The Story of an Hour Questions and Answers
by Kate Chopin

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• The Story of an Hour
  What references in the story "The Story of an Hour" do we learn about Brently Mallard that indicate the type of person he was?
  At the beginning of the short story "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, Brently Mallard has just died, and so the references about what type of person he was are indirect, as readers discover...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In The Story of an Hour, what does the title mean?
  The title "The Story of an Hour" is a statement on how, in a very short amount of time, important physical, emotional, and psychological changes can occur in people's lives that transform their...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the social setting, time setting, and place setting in "The Story of an Hour"? maybe the significant for each settings in the story
  The setting is an American city, the time is the late 19th century. The social setting is defined by a male dominated society where women have little to say about their lives. They go from their...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Why is the news of Mrs. Mallard's husband's apparent death given to her "carefully"?
  The opening line of the story indicates that Louise Mallard is thought to be physically and psychologically delicate; the narrator says she is "afflicted with a heart trouble." This is the implied...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What does "The Story of an Hour" tell readers about how Brently Mallard seems to feel about his wife?
  Brently Mallard is, by all accounts, a respectable man with a respectable wife. He "had never looked save with love upon" Louise Mallard, and when she thinks he has died, she thinks of how "she...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How did you picture Mrs. Mallard (age, looks, etc.) after the first description of her in the story?
  The answer to this question depends upon whether it refers to the first physical description or the first description of any kind. The first description of Mrs. Mallard of any kind appears in the...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How does Mrs. Mallard’s death in the conclusion of "The Story of an Hour" contribute to the story’s overall meaning? 
  In the short story "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, Louise Mallard is informed by her sister Josephine of the death of her husband in a railroad accident. Aware of Louise's heart trouble,...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How does the scene outside the window foreshadow the feelings that sweep over Mrs. Mallard as she sits in her chair in "The Story of an Hour"?
  In Kate Chopin's short story, Mrs. Mallard has just been informed of her husband's death. She retreats to her room, sits in her chair and gazes out the window. The scene is described as an "open...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What was Mrs.Mallard's life like before her husband's death in "The Story of an Hour"? What revelation does she have when she imagines what her life will be like as a widow? Based on Mrs. Mallard's untimely death, to what extent does power or lack...
  Mrs. Mallard reflects on her married life as she sits alone to process the news of her husband's death. Her husband was a "tender" man, and she knows that she will weep to see his body. He didn't...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Imagine an ending to "The Story of an Hour" in which Mrs. Louise Mallard does not die of heart trouble when her husband arrives home. Write an original ending from the perspective of Mr. Brently Mallard as he notices his wife's shock when he walks...
  Unfortunately, I am not able to write a full answer for you, as this is against our guidelines at eNotes. However, I can give you some ideas about what you might want to write in your response,...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the main conflict in "The Story of an Hour"?
  To me, the conflict in this story is between Mrs. Louise Mallard and the society in which she lives. Her desire to be an independent woman is in conflict with the society she lives in, which is...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Why are Mrs. Mallard’s friends and family concerned about her hearing the news of her husband’s death in "The Story of an Hour"?
  The opening lines of Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" tell the audience that Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the irony in "The Story of an Hour"?
  Irony is created when there is a discrepancy between what we expect to happen and what actually happens. So, one major irony of this story is created when Louise Mallard reacts with joy to news of...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Describe Louise’s feelings upon the death of her husband in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Then, describe her feelings when her husband returns home.
  When Louise Mallard (at that point we do not know her first name, though) hears of the "death" of her husband, she has an immediate and violent reaction. She experiences tremendous grief and she...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Is there an allusion in "The Story of an Hour"?
  An allusion is an indirect reference to another text, place, person, or idea of historical or cultural significance. For example, if I said that I tried to meet the deadline, but sleep was the...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How has "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin effectively used defamiliarization?
  The literary term "defamiliarization" comes from the Russian word "ostranenie," which means "making strange." It refers to the technique of presenting common or familiar things in unfamiliar ways....

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the verbal irony in "The Story of an Hour"?
  Verbal irony is when a character says something but means something else. Taken literally, the character seems to mean one thing. Actually, they mean to communicate something completely different...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the dream in "The Story of An Hour," and how is it deferred? Even though it is written in prose, does the story use poetic devices, such as metaphors and sensory imagery? What are they in this story, and what do they symbolize?
  In the short story "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, a woman named Louise Mallard learns of the death of her husband in a train wreck. After her sister Josephine tells her the news, Louise...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How does Mrs. Mallard respond to her husband's death at the beginning of the story?
  At the beginning of the story, when Mrs. Louise Mallard first hears the news about her husband's supposed death in a railroad accident, she does not respond in the way that would be expected of a...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What examples of foreshadowing are in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"?
  Foreshadowing is the use of clues that hint at future events. There are two good examples of foreshadowing in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour." The very first sentence hints at Mrs. Mallard's...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What do you find surprising or shocking about the short story "The Story of an Hour"?
  What's particularly surprising is the way that Louise reacts to what she thinks is the death of her husband. We don't get the impression that Louise's husband is a bad man, yet when news arrives...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the dramatic irony in "The Story of an Hour"?
  Dramatic irony refers to when the reader or audience knows something that one or more characters do not. In this particular story, we know that Louise Mallard is not in her bedroom, grieving and...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In "The Story of an Hour," why do the doctors claim that Louise dies "of the joy that kills"?
  Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” ends with Mrs. Mallard collapsing upon seeing her husband Brently alive after thinking he was killed in a train accident. She suffered a heart...

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• The Story of an Hour
  From what perspective is "The Story of an Hour" told?  
  Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” combines the perspective of the third-person omniscient narrator with that of Mrs. Mallard. The story teller is an outside narrator who shares the story of Mrs....

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• The Story of an Hour
  Please help with writing a synopsis of "The Story of an Hour."
  A synopsis of a story is a summary. This may be challenging to write for "The Story of an Hour" as the story is already short. In a nutshell, a woman named Mrs. Mallard finds out her husband has...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In "The Story of an Hour," why do the doctors claim that she dies “of the joy that kills”?
  I want to clarify a bit with this question and answer. The doctors don't initially say that Mrs. Mallard died of a joy that kills. The doctors state that Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease. The...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How do the tone and mood reflect the social and cultural mores of the time period in "The Story of an Hour"?
  The tone and mood in "The Story of an Hour" certainly seem to respond to the social and cultural mores of the late nineteenth century. During this time period, tradition dictated that women,...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What does the phrase "Free! Body and soul free!" indicate in "The Story of an Hour"?
  The phrase "Free! Body and soul free!" is what Louise utters to herself over and over again upon realizing that her husband's death is not affecting her in the way that she (and, it seems, her...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How does the character contribute to the overall theme?
  Louise Mallard, the protagonist of “The Story of an Hour,” experiences a gamut of emotions in the course of the day that the story covers. Author Kate Chopin is primarily concerned with...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What symbolism is used in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"?
  Much of the symbolism used in "The Story of an Hour" is meant to symbolize the freedom and happiness that Louise Mallard has longed for throughout her marriage, perhaps even throughout her entire...

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• The Story of an Hour
  How does the author reveal the irony in the story?What literary devices does she use to to reveal the irony?
  Kate Chopin reveals irony in a variety ways in this story due to the fact that the story uses different kinds of irony. The main type of irony used over the course of this great short story is...

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• The Story of an Hour
  When people say the story takes us "on an emotional journey," what do they mean? What message does Chopin wish to convey with this controversial work?
  When people say that a story takes its readers on an emotional journey, this simply means that the story makes us feel many emotions. For example, this story might make us feel sad, when we learn...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What are some examples of imagery and symbolism in "The Story of an Hour"?
  Kate Chopin packs a great deal of imagery and symbolism into her short story of only about one thousand words. Much of the imagery is tactile imagery that helps the reader feel the physical...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the central idea of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin?
  Kate Chopin may be considered an early feminist. In "The Story of an Hour" she posits the idea that a woman's life may actually be better without a husband. It was a radical idea at the time. In...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What are the internal and external conflicts in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin?
  There is one primary external conflict in the story and one internal conflict, but quite cleverly, each manifests itself in two opposite ways. The external conflict is between husband and wife,...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is Mrs. Mallard’s opinion about people who behave with “good intentions”? What does this tell us about the real way Brently seemed to feel about his wife?
  The text of "The Story of an Hour" does not actually contain that exact quote. About halfway through the story readers are told about "a kind intention" and a "cruel intention." I believe that the...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Why is the news of Mrs. Mallard's husband's apparent death given to her "carefully" in Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"?
  Louise Mallard's sister, Josephine, breaks the news to her gently because Louise is known to have a weak heart. She's scared that the news of her husband's death will cause her to react with...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the setting of "The Story of an Hour"?
  The setting of this story is the home of Brently and Louise Mallard. Louise's sister, Josephine, breaks the news of her husband's death to Mrs. Mallard, and then Mrs. Mallard proceeds to spend the...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the thesis of "The Story of an Hour"?
  Being a fictional short story, there isn't an actual thesis in the work. If I were going to choose one sentence that emphasizes the meaning of the story it would be the very last sentence. When...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the cause of Louise Mallard’s death in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”? Explain the irony surrounding the circumstance of her death.
  The story opens with a sentence explaining both that Louise Mallard has heart trouble and that her husband has been killed. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Why does Mrs. Mallard really die in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"?
  At the end of Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour," the doctors say that Mrs. Mallard died from a heart attack caused by the "joy" of seeing her husband alive. She was known to have...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Compare the characters Louise Mallard from "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and Dee Johnson from "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker.
  Louise Mallard and Dee Johnson are ladies who are searching for something that is elusive for both. Each character seems caught in a world that is unsatisfactory for her. In "The Story of an Hour"...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In "The Story of an Hour," discuss Mrs. Mallard's conflict and how she deals it.
  Mrs. Mallard has a couple of conflicts to handle in "The Story of an Hour." Her first conflict is what to do as a newly-widowed woman in the late 19thC, and the second is what to do as a...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What view of marriage does Kate Chopin present in this story, and how does it compare with your own view?
  The view of marriage in the short story "The Story of an Hour" is not exactly what I would call a positive reflection of marriage. Mrs. Mallard is married, but I would definitely hesitate to say...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Why does Chopin introduce her protagonist as Mrs. Mallard rather than by her first name?
  Good question! I think you're very right in stating that this is a deliberate choice on Chopin's part. The focus of this story is upon an hour which completely changes—and ultimately ends—the life...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In "The Story of an Hour," name each emotion Mrs. Mallard experiences and how long it lasts.
  In "The Story of an Hour," the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, is told at the beginning of the story that her husband has died, only to discover at the end of the story that he is not dead at all. When...

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• The Story of an Hour
  What is the situational irony in "The Story of an Hour"?
  Situational irony occurs in a story when the outcome of an event is the opposite of what one expects. Two paired instances of situational irony create the structure of Kate Chopin's "The Story of...

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• The Story of an Hour
  Why does Chopin call her protagonist as "Mrs. Mallard" rather than by her first name?
  In the first sentence of the story, Louise is referred to as Mrs. Mallard: Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In "The Story of an Hour", Mrs. Mallard closes the door to her room so that Josephine cannot get in, yet she leaves the window open. Why does Chopin make a point of telling the reader this? How might this relate to the idea of being "free" and to...
  Leaving the window open certainly relates to Mrs. Mallard's freedom. If you read the passage again, she notices all of the wonderful things of life that are happening below, things she's never been...

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• The Story of an Hour
  In "The Story of an Hour" what is the apparent attitude of the narrator toward the institution of marriage?
  I think you would have to say that the narrator has a negative attitude towards the institution of marriage. At least, the narrator gives to Mrs. Mallard some very negative thoughts about the...

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