Kate Chopin and Historical Realism

Paper Summary:

The significance of life. Responsibility to the soul. The eternal rights of women. Freedom. These are only a few of the themes addressed in "The Awakening" and "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. The paper shows that, without a doubt, Kate Chopin wrote of issues that appear to be before their time, yet it is exactly this insight into life during the Victorian era that makes her writing significant. The paper shows that b presenting her themes superimposed on life's events of her era, she illustrates that short fiction can give us insight into various historical periods. Historical fiction can provide contemporary readers a glimpse of realism from the past.

From the Paper:

"In "The Story of An Hour" Kate Chopin brings to the reader's attention one of the methods women in her era achieved their personal freedom - the untimely death of their husband. Divorce and separation in our era has easily replaced the morbid need for a husband to die in order for the woman to become herself. In Chopin's time, women usually had no method to support themselves without a husband; women who left their husbands were often looked upon by society as being unfit women. "The Story of An Hour" gives us a brief insight into Mrs. Mallard's longing desire for freedom."

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