Today, we’re talking about one of Kate Chopin’s shortest of stories and the inspiration for the title of this blog. A masterpiece in precision and irony, Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is one of her most popular and widely read works. So, if you’re looking for a quick read—just over a thousand words, I counted—then this is the one for you. As usual, Chopin jam-packs each word in this story with just enough layers of meaning to enrich any coffee break.
I have a particular soft spot for “The Story of an Hour.” It was the first story I ever read by Kate Chopin and it has been a part of my life ever since. As a teenager, it inspired my first attempts at writing fiction. In college, it was the seed from which my scholarly interests grew. Today, Chopin’s heroines remind me of life’s possibilities when world feels stagnant and of the importance of being true to yourself, always.
“The Story of an Hour” very literally focuses on one hour in the life of Louise Mallard. Gently—due to a “weak heart”—informed of her husband’s tragic death, Louise finds that her extreme grief has suddenly given way to a “monstrous joy.” What is the monstrous source of this joy, you
“There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. 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.”
In other words, for Louise, a window of possibility has suddenly, both literally and figuratively, swung wide open. Widowhood offers Louise a chance to dictate her own future—a prospect most women in the nineteenth century wouldn’t dare dream of.
Unfortunately, Louise’s joy proves to be short-lived, for Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is not only about one hour in the life of Louise Mallard; it is also the story of her last hour. Coming down the stairs, Louise discovers her husband very much alive. It is then that Kate Chopin’s mastery of irony comes into display. “When the doctors came,” she writes, “they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.”
Many scholars consider Kate Chopin one of the United States’ foremost feminist authors. Her fiction predominately focuses on the details of women’s lives during the fin-de-siècle. Her setting is often the sensual seams of the American South, and common topics include marriage, sexuality, and independence. In Chopin’s work, traditional familial and sexual relationships often give way to more modern templates. Frequently, Chopin’s women learn to exercise their own physical and mental desires within the constraints of nineteenth-century society.
Considering a recent (and, let’s be honest, necessary) uptick in the popularity of feminism, I’d recommend “The Story of an Hour” for anyone seeking a gleam at first-wave feminism in the West. For anyone not specifically interested in feminist issues, I’d recommend delving into the genius of Kate Chopin anyway. It’ll only take five minutes to read “The Story of an Hour,” but I suspect you’ll come out craving more.
Chopin, Kate, and Barbara H. Solomon. The Awakening and Selected Stories of Kate Chopin. New American Library, 1976.
