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    The Story of an Hour
    The Story of an Hour
    The Story of an Hour
    Audiobook7 minutes

    The Story of an Hour

    Written by Kate Chopin

    Narrated by Cathy Dobson

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Kate Chopin's brilliant short story about an hour in the life of a young wife. When news arrives that Louise's husband has been killed in a railroad accident, her family and friends are careful to break it to her gently, knowing that she has a heart condition. Louise locks herself in her room for an hour, during which she realizes that this bereavement is the start of a new life of freedom and independence. But a much greater shock awaits her when she leaves her room and goes downstairs....
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRed Door Consulting
    Release dateMay 6, 2013
    ISBN9781467668965
    The Story of an Hour
    Author

    Kate Chopin

    Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri,In 1851. She began writing shortly after herHusband's death and, from 1889 until her ownDeath, her stories and other miscellaneousWritings appeared in Vogue, Youth's companion,Atlantic Monthly, Century, Saturday EveningPost, and other publications. In addition to The Awakening, Mrs. Chopin published another novel, At Fault, and two collections of short stories and sketches, Bayou Folk and A Night at Acadie. The publication of The Awakening in 1899 occasioned shocked and angry response from reviewers all over the country. The book was taken off the shelves of the St. Louis mercantile library and its author was barred from the fine arts club. Kate Chopin died in 1904.

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    Reviews for The Story of an Hour

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      I'm writing this review as though the reader has read the short story already, since I wrote it for Goodreads' Short Story Club, where everyone was invited to read the stories and write reviews.I hadn't previously read anything by Kate Chopin, or even heard of her.There were many opposites in the story.When hearing of her husband's death, Louise Mallard wept with "wild abandonment" but shortly after she felt "free, free, free".She felt a "monstrous joy". Her husband had been kindly but had had a powerful will that he imposed on her; thus she could not do what she herself wanted.She had been repressed but now she possessed "self-assertion". Now there was "the new spring life", a "delicious breath of rain", singing, twittering sparrows, and "patches of blue sky".Louise carried herself like a goddess of victory.When she saw her husband come in the door, alive, she died of a heart attack.The doctors, wrong as they so often are, declared she had died of "the joy that kills".My comment is that the Universe always brings us what we want, but not always in the way we want or expect.Had Brently actually been dead, Louse may well later have married someone else who turned out to have the same overpowering nature. But she wanted freedom and Death is the ultimate freedom, so that is what she got.
    • 5/5
      A very short, very concise, every word carrying great weight in this one hour look at the brief life of a wife who believes she has just become a widow. A work of feminist literature.
    • 5/5
      Short story with an unexpected twist at the end. Loved it.
    • 5/5
      “The Story of an Hour” is a very powerful piece because of the irony of the entire story. We, as the readers, are led to believe that Mr. Mallard is dead just as Mrs. Mallard does. We see her go through a range of emotions, the strongest of which happens to be relief rather than the sadness that’s expected. Her death at the end of the story is unexpected, but at the same time, it seems to be the only out Mrs. Mallard had. Feeling the way she had in her marriage meant she was happier to die than to see her husband still alive.

      Since the story is in omniscient third person point of view, it could have explored information about Mr. Mallard to give the story a more rounded feeling. We do not know how he felt about his wife or his marriage. The story also fails to explain why he was nowhere near the scene of the accident he should have been in. This mixed with Mrs. Mallard’s feelings of no longer loving her husband seems to suggest he is having some sort of affair. Whatever the case, she’s glad to be free from him—so much so that when she learns he isn’t really dead, it’s too much for her to bear.

      Even though Mr. Mallard was the one believe to be dead, the story is written in a way that shows how ready the characters are for the death of Mrs. Mallard instead. Josephine, her sister, is careful in the way of delivering the news of Brentley for fear of stirring her heart trouble. Richards tries to hide Mr. Mallard from Louise’s sight when he comes home. Not much is known about Richards from the few lines he is mentioned, but this character could almost come off as shady. Did he really believe Brentley to be dead when he delivered the news or did he and Mr. Mallard have some sort of plan?