katechopinslideshare-16092113572katechopinslideshare-160921135727.ppt7.ppt

Grade 10

1. Kate ChopinKate Chopin
The Story of an The Story of an
HourHour

2. • American author Kate Chopin (1850–1904) was born in St.
Louis in 1850.
•When the author was four, her father died in a train accident.
• Started writing at age 39
• Southern regionalist writer, most of her fiction is set in
Louisiana – her writing themes of class relations,
relationships, and feminine sexuality shocked her 19
th

century readers.
• Died of a brain hemorrhage in St. Louis on August 22,
1904.
Catherine (Kate) O’Flaherty

3. Family – Kate raised 6 childrenFamily – Kate raised 6 children Husband - Oscar ChopinHusband - Oscar Chopin

4. • Written in 1894, published the same year by Vogue magazine
• The story of an hour in the life of Mrs. Louise Mallard
• Deals with the issues of female self-discovery and identity
Story of an Hour - FactsStory of an Hour - Facts

5. •Mrs. Louise Mallard: Protagonist with “heart trouble”
•Brently Mallard: Husband of Louise – Assumed dead after a
railroad disaster.
•Josephine: Sister of Louise – She tells Mrs. Mallard of her
husband’s death. Josephine embodies the feminine ideal.
•Richards: Friend of Brently Mallard – first hears word of Brently’s
death.
CharactersCharacters

6. • Assumed during Chopin’s lifetime 19
th
century amongst
Cajun and Creole societies in Louisiana
• in the home of Louise Mallard. More about the location is
not specified.
SettingSetting

7. ThemesThemes
• Irony
• Female self-discovery
• Identity and selfhood
• Role of Women in Marriage

8. ToneTone
•Ironic detachment, melancholy. The
unrecognized or unspoken
unhappiness that seems to rule her life
is realized only upon word of her
husband's demise, and swiftly taken
away again at his arrival.

9. MotifsMotifs
• Broke/Broken
•The window
•Her heart trouble

10. IronyIrony
•What is understood to be true by the characters
within the story – and what is understood by the
reader?
•Reveals the distance between what appears to be
true and what is actually true.

11. StyleStyle
• Simple action, detached point of view, third person limited.

12. The Story in Context: American experience and literary genreThe Story in Context: American experience and literary genre
• Published in 1894 in an era with many
social and cultural questions occupied
American’s minds, Chopin’s work shocked
her 19
th
century readers. The story was
initially rejected by Century and Vogue
magazine. The “Woman Question” involved
which roles were acceptable for women to
assume in society. Women were not
allowed to vote until 1920.
• Since the 1960’s rise of the feminist
movement, Chopin’s work has been
rediscovered and is now acclaimed for
precisely the reasons it was denounced
during her lifetime.