The Story of An Hour

Kate Chopin (1894)

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. 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. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

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. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under the breath: "free, free,

free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

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. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.

 

第二篇：References of The Story of An Hour

1. I guess to make my previous answer more clear, I would say that the conflict is internal because Louise Mallard is dealing with the constraint she feels by her marriage and the second-class status she has as a woman. Brently, her husband, has never really done anything cruel to her except treat her like a woman--which is to say in her era--like she is weak and helpless without him. Her conflict with her husband, then, is not one of an external nature, but rather in her own feelings of frustration and her dread of living under his authority. She wants to be her own person. And just when she thinks that opportunity has arrived, she sees Brently and realizes that she is in this "prison" of marriage again. The pain of that is more than her heart can stand, and she dies.

The protagonist(主角) character Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin's "The Story of An Hour" portrays（描写） a wife's unexpected response to her husband's death. The narrator divulges(揭露) to the reader modest (谦虚的,适度的)but convincing hints of Mrs. Mallards newly discovered freedom. This newly discovered freedom would be short lived for Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard, who suffers from heart disease, was portrayed as an average wife who breaks down into a fit of (一阵发作) distress痛苦 from the fateful重大的, 灾难性的 news of her husband's death. She retreats撤回 to her room to come to grips握紧,紧握 with the tragedy but finds instead something unexpected in herself. The tears and

Mallard is not the tyrant暴君 who holds Louise in this bondage奴役,束缚 but instead it was the institution of marriage itself that entraps使陷入圈套,使受骗 her. The conflict in " The Story of An Hour" was centered on Mrs. The conflict that Louise Mallard feels is not with her husband or herself but that of the cultural institution of marriage. This personal conflict is prent普遍的,盛行的 in most married people but is not normally an over bearing conflict as was encountered遇到,遭遇 within Mrs. The time of her new found freedom was revealed when she begins to whisper "free" over and over to denote that she is no longer under the will of another person. This conflict was so profoundly深刻地 ingrained深深渗入的,根深蒂固的 in Louise that when she discovers that her husband was not dead and she was not free, death was the only escape from the internal conflict of personal freedom. Mallard is a good husband but that she detests憎恶,厌恶 the bondage of being husband and wife and she no longer wants the will of another forced upon her. Mallard's lost personal freedom when she married her husband and became obedient to his stronger will. emotions soon turned to confusion as Mrs. The imagery in the story helps set her characters new found freedom from the trees "aquiver" with new life denoting her new found life to the cloud's shadow representing her married life casting shadows on her happiness.

The conflict is that Mrs Mallard is happy that her husband died because she is finally free from the unhappy life she was living but she should really be saddened by the death of the man she married.

A woman loves her husband and is shocked by his death. Yet she is glad because now she is free. She cannot bear it when he turns up alive.

The most important conflict in this story is appearance versus reality. To all people it would appear that Louise would grieve over Brently since they would assume she was happily married and content in her sub-servant role as a housewife. Louise's sister Josephine exemplifies作为……的范例 such a judgment of how Louise's reaction to the sudden death of her husband Brently. Josephine

misinterprets Louise's behavior, thinking she is hysterical over Brently's death. She pleads, "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door-you will make yourself ill." To Josephine, Louise appears to be

heart-broken, but in reality, Louise is relieved by his death.

Another conflict in this story is the role of the wife versus the role of the husband. For instance, Louise struggled with her feelings about her marriage for years. Louise thinks "what could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion断言,主张,声明 which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being." She admits that she did love Brently, but often she did not. On the other hand, the story suggests that Brently was completely content in the

marriage and assumed that Louise was too. This conflict is reflected in Louise's internal struggle. When she realizes that Brently is alive, she must die. This is the only way she can win the freedom she was struggling for within herself. She dies because he is alive, he is ultimately responsible for her death. In the exposition of ―The Story of an Hour‖ we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard, who is a woman ―Afflicted with a heart trouble‖ (Chopin 15). The conflict arises out of the news of her husband‘s death in a train wreck. Her immediate reaction is unusual. Instead of being paralyzed by the ―inability to accept its significance,‖ (15), Mrs. Mallard ―wept at once, with sudden wild abandonment‖ (15). The conflict begins to develop when she goes to her room alone but instead of continuing to cry, she stares out her window at the beautiful spring day with a glance that ―indicated a suspension of intelligent thought‖ (13). Here the conflict intensifies. ―There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully‖ (15). As she begins to recognize what it is, ―Her bosom rose and fell tumultuously,‖ (15) and she tries to ―beat it back with her will‖ (13). She is unable to stop it from coming, and when she ―abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped from her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over again under her breath: ?free, free, free!‘‖ (15) It is at this point that the plot reaches its greatest intensity – Mrs. Mallard‘s awakening to her own freedom. She sees beyond her grief to ―a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely‖ (16). She would be able to ―live for herself‖ (16) without ―a 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‖ (16). For Mrs. Mallard, love was not as important as ―self-assertion‖ (16). The climax of the story, however, occurs when Mr. Mallard returns unexpectedly, and Mrs. Mallard dies instantly. Here we realize not only the intensity but the depth of her feeling. The resolution has a twist of bitter irony. The doctors attribute her death to ―the joy that kills‖ (16). Brently Mallard, her sister Josephine, nor Mr. Richards will ever know the truth.

1. I guess to make my previous answer more clear, I would say that the conflict is internal because Louise Mallard is dealing with the constraint she feels by her marriage and the second-class status she has as a woman. Brently, her husband, has never really done anything cruel to her except treat her like a woman--which is to say in her era--like she is weak and helpless without him. Her conflict with her husband, then, is not one of an external nature, but rather in her own feelings of frustration and her dread of living under his authority. She

wants to be her own person. And just when she thinks that opportunity has arrived, she sees Brently and realizes that she is in this "prison" of marriage again. The pain of that is more than her heart can stand, and she dies.

The protagonist(主角) character Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin's "The Story of An Hour" portrays（描写） a wife's unexpected response to her husband's death. The narrator divulges(揭露) to the reader modest (谦虚的,适度的)but convincing hints of Mrs. Mallards newly discovered freedom. This newly discovered freedom would be short lived for Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard, who suffers from heart disease, was portrayed as an average wife who breaks down into a fit of (一阵发作) distress痛苦 from the fateful重大的, 灾难性的 news of her husband's death. She retreats撤回 to her room to come to grips握紧,紧握 with the tragedy but finds instead something unexpected in herself. The tears and

Mallard is not the tyrant暴君 who holds Louise in this bondage奴役,束缚 but instead it was the institution of marriage itself that entraps使陷入圈套,使受骗 her. The conflict in " The Story of An Hour" was centered on Mrs. The conflict that Louise Mallard feels is not with her husband or herself but that of the cultural institution of marriage. This personal conflict is prent普遍的,盛行的 in most married people but is not normally an over bearing conflict as was encountered遇到,遭遇 within Mrs. The time of her new found freedom was revealed when she begins to whisper "free" over and over to denote that she is no longer under the will of another person. This conflict was so profoundly深刻地 ingrained深深渗入的,根深蒂固的 in Louise that when she discovers that her husband was not dead and she was not free, death was the only escape from the internal conflict of personal freedom. Mallard is a good husband but that she detests憎恶,厌恶 the bondage of being husband and wife and she no longer wants the will of another forced upon her. Mallard's lost personal freedom when she married her husband and became obedient to his stronger will. emotions soon turned to confusion as Mrs. The imagery in the story helps set her characters new found freedom from the trees "aquiver" with new life denoting her new found life to the cloud's shadow representing her married life casting shadows on her happiness.

The conflict is that Mrs Mallard is happy that her husband died because she is finally free from the unhappy life she was living but she should really be saddened by the death of the man she married.

A woman loves her husband and is shocked by his death. Yet she is glad because now she is free. She cannot bear it when he turns up alive.

The most important conflict in this story is appearance versus reality. To all people it would

appear that Louise would grieve over Brently since they would assume she was happily married and content in her sub-servant role as a housewife. Louise's sister Josephine exemplifies作为……的范例 such a judgment of how Louise's reaction to the sudden death of her husband Brently. Josephine misinterprets Louise's behavior, thinking she is hysterical over Brently's death. She pleads, "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door-you will make yourself ill." To Josephine, Louise appears to be heart-broken, but in reality, Louise is relieved by his death.

Another conflict in this story is the role of the wife versus the role of the husband. For instance, Louise struggled with her feelings about her marriage for years. Louise thinks "what could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion断言,主张,声明 which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being." She admits that she did love Brently, but often she did not. On the other hand, the story suggests that Brently was completely content in the marriage and assumed that Louise was too. This conflict is reflected in Louise's internal struggle. When she realizes that Brently is alive, she must die. This is the only way she can win the freedom she was struggling for within herself. She dies because he is alive, he is ultimately responsible for her death.

In the exposition of ―The Story of an Hour‖ we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard, who is a woman ―Afflicted with a heart trouble‖ (Chopin 15). The conflict arises out of the news of her husband‘s death in a train wreck. Her immediate reaction is unusual. Instead of being paralyzed by the ―inability to accept its significance,‖ (15), Mrs. Mallard ―wept at once, with sudden wild abandonment‖ (15). The conflict begins to develop when she goes to her room alone but instead of continuing to cry, she stares out her window at the beautiful spring day with a glance that ―indicated a suspension of intelligent thought‖ (13). Here the conflict intensifies. ―There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully‖ (15). As she begins to recognize what it is, ―Her bosom rose and fell tumultuously,‖ (15) and she tries to ―beat it back with her will‖ (13). She is unable to stop it from coming, and when she ―abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped from her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over again under her breath: ?free, free, free!‘‖ (15) It is at this point that the plot reaches its greatest intensity – Mrs. Mallard‘s awakening to her own freedom. She sees beyond her grief to ―a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely‖ (16). She would be able to ―live for herself‖ (16) without ―a 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‖ (16). For Mrs. Mallard, love was not as important as ―self-assertion‖ (16). The climax of the story, however, occurs when Mr. Mallard returns unexpectedly, and Mrs. Mallard dies instantly. Here we realize not only the intensity but the depth of her feeling. The resolution has a twist of bitter irony. The doctors attribute her death to ―the joy that kills‖ (16). Brently Mallard, her sister Josephine, nor Mr. Richards will ever know the truth.

D. PLOT

It tells what happens in a story. Like a builder of a house--the story builder follows a plan when he builds a story. The authors plan or pattern is called a PLOT.

There are five parts to a plot:

(1) Introduction: Introduces the main characters and gives the purpose or problem of the story.

(2) Rising Action: The complication and conflicts in the story.

(3) Climax: the highest point of interest--suspense mounts--turning point--outcome of the story is determined.

(4) Falling Action: This is a very brief occurrence. Suspense subsides.

(5) Conclusion / Final Outcome: It is a brief clarification of major conflicts and minor complications.

The plot is a series of closely related events that happen to the main character. The main character is called the Protagonist. A situation develops where the protagonist finds himself in a series of CONFLICTS. These conflicts are with his Antagonist who could be another person, nature, or various sources.

CONFLICT-- Conflict is essential to plot. Without conflict there is no plot. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move. Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones. (http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/engramja/elements.html)

There are two types of conflict:

1) External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.

2) Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.

There are four kinds of conflict:

1) Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals.

2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.

3) Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of other people.

4) Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) - The leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

1. In The Story of an Hour, the antagonist would be Mr. Brentley Mallard, Mrs. Mallard's husband. The central conflict revolves around Mrs. Mallard being informed that her husband has been killed in a train accident.

After learning of this news, Louise Mallard goes upstairs into her room and sits in a chair facing a window and begins to imagine the life she will have as a widow. Up until that moment, she never imagined that she would ever have any individual freedom in her life, since, in this period in history, women were considered the property of their husbands and could not go out without them.

"Chopin deals with the issues of female self-discovery and identity in "The Story of an Hour." After Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she is initially overcome with grief. But quickly she begins to feel a previously unknown sense of freedom and relief."

Mrs. Mallard has lived a life that has largely been controlled by Mr. Mallard's wishes and choices. She has loved her husband, she tells the reader, most of the time, but she has not loved the confining feeling that marriage has given her. She longs to make her own decisions, choices, to explore her own interests, just the thought of having the ability to make such choices makes her feel joyful.

"Louise is ecstatic when she realizes that ''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."

Her joy, however, is short-lived, when at the end of the story she gets a great shock, a surprise that causes her to die on the spot, her husband walks in the front door, very much alive. All the free days she imagined she would have, sitting upstairs in her chair, thinking of herself as a widow, free from the demands of marriage, are gone in an instant. In that same instant, Louise Mallard's weak heart gives out and she dies.

She dies a happy death, having had the opportunity to explore, even if it is only in her mind, what life would be like freed from the constraints of marriage and the control of her husband.

"Chopin seems to be making a comment on nineteenth-century marriages, which granted one person—the man—right to own and dominate another—the woman. This theme, unpopular in an era when women were not even allowed to vote, is examined in many of Chopin's other works, most notably The Awakening."

1. In The Story of an Hour, the story's central conflict is the

main character's shock at the discovery of her true inner feelings after being announced about the death of her husband. She did not expect, from what one perceives in the story, that she would actually welcome the situation. Her feelings shocked her, because she for the first time felt freedom and a sense of joy at being "released" from her role as submissive wife. In the end, when he comes back and we find out that he is actually alive, she cannot take the change, nor fathom the idea that those feelings she had been bottling up for ages, and now they are out- only to be put them back in again which is why she passes out and collapses.

Hence, in this story, the unique antagonist would be the protagonist herself, or better yet, her submissive nature as an enslaved wife, and the role that she, herself, opted to take as a woman.