well known vivid writer. His poem "Art" displays this idea of vivid descriptions of surroundings perfectly, much like Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" does. A quote from "Art" saying "On the city's paved street ;Plant gardens lined with lilacs sweet; Let spouting fountains cool the air,; Singing in the sun-baked square;" (Emerson) shows how he loved to extrude the little details and give everything life. Chopin has a description in "The Story of and Hour" just as vivid stating "She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky." (Chopin) This part describing her sad, weeping, and mourning time right after the loss of her beloved husband. Although the story seems grim for the wife it takes a crazy turn of events, yet still stays grim for the women. A literary critic says it best when he says, "In a Surprise Ending, her husband walks through the front door, and Louise suffers a heart attack and dies." (Werlock)The story itself I liked a lot because of its attention to detail and of course surprise endings give any story a better review.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Art." Poemhunter.com. Poemhunter.com. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. .


Werlock, Abby H. P. "'The Story of an Hour'." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS782&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 23, 2012).


Chopin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. .