Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Today:Opportunitiesinbotheducationandemploymentarevirtuallyequalformenandwomen,
althoughmanyissuesregardingequalityremain.
1890s:Thoughafewwomenwritershaveachievedsomedegreeofsuccess,itisstillconsidered
improperforawomantobeawriter.LouisaMayAlcottandSarahOrneJewettaretwowomenwriters
whogainsuccessandpopularity.
Today:Manywomenwritersofthelatenineteenthcenturyarebeingrediscovered,includingChopin,
whogainedpopularityduringthewomen'smovementofthe1960s.
The Story of an Hour Topics for Further Study
Researchmarriagelawinthe1890sandcomparethistocontemporarymarriagelaws.Howhasthe
institutionofmarriagechangedinthelastonehundredyears?
DiscussMrs.Mallardasasympatheticcharacterorasacruelandselfishcharacter.Howmightyourown
gender,age,classorethnicityinfluenceyourresponse?
DoyouthinkChopin'scritiqueoftheinstitutionofmarriage,asexpressedbyLouise,isapplicable
today?
Researchthesuffragemovementofthelatenineteenthcentury.HowdoLouise'sreflectionsofher
situationinsocietyreflecttheconcernsofthismovement?Whichconcernsarestillissuestoday?
The Story of an Hour Media Adaptations
"TheStoryofanHour,"wasadaptedin1985intoa56minutelongvideo,KateChopin:TheJoyThat
Kills,availablethroughFilmsfortheHumanities&Sciences.
Anaudiocassetteof''TheStoryofanHour,''isavailablethroughBooksinMotion(1992).
The Story of an Hour What Do I Read Next?
TheAwakening,KateChopin's1899novel,tellsofEdnaPointellier,atraditionalwifeandmotherwho
becomes"awakened"tosexualandspiritualindependenceafteranextramaritalaffair.
"TheYellowWallpaper"(1892)byCharlottePerkinsGilmanisthestoryofawomanwholacksan
outletforhercreativityanddescendsintomadness.
Tolearnaboutthesuffragettemovementandthestruggleforwomen'srightsinthelatenineteenthand
earlytwentiethcentury,seeEightyYearsandMore:Reminiscences(1992),bythepioneeringfeminist,
ElizabethCadyStanton.
AdrienneRich'spoetry,particularlyhercollection,DivingIntotheWreck(1973),exploresfeminism,
femalesexualityandwomen'srolesinsociety.
The Story of an Hour Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Bender,Bert,"KateChopin'sLyricalShortStories,"StudiesinShortFiction,VolXI,no.3,Summer,
1974,pp.25766.
Ewell,BarbaraC.,KateChopin,UngarPublishingCompany,1986.
Larsson,DonaldF.,"KateChopin,"inMagill'sCriticalSurveyofShortFiction,editedbyFrankN.
Magill,SalemPress,1981,pp.113136.
Pattee,FredLewis,"TheTriumphoftheShortStory,"inhisAHistoryofAmericanLiteratureSince
1870,CooperSquarePublishers,1968,pp.35584.
Seyersted,Per,KateChopin:ACriticalBiography,LouisianaStateUniversityPress,1969.
FurtherReading
TwentiethCenturyLiteratureCriticism,Vol.14,GaleResearch,1984.
ContainsausefulintroductionandpreviouslypublishedcriticismofChopin'swork,bothpositiveand
negative.
The Story of an Hour Bibliography (Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories,
Critical Edition)
Beer,Janet.KateChopin,EdithWharton,andCharlottePerkinsGilman:StudiesinShortFiction.New
York:St.MartinsPress,1997.
Beer,Janet,andElizabethNolan,eds.KateChopinsTheAwakening:ASourcebook.NewYork:
Routledge,2004.
Bonner,Thomas,Jr.TheKateChopinCompanion.NewYork:GreenwoodPress,1988.
Boren,LyndaS.,andSaradeSaussureDavis,eds.KateChopinReconsidered:BeyondtheBayou.Baton
Rouge:LouisianaStateUniversityPress,1992.
Koloski,Bernard.KateChopin:AStudyoftheShortFiction.NewYork:Twayne,1996.
Petry,AliceHall,ed.CriticalEssaysonKateChopin.NewYork:G.K.Hall,1996.
Skaggs,Peggy.KateChopin.Boston:Twayne,1985.
Stein,AllenF.WomenandAutonomyinKateChopinsShortFiction.NewYork:PeterLang,2005.
Taylor,Helen.Gender,Race,andReligionintheWritingsofGraceKing,RuthMcEneryStuart,and
KateChopin.BatonRouge:LouisianaStateUniversityPress,1989.
Toth,Emily.KateChopin.NewYork:WilliamMorrow,1990.
Toth,Emily.UnveilingKateChopin.Jackson:UniversityPressofMississippi,1999.