Thursday February 4, 2010

Class study notes for Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

How might heart trouble be more than a physical ailment?
Note that this is the first thing we are
told about her and how other people respond to her.
Evidently this is--at least for those around her--an
important part of who she is. Who took care? Why is
this written in the passive voice, with a "hidden" subject?
What does this construction suggest about Mrs.
Mallard's customary environment?

Why is she tantalizing her with hints?
Is this alerting us that there may be other
"veiled hints" in the story? What does this
suggest about how the family views Mrs. M.?

What does this paragraph suggest
about Richards' feelings for Mrs. M?
Why is he in such a hurry? Is the code
of the "southern gentleman" at work here,
or could there be more to his concern than that?

Why are we first told how she does NOT
hear the news? What does this reaction suggest about her?
about how "ladies" were expected to react?
Look for repeated uses of the negatives and positives
in the story and consider why they might be used.

What does this passionate response tell us
about her? This is our first real clue as to what
sort of person she is--aside from her reported state of health.

Note the contrast of motion and stillness
Why is the time of year so important?

Delicious ordinarily refers to taste.
Who is "tasting" here? Why is the word used?

She too has been "crying." What does this detail, as well as the other sensory images, tell you about what she is experiencing?

How does this picture represent symbolically what she sees about her situation?

Why is she compared to a dreaming child?

Does her age surprise you? What does her face tell you about her life?

What sort of emotional state is she in? Again, why is the negative statement here?

In your first reading, what do you guess that "something" might be? Does that interpretation change with a second reading? Why is this "message" arriving externally?

"Now" indicates a change--of what kind?
Here she is both passive and active. Where is "it" truly coming from? Why is her will ineffective to stop it? Could this BE her will?
What does this description of her hands suggest?
What is happening to her? Why does she repeat "free?
Note how the sensuality of what she sees has been transferred to her body. Is this possibly sexual ecstasy? Why might she react this way?

What cherished domestic and 19th century myth does Chopin challenge here?
Here Chopin--or is it Mrs. Mallard?-- is making a very general statement about relationships, particularly between men and women. How does it apply to this case? What might make it a "crime"? Do you agree?

Again, body and soul are connected. How does this anticipate the end?
What does Josephine's plea say about the expectations of those around Louise (now given a name)?

What has she conquered that would make her seem victorious? Note the physical position of each person as she "descends.

elixir (from Middle English, a substance of transmutative properties) 1. a sweetened aromatic solution of alcohol and water, used as a vehicle for medicine. 2. a medicine regarded as a cure for all ills. 3. the philosophers' stone. 4. the quintessence or underlying principle. How do these different definitions shed light on her revelation?

Just what is coming through an "open window"?

Why "running riot"? Note the repetition of the idea of time. Look back to the title and consider the role of time in this story.

Why is he stained by travel if he was not on the train? This is our major description of him; does it go beyond the condition of his clothing?

It is a "grip-sack," not a "briefcase" or "suitcase"; what does this word suggest (again, given that we have been told almost nothing else about him)? Does his distance echo, in figurative terms, the nature of their marriage?

Whose interests does this diagnosis serve? How is it reflective of Chopin's implied view of marriage?