<P> "The Story of an Hour," is a short story written by Kate Chopin on April 19, 1894 . It was originally published in Vogue on December 6, 1894, as "The Dream of an Hour". Later it was reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895, as "The Story of an Hour". </P> <P> The title of the short story refers to the time elapsed between the moments at which the protagonist, Louise Mallard, hears that her husband is dead, and when she discovers that he is alive after all . "The Story of an Hour" was controversial by American standards of the 1890s because it features a female protagonist who feels liberated by the news of her husband's death . In Unveiling Kate Chopin, Emily Toth argues that Chopin "had to have her heroine die" in order to make the story publishable ". (The "heroine" dies when she sees her husband alive after he was thought to be dead .) </P> <P> The short story describes the series of emotions Louise Mallard endures after hearing of the death of her husband, Brently, who was reported to have died in a train accident . Mrs. Mallard suffers from heart problems, as stated at the beginning of the story . Therefore, her sister and her husband's friend, Richard, attempt to inform her of the news in a gentle way so as not to shock her too much . Mrs. Mallard immediately mourns the loss of her husband and makes way to her room upstairs . She sits down and looks out the window . She sees the nature and new life outside . While locked inside, a weird feeling comes over her and confusion follows immediately after . She begins to feel an unexpected sense of exhilaration, yelling, "Free! Body and soul free ." She begins to think of all the springs and summers she can enjoy without her husband around . Her sudden rush of exhilaration is what she believes to be a benefit of his death . Along with all the excitement, Mrs. Mallard still grieves for her husband and knows she will cry about it later . Her sister begs her to open the door; she is scared that Louise will become ill . As Louise and her sister descend the staircase, Brently enters the house . Louise suffers a heart attack upon receiving the shock that he has not died, and she is stuck in her marriage to him after all . The story ends with doctors blaming Mallard's death on heart disease; from a joy that kills . This is ironic as it is implied that she actually died of grief of having her supposed soon to be freedom suddenly ripped away from her . </P> <P> Readers often wonder what had to have occurred for the wife to be relieved that her husband had passed . It was a correlation to both the time period and the way men perceived woman back in the 1800s . The thought of a woman being able to survive without a man was a distant thought among many civilians back in that time . Women were often stuck at home while the husbands went to work . It was thought of between women at the time that the death of their husbands would bring them "freedom" and therefore Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" resonated with a lot of women at the time, but was not so popular with men . It also shows that marriage isn't always as happy as it seems . In the article Marriage and The Story of An Hour, it says "in The Story of an Hour, it is shown that marriage is not always what it appears to be and that the journey to freedom can be dangerous . Chopin shows her readers that the love of only one partner in a marriage is not indicative of a mutual relationship ." In the story Louise says that she loves her husband sometimes and in the article it suggests that maybe her husband was cruel so even though she did indeed love him she loves the new found freedom she has from him . </P>

Summary of the short story of an hour
find me the text answering this question