1. The Changing Roles of Men and Women in the United States
Story of an hour
The Changing Roles of Men and Women in the United States

2. Biography and Noted Works
Kate Chopin
Biography and Noted Works

3. Biography Kate Chopin 1850 –1904
Born Catherine O’ Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri to a wealthy family.
Lived in the City of St. Louis during the Civil War.
Married cotton trader, Oscar Chopin, in
Gave birth to five sons and a daughter between 1871 and
Oscar died of malaria in 1882.
Mention that Kate Chopin’s family was wealthy, as was Oscar. Note that residents of St. Louis supported the Union and the Confederacy, illustrating Chopin’s ability to see both sides, even though her brother, a Confederate soldier was captured by the Union and died of typhoid fever.

4. Noted Works "Bayou Folk” "A Night in Acadie”
"At the Cadian Ball" (1892
"Désirée’s Baby" (1895)
"The Story of an Hour" (1896)
"The Storm" (1898)
"A Pair of Silk Stockings”

5. Use this question to collect evidence for your ASSESSMENT
Guiding question
Use this question to collect evidence for your ASSESSMENT

6. After reading “The Story of an Hour” carefully, examine the protagonist’s attitude about the death of her husband. How is this attitude revealed and how does it contribute to the meaning of the story?

7. Record in the Glossary of your Reader’s Notebook
Key Vocabulary
Record in the Glossary of your Reader’s Notebook

8. Forestall – to block, prevent, or delay
Abandonment – the state of having yielded to an emotion or a feeling
“Crying his wares” – advertising merchandise by calling out loud
Tumultuously – confusedly, frantically, or violently
Absolutely – unrestrained; not limited by exceptions
Elixir – a substance or mixture believed to be a cure-all for disorders; a solution believed to prolong human life indefinitely
Riot – wild abandon; an uprising; a free-for-all
Importunities – urgent request or demands
Gripsack – small suitcase

9. Main characters, setting, themes, and Synopsis

10. Characters:
Louise Mallard - A woman whose husband is reportedly killed in a train accident. When Louise hears the news, she is secretly happy because she is now free. She is filled with a new lust for life, and although she usually loved her husband, she cherishes her newfound independence even more. She has a heart attack when her husband, alive after all, comes home.
Brently Mallard - Louise’s husband, supposedly killed in a train accident. Although Louise remembers Brently as a kind and loving man, merely being married to him also made him an oppressive factor in her life. Brently arrives home unaware that there had been a train accident.
Josephine - Louise’s sister. Josephine informs Louise about Brently’s death.
Richards - Brently’s friend. Richards learns about the train accident and Brently’s death at the newspaper office, and he is there when Josephine tells the news to Louise.

11. Setting:
The action takes place in a single hour in a Southern American home in the last decade of the Nineteenth Century.

12. Themes in “The Story of an Hour”
Women’s search for identity
Women’s revolt against social norms and conformity
Inequities of traditional marriage

13. Synopsis:
Louise Mallard’s heart condition has left her weak; when her friend Mr. Richards hears that her husband has been killed in a train accident, he and her sister Josephine break the news with great care.
After crying, Louise locks herself in her room alone, where her sadness begins to give way to a new feeling of freedom and energy.
Louise recognizes that she will mourn her kind, loving husband, who she sometimes loved, but she is also joyful at the prospect of so many years to herself.
Fearing Louise will make herself ill, Josephine begs Louise to open the door. Louise eventually does, and walks down the stairs with triumph.
Louise’s husband Brently Mallard walks in the door, unharmed and unaware of the accident; on seeing her husband, Louise has a heart attack and dies of what the doctors believe is joy.

14. Social-historical context
Life for men and women in 1890 in the U.S.?

15. The New South Civil War Reconstruction lasted from 1865-1877.
Many from the poverty- stricken rural Southern United States were employed in textile jobs, including women and children.

16. About the time period:
The 1890’s was part of the second Industrial Revolution—The Gilded Age of substantial growth in the U.S. population.
The extremely wealthy lived lavishly and industries grew.
There were huge disparities between the rich and poor.

17. The Rich versus the Poor
There were opulent homes ...
And modest or poor homes and living conditions
Tenement Home
Shotgun Style Home 1890

18. Women’s Roles in the South during the time period
Domestic Labor
Textile Mills

19. Other things to consider . . .
Property rights laws for married women had not been passed in all states in the United States as of 1890.
Ownership of women’s property was transferred to their husband upon marriage.
Divorce carried social stigma and property reverted to the husband.
Discuss: The aforementioned economic, social, and political factors informed Kate Chopin’s writing of “The Story of an Hour.”

20. 1894:Women no longer owned by men
At one time, married women in the US could not make wills, be the guardian of their children, receive wages earned, or own or inherit property. Upon saying "I do," a woman became chattel property of her husband, not even owning the clothes she wore. By 1890, Kentucky was the only state in in the US where such laws still existed. Josephine Henry, a dynamic speaker and powerful writer from Versailles, was a major activist in the fight for women's equality. Her greatest accomplishment was the Married Woman's Property Act, or the Husband and Wife Bill, passed in A woman of courage and conviction far ahead of her time, Henry questioned the values of the time and discussed topics such as divorce, restoration of the maiden name, birth control, dress reform, economic security, and sex education, and dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice and equality for women. (info from WFPL radio, photo from Woodford County Historical Society).

21. The changing roles of men and women
1894
Present
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22. Roles of Men and Women Today:
Men and women are free to work in any profession they choose.
Men or women may choose to work outside the home or inside the home.
Many men opt to stay home to raise their children while their wives work.
Men and women have a voice in government and serve in political office.

23. Questions on main point and meaning

24. How does Mrs. Mallard initially react to the news of her husband’s death? Why is this reaction unusual?
Describe Mrs. Mallard’s room. What does its location allow her to see and hear?
What do we know about Mrs. Mallard’s physical appearance? What other details are implied about her appearance?
Mrs. Mallard becomes aware that something is imminent. What setting detail parallels her growing awareness? How does this detail change?
How does Mrs. Mallard react to the thought that she is free? What kind of life does she envision for herself? What might be shocking about her choice for Chopin’s contemporaries?
Describe the Mallards’ marriage. What kind of husband is Mr. Mallard? How will he react to the death of his wife?
How does Josephine behave toward her sister? Why? What do her behavior’s suggest about her feelings for and relationship with her sister?
Why does Richards try to put himself between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard? How might the outcome of the story have changed had he succeeded?
Why does Mr. Mallard arrived unannounced? How does his surprise appearance complicate the situation?
The title of the story has at least two variations: “The Dream of an Hour” and “The Joy of an Hour.” Choose one of these two titles and argue for or against its superiority to the existing title. Why is it more or less effective?

25. Works Cited
Gilbert, S.M., & Gubar, S. (1996). The norton anthology literature by women: The traditions in English (2nd ed.) New York: Norton & Co.
Goldfield, D., Abbott, C., Anderson, V.D., Argersinger, J.E., Argersinger, P.H., Barney, W.L., et al. (2002). The American journey: A history of the United States custom edition for Texas Woman’s University. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.
Lewis, R. A., & Sussman, M. B. (1986). Men’s changing roles in the family. New York: The Hawarth Press.
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