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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page essay that discusses how Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" was possibly inspired from details of her parents' marriage, and particularly, her father's death. The writer discusses similarities between the story and Chopin's life and the nature of nineteenth century marriage. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khchopar.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
their own life experiences and from their observations of others. Kate Chopins "The Story of an Hour" is one of the most anthologized short stories by a nineteenth century American
woman. It is a profound story that conveys concisely the restrictive nature of Victorian marriage, even within a so-called "good" or "amicable" relationship. As one critic points out, "The Story
of an Hour" deals realistically with the possibilities of life, individual consciousness and choice, and the serendipity by which so much is acquired and lost that we value" (Haywood). Examination
of Chopins life suggests that the inspiration for this story came from her own childhood and her observations as of her parents. Kates father, Thomas OFlaherty, was an Irish
immigrant who was one of the founders of the Pacific Railroad (Kate Chopin, A Woman). On November 1, 1855, when Kate as just five-years-old, her father was on board a
train making an inaugural journey over the Gasconade Bridge. The bridge collapsed, killing everyone on board the train (Kate Chopin, A Woman). He was 50 at the time of his
death, but Eliza OFlaherty, Kates mother, was still a young woman in her late twenties (Toth 22). Eliza was barely 16 when she married Kates father (Kate Chopin, A Woman).
She was the eldest of seven children and, though the family was well-established, they had fallen on hard times (Kate Chopin, A Woman). Kates childhood friend, Kitty Garesche, recalled
Eliza as both "sad and beautiful" (Toth 22). She felt that her sadness was surely because her "soul must have been shrouded in grief" (Toth 22). However, this may say
more about the expectations of the age than about Elizas true feelings concerning her situation. As Toth points out, Eliza did not marry for romantic reasons, and a "widow mourning
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