1. Kate Chopin

2. Kate Chopin-A Brief Biography ► ► Kate Chopin was an American novelist and short-story writer. Most of her fiction is set in Louisiana and most of her best-known work focuses on the lives of sensitive, intelligent women. ► ’ ► Chopin was born Katherine O’Flaherty in St. Louis to an Irish immigrant father and to the daughter of an established old St. Louis Creole family. She was raised Catholic and graduated from the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart, entering into the social life of the aristocratic South. An excellent student and avid reader, Katherine derived little satisfaction from the social life of St. Louis and turned her talents to writing instead. At nineteen, she married Oscar Chopin, with whom she bore six children before his death. As a couple, she and her husband first settled in New Orleans but moved to the small town of Cloutiersville in the Nachitoches Parish, the bayou country of northwestern Louisiana and the setting for many of her stories. After the loss of her husband, Katherine moved her young family back to St. Louis. Within a year, she lost her mother, and by the time she was 24, all her brothers and sisters had passed away. She never married again, and with her family in St. Louis, she turned almost her full attention to writing. She died in 1904.

3. Kate Chopin-A Brief Biography ► ’ ’ ’ ► One recurrent theme of Kate Chopin’s work is the dysfunctional marriage and its manifestations and effects. Her stories address the oppressiveness in marriages, fulfillment a married woman finds in extramarital affairs, or a woman’s longing for passionate companionship-forbidden topics at her time. The Awakening, considered Chopin’s masterpiece, was subject to harsh criticism at the time for its frank approach to sexual themes. It was rediscovered in the 1960s and has since become a standard of American literature, appreciated for its sophistication and artistry. ► ’ ’’ ► Kate Chopin composed her hundred or so stories between 1889 and her death in 1904. Among her most famous stories-those most often read and discussed in classrooms and book clubs-are several that have pages devoted to them on this site: “The Storm”, “The Story of an Hour”, “Désirée’s Baby”, “A Respectable Woman”, “Lilacs”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, “Athénaïse”, and “At the ’Cadian Ball”. Chopin’s short stories are collected in Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897).

4. Brief Introduction to the Story ► The Story of an Hour is published in 1894, several years after it was written. At that time, most married women were considered to be the property of their husbands. In the story, the main character, Mrs. Mallard first experiences a rebirth when she is told that her husband has died in a train accident but then suddenly dies at the end of the story when Mr. Mallard walks in the front door. This story is considered as one of feminism ’ s sacred texts ► “The Story of an Hour” is published in 1894, several years after it was written. At that time, most married women were considered to be the property of their husbands. In the story, the main character, Mrs. Mallard first experiences a rebirth when she is told that her husband has died in a train accident but then suddenly dies at the end of the story when Mr. Mallard walks in the front door. This story is considered as “one of feminism ’ s sacred texts”.

5. Question 1 ► The story opens with Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble. Is this information significant? ► The story opens with “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble”. Is this information significant?

6. Answer 1 ► The fact the Mrs. Mallard has a heart trouble foreshadows her death of heart attack in the end of the story. Her friends take care to break the news of her husband ’ s death, and near the end of the story they try to protect her from seeing her husband alive; all these details are ironical for what causes her death is neither the deep sorrow or the shock of hearing her husband dead, nor the excitement of seeing her husband alive. On the contrary, the cause her heart attack is the dramatic fall from freedom and joy which are deprived by the fact that her husband is not dead at all.

7. Question 2 ► What’s Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death? Does her reaction say anything about her relationship to her husband?

8. Answer 2 ► Mrs. Mallards very easily accepts her husband ’ s death. According to the story, she wept at once, unlike other women, who may feel unable to accept the truth. ► Mrs. Mallards very easily accepts her husband ’ s death. According to the story, she “wept at once”, unlike other women, who may feel unable to accept the truth. ► This can tell the relationship between her and her husband is not very good.

9. Question 3 ► Why does the author take efforts to describe the scenes outside the window?

10. Answer 3 ► This paragraph describes what Mrs. Mallard see — the tree aquiver with spring life; what she smells — the delicious breath of the rain; and what she hears — the distant song and the twittering of the sparrows. These are "objective correlative" to her inner feelings. In other words, the natural scenery serves as an objectification of Mrs. Mallard ’ s inner feelings. The readers can see that her senses are open to the outside world, to the sense of the freedom and the hope of a new life.

11. Question 4 ► Read paragraphs 9 and 10 aloud. What can we guess about Mrs. Mallard ’ s life from the fact that she is not immediately aware of her thoughts and reactions? (What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.”) Why does she strive “to beat it back with her will — as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” when she begins to realize this sense of freedom? ► Read paragraphs 9 and 10 aloud. What can we guess about Mrs. Mallard ’ s life from the fact that she is not immediately aware of her thoughts and reactions? (“What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.”) Why does she strive “to beat it back with her will — as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” when she begins to realize this sense of freedom?

12. Answer 4 ► Mrs. Mallard is not capable of naming her sense of freedom because she has lived under repression for so long that she has forgotten what freedom is like. When she begins to recognize it, her initial response is fear and rejection, trying to “beat it back with her will”. However, her will is “powerless”, and the sense of freedom is like an alien approaching and finally possessing her.

13. Question 5 ► What dramatic change takes place when Mrs. Mallard gives herself up to the feeling of freedom?

14. Answer 5 ► She no longer feels frightened. Her eyes are keen and bright. Her body is warm. She possesses strength and courage.

15. Question 6 ► Why is there a suggestion that the joy Mrs. Mallard feels is “monstrous”? What makes Mrs. Mallard dismiss this suggestion as insignificant?

16. Answer 6 ► Mrs. Mallard’s joy is bought by her husband’s death. In this sense, it is monstrous. Mrs. Mallard indulges in her freedom, refuses to think about this. She clearly and happily knows she is free and her future will be totally in her hands.

17. Question 7 ► 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. ► What does this sentence tell about the relationship between men and women at that time?

18. Answer 7 ► At that time, people, males and females alike, believe men have a right to control or dominate women. Men are considered as the powerful sex and women have to live under repression.

19. Question 8 ► What is significant about the fact that it is till now that the readers know Mrs. Mallard’s name is Louise?

20. Answer 8 ► By concealing her maiden name as Louise till now, the writer suggests that women are supposed to be Mrs. sth., and forgo their own names after marriage. For Mrs. Mallard, her true self and identity can only get established after her husband’s death.

21. Question 9 ► There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. ► What does “ unwittingly ” mean? What does this word indicate about Mrs. Mallard ’ s inner feeling?

22. Answer 9 ► The word “ unwittingly ” means doing something not wisely. This word indicates that Mrs. Mallard is so indulged in her happiness that she forgets to hide her feeling.

23. Question 10 ► He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. ► He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. ► In which sense is Josephine and Richards’ attempt to protect Mrs. Mallard ironic?

24. Answer 10 ► They try to protect Mrs. Mallard from being stricken with joy seeing her husband still alive. But the fact is what causes her death is the sheer despair and hopelessness at seeing her husband alive, for the delicious sense of freedom which she tastes for a very brief moment, is gone. The irony lies they worry about her without knowing that she is happy with being free.

25. Question 11 ► When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease — of joy that kills. ► What is the joy that kills? How would the doctor or Richards answer this question? How would the dead heroine? In which sense is this sentence ironic?

26. Answer 11 ► The doctor or Richards would say Mrs. Mallard ’ s weak heart cannot bear the extreme joy and excitement of seeing her husband back alive. The true feeling of Mrs. Mallard, however, is nothing but despair. Her freedom, which she tastes but only a brief moment, suddenly becomes an illusion. This is the true cause of the heart attack. What the doctor or Richards believe is contrary to Mrs. Mallards’ true thoughts and feelings. In this sense, the ending is very ironic. It is tragic too, for her fight for freedom is unknown and is at the cost of her life.

27. General Question 1 ► The story opens with “ Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble ” and ends with Mrs. Mallard “ died of heart disease ”. Do you like the way the writer begins and ends her story? Please explain.

28. Answer 1 ► Chekhov says “(i)f there is a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, it must fire in the last.” ► The revelation of Mrs. Mallard ’ s heart trouble in the very beginning of the story foreshadows Mrs. Mallard ’ s death. Yet the twist of the story lies in the fact that it is not joy, as the characters and doctor believe, but disappointment at seeing her husband still alive, that causes her heart attack.

29. General Question 2 ► Kate Chopin successfully describes the stages of Mrs. Mallard ’ s psychological change.  Please arrange the following descriptions in the correct order.  a)She carried herself like " the goddess of Victory ".  b)She strove to " beat it back with her will ".  c)She waited for the thing " fearfully ".  d)She whispered " Free, free, free ".  e)She prayed that life would be long.  f)She looked at the patches of the blue sky.

30. Answer 2 ► f c b d e a

31. General Question 3 ► What is the climax of the story? And how does the story develop afterwards?

32. Answer 3 ► The climax of the story is in paragraph 20 when Mrs. Mallard’s joy reaches the peak and she carries herself like a goddess of Victory. ► After this comes a sharp and dramatic fall i.e., Mrs. Mallard dies of heart attack from seeing her husband still alive. Her possession of freedom is just as brief as an hour.

33. General Question 4 ► ► The setting of the story is very limited; it is confined largely to a room, a staircase, and a front door. However, in paragraphs 5 and 6, Kate Chopin describes in detail the scenery outside the window. What do the following sensory images symbolize?

34. Answer 4 ► Image Description of the Image in the Story Symbolic Meaning of the Image ► treeaquiver with new spring lifehope ► rain delicious smellfreshness ► peddlercrying his waresvitality ► sparrowtwittering vitality ► skypatches of blue sky showing through cloudsfuture and hope ► cloudmeeting and piling the otherdoubts and uncertainty

35. General Question 5 ► How do you interpret the death of Mrs. Mallard? Do you think she is a monstrous wife and deserves to die? Or do you feel pity for her for nothing could set her free except death?

36. Answer 5 ► Mrs. Mallard’s life and death deserve some pity from the reader. ► She is like a caged bird; her voice is stifled by the marriage. ► Though her joy is "monstrous", it is understandable. What’s more, this joy kills her. Her gesture of rebellion is fruitless. The heavy price to pay is death. ► Kate Chopin seems to say that it is impossible, or very hard for women at that time to gain freedom and selfhood.

37. A Website of Kate Chopin ► http://www.katechopin.org/