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The Story of an Hour, a la Shmoop. Imagine this. . .

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. . .you’re a repressed housewife. . .

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. . .hit with the news that your hubby won’t be coming home for dinner. . .like, ever.

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You hate to admit it. . .

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. . .but you’re not quite as unhappy about it as you should be.

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And just when you’re counting the perks of being a

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widow. . .

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. . . who walks through the door?

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That’s right – your slightly undead husband. Now, we can imagine anyone being shocked by

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this turn of events. . .

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. . .but our heroine Louise actually takes it one step further.

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So, why did she die at the sight of her husband? Could it have been strictly a physiological

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response? She did have a heart condition. . .

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. . .so seeing a “ghost” might have been all it took to send her over the edge.

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Or maybe she just couldn’t go back to her old

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life. . .

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. . .and checking out was her only option.

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Seems a little extreme. . .

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. . .but she did say she was looking forward to living for herself. . .

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. . .and escaping the “powerful will bending hers”. . .

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. . .so maybe the idea of returning to a submissive life. . .

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. . .was something she just couldn’t handle. Was the author, Kate Chopin, trying to make

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a point, killing off Louise. . .

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. . .to say that death was actually preferable. . .

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. . .to living a life as a powerless wife? Or maybe Louise’s guilt got the better of

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her. . .

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. . .and she died of shame. She just couldn’t face her husband after

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her positive reaction to his “death”. So, why did Louise kick the bucket?

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Did a bad heart let her down. . .

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. . .was she unwilling to go back to her former life. . .

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. . .or did guilt and shame do her in? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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