Kate Chopin Playlist: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9W0B6N5BNqE.html Support Us: www.patreon.com/thecodexcantina TABLE OF CONTENTS: 0:00 Introductions 0:37 Publication Info 2:05 Plot Summary 2:38 Analysis 12:05 Wrap Up and Ratings
I love a short story that ends by slapping you in the face. This is definitely one of those. I mentioned in another comment that I also love her story Desiree's Baby from that collection for that reason. Oh, and Passing by Nella Larsen, although that's a novella.
This is such a great story and I'm so glad to hear that you both liked it. I've taught it several times and will actually be teaching it again as the opening for my Gender and Lit class next week! Not sure if there are slightly different versions of the story due to republication under differing titles, but in the edition I use, I always point to these lines in particular and discuss them with students as a good representation of Louise's relationship with her husband: "She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that 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" (paragraph 11). So, as you both noted, it's not like he was abusive to her, but she found the institution of marriage and the social norms/expectations for women to be oppressive. What Krypto said about the end of the story is how I teach it. 🙂
❤️ This was a super fun analysis/review to watch. Whenever you two really like something, magic happens. I wonder if she died because while she experienced the fleeting joy of the freedom of marriage, she had a sudden thought of how alone she'd truly be? Freedom might be attractive to fantasize about, but to find it a reality would be the worst. (For me. I really like my husband)
I am behind on these. This is a great story. So much conveyed in so few lines. "Joy that kills." Agree completely with your interpretation of that line. (Well not the affair with the brother option maybe).
I have far too many assignments that keep me from keeping up with ya'll, but I just so happened to read this on my own knowing that I will be reading Awakening in the short future. Great discussion! 👍
“The Story of an Hour” is one of the best short stories I ever read. It’s language and plot are stunningly efficient in evoking a roller coaster of emotions for the reader.
Interesting. I suppose its time of release could have an impact on its significance. I enjoyed your breakdown and I'm curious to see more information as to what elevates this to being one of the greatest of all time.
Am I a horrible person for cracking up laughing at the end of this story? I definitely didn't expect it. I'm a happily married man and a father of four, but at the same time I can relate to Mrs Mallard. That probably makes me a horrible person too. I need to read more Chopin. 10/10!
I think the ending is an outside view of her death, or a doctor's statement. Others obviously didn't know that she was feeling liberated, instead they thought she died of joy when shensw her husband alive after all.
Does Una have a book on the shelf called "The Literary Analysis Dictionary" which you can look up a word and it tells you what it usually symbolizes in literature? And if not, maybe he should WRITE one and self-publish... I'd buy. :)
I think its so futile to think she died because she lost that freedom and hope. She doesn't die in the room alone when she feels the freedom. If she had died in her room during she feels freedom, I could say that she died because of it. She dies because of " joy that kills" when she sees her husband. This is the exact same thing why Eveline doesn't leave her country, and order. She is scared of the big change like Eveline and when she sees her husband, she feels so happy that she dies. His husbands return is the one to pull her out of this foreign emotions and the big change. We dont need to be informed that "she is scared of the freedom" to understand it, yet there are no info about Eveline's reason to not leave. This is not ignoring the story, actually its a "story of an hour". Its about one change and the womans life fells down, shows how weak the era's woman type is, this is a critism. In an hour, the woman is dead for literally nothing.
This is such a great channel. Let me know if you guys would ever be interested in doing some sort of collaboration, as my channel also discusses literature from an English professor's point of view. Cheers!
Thanks for the kind words, Dr. Kosters. Perhaps when we finish our project on Ulysses! We’re quite tied up in it right now but love spending time talking with others normally.
