Kate Chopin: The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin: The Story of An Hour

Born Katherine O'FIaherty into an upper-middle-class family in St. Louis, Kate Chopin married Oscar Chopin when she was twenty years old. She soon after moved into her husband's home in Louisiana. In the ten years that she lived in Louisiana she was aware of and interested in the Creole, Cajun, African American and Indian cultures. This is what influenced Chopin to start writing fiction. She included people of these cultures into her works of literature, especially her short stories.

When her husband died at a very young age from malaria, Chopin eventually decided to returned to St. Louis with her six children to live closer to her mother, who passed away soon after she moved back. Financially secure, she began writing fiction as best she could while taking care of her children alone. Kate became depressed after losing both her husband and her mother in such a short period of time. Her obstetrician, Dr. Frederick Kolbenheyer, who was a philosophical man, interested in contemporary scientific theory, encouraged Chopin to write because "he understood that writing could be a focus for her extraordinary energy, as well as a source of income" (Seyersted 20).

Family history in the form of stories which Mme. Chareville, Chopin's grandmother, had told her, inspired her "knowledge of unorthodox, daring women, providing subjects for her fiction" (Taylor 142). Chopin was also influenced by the writing of Guy de Maupassant. Where she used his realistic fiction as a model for her own works of literature. She much admired his skillful representation of experience and the impact on the importance of individual consciousness (Martin 4).

The psychological drama that displays in "The Story of an Hour" rings true and uncomfortably real when in the light of human feelings. The story deals drastically with the possibilities of life, individual choice and consciousness, as well as the destiny by which so much is acquired and lost that people value. This is later felt in the story when Mrs. Mallard's husband is apparently lost, and Mrs. Mallard is lost as well.

The "Story of an hour" is about a woman named Mrs. Mallard who is afflicted with heart problems as soon as she finds out that her husband has been "killed." In the beginning of the story it is known that she already has a heart problem, eventually gone worse with the bad news. Her sister Josephine is the one to break the news to her, she tries to hint it to her very carefully, keeping in consideration her heart trouble. Her husband has been reported to be in a fatal railroad accident and his name was on the list of dead victims. Too stubborn to listen to anyone in the house, Mrs. Mallard retrieves