The Story of an Hour

Vogue magazine first published American author Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” in 1894. It was published under the alternate title “The Dream of an Hour.” Some contemporary readers consider the story an early example of flash fiction, a term used for very short prose narratives. The story exemplifies psychological fiction, in which the action of the plot concerns the emotions and thoughts of the protagonist. One of Chopin’s best-known and most popular works, “The Story of an Hour” was adapted for the 1984 film The Joy that Kills. “The Story of an Hour” is widely available online, as it is now in the public domain. This guide references the version of the story found at KateChopin.org, a website overseen by the Kate Chopin International Society of scholars and educators.

In the mid-1890s, in an undisclosed city, Mrs. Louise Mallard’s sister, Josephine, cautiously tells Louise of her husband Brently Mallard’s unexpected death. Although young, Louise has “heart trouble,” and Josephine does not want the bad news to adversely affect her sister’s health. Brently’s friend Richards works at the local newspaper, where a telegraph reporting a “railroad disaster” was first received, listing Brently as a casualty. Richards confirmed the news of Brently’s death “by a second telegram” (Paragraph 2), before rushing to deliver the bad news to Louise so that she could hear it from a friendly source. Louise does not react with the stoic “inability to accept its significance” that the narrator suggests is expected (Paragraph 3) but immediately bursts into tears. Louise goes to her room and insists on being alone.

In her room, Louise sits before an open window, “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that […] seemed to reach into her soul” (Paragraph 4). Through the window, Louise sees the budding spring trees and smells the recent rain. She hears a street peddler, sparrows chirping, and someone singing in the distance. She notices the blue sky peeking through the dispersing rain clouds, and sits quietly, sobbing occasionally.

As Louise observes the scene through the window, she senses the realization of something “too subtle and elusive to name” (Paragraph 9). Her breath and pulse quicken, and Louise resists the thought forming in her mind. She gives into the feeling, and repeatedly whispers “free, free, free!” (Paragraph 11). Louise’s fear and grief transform into joy and her heart beats faster. She considers that she will feel sad again, when she sees her husband’s body, but for the moment, Louise is preoccupied by thoughts of an independent, unmarried future. Louise delights in the idea that she will now “live for herself” (Paragraph 14), and thinks that even the love between her and her husband matters less than “this possession of self-assertion” (Paragraph 15).

On the other side of the locked door, Josephine begs Louise to let her into the room. Louise refuses and continues her reverie, imagining a long and liberated life as a widow. Eventually, Louise opens the door to Josephine and walks downstairs “like a goddess of Victory” (Paragraph 20). Richards waits for them at the bottom of the stairs.

Suddenly, Brently enters through the front door with his traveling case and umbrella; he was nowhere near the train accident. Brently is shocked by Josephine’s scream, and Richards tries but fails to hide Brently from Louise’s view. Later, doctors report that Louise “died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (Paragraph 23).