1. Critical Reading Strategies
Formalist, Biographical, Historical/Marxist, Psychological, Mythological, Reader Response, & Feminist

2. Formalist
New Critics – most famous modern formalists who dominated American criticism from the 1940s to the 1960s
Focus on the formal elements of a work – language, structure, tone
Reads literature as an independent work of art rather than as a reflection of the author’s state of mind or as a representation of a moment in history
Pays attention to intrinsic rather than extrinsic matters (e.g., history, biography, politics)

3. Formalist – “Story of an Hour”
Surprise ending – explore foreshadowing that may have prepared the reader
Irony – how various examples reflect conflict and foreshadow ending; Louise’s conception of herself as a “goddess of Victory” is interpreted by Josephine as grief; doctors believe she has died of joy rather than shock or dismay
Point of view – third-person narrator presents story in a manner similar to Josephine’s gentle attempts to break the news of Brently Mallard’s death
Imagery – setting as a symbol of freedom

4. Biographical
Knowledge of an author’s life can help readers understand his or her work more fully
Characters’ experiences and relationships may reflect those of the author
May argue that biographical knowledge can at least control interpretation
May also complicate interpretation as biographical facts may be at odds with characters’ experiences
May simply enrich our appreciation of a work – Milton’s visual imagery cam after he became blind; Beethoven’s greatest works after he succumbed to deafness

5. Biographical– “Story of an Hour”
Might examine Chopin’s own marriage – her husband died twelve years before she wrote the story
Chopin’s evidently happy marriage may complicate interpretations and raise more questions – Why would Chopin be willing to “forget the past ten years of … growth” given her protagonist’s desire for “self-assertion”?

6. Historical – Literary History
May view literature as a window to the past – characters may reflect attitudes not recorded in historical documents
May consider how the literary trends of the day influence the writing of a work
Move beyond the facts of an author’s personal life and the text itself to the social and intellectual currents in which the author composed the work
May treat a text as reflecting, producing, or being produced by the social conditions of its time, giving equal focus to the social milieu and the work itself

7. Historical– “Story of an Hour”
The repression expressed in the lines on Mrs. Mallard’s face is more distinctly seen if the story is placed in the context of the “woman’s question” as it continued to develop in the 1890s.
Mrs. Mallard’s impulse toward “self-assertion” parallels the growing women’s movement away from the role of long-suffering housewife.
This movement was regarded by traditionalists of the 1890s as selfish, unnatural, and immoral – Are Mrs. Mallard’s feelings of joy “monstrous”?
An understanding of the historical context helps to explain the pressures, tensions, and momentary release Mrs. Mallard experiences.

8. Historical – Marxist
Developed from the heightened interest in radical reform during the 1930s
Focus on the ideological content of a work – the assumptions and values about matters such as culture, race, class, and power
Often seek to reveal and clarify how these issues appear in the text and correct social injustice
Argue that literature (and literary criticism) is essentially political because it either challenges or supports economic oppression; even if in ignoring class conflicts, it supports the status quo

9. Marxist– “Story of an Hour”
May say that some of Mrs. Mallard’s repression was generated by the socioeconomic structure contemporary to her
May note that Chopin challenges the validity of the 1890s socioeconomic structure by having Mrs. Mallard resist it
Mrs. Mallard’s conflict is not simply an individual issue but is part of a larger class struggle

10. Psychological
Stems from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories and their influence on 20th century interpretations of human behavior (e.g., dream interpretation, unconscious desires, sexual repression, levels of the psyche)
Based heavily on the idea of the existence of a human unconscious –those impulses, desires, and feelings that a person is unaware of but that influence emotions and behavior (e.g., Oedipus complex)

11. Psychological – “Story of an Hour”
New of Mrs. Mallard’s husband’s death has released powerful unconscious desires for freedom that she had previously suppressed
Might explore Chopin’s own views of her marriage – despite her conscious statements about her loving her husband
Might also questions about readers’ psyche – how might responses in female and male readers differ and what does that reflect about their unconscious desires?

12. Mythological Also, known as archetypal critics
Attempt to identify what in a work creates deep universal response in readers and to interpret how these reflect the hopes, fear, and expectations of entire cultures – how humans try to account for lives symbolically
Look for underlying recurrent patterns in literature that reveal universal meanings and basic human experiences for readers regardless of when or where they live (e.g., death and rebirth reflected by seasons; stories of quests/the monomyth stages; colors)
Examine the elements of a work to make larger connections

13. Mythological – “Story of an Hour”
Mrs. Mallard’s life parallels the end of winter and the earth’s renewal in spring
She initially tries to resist but she cannot control the life force that surges within her and all around her
Her death is an ironic version of a rebirth ritual; the coming of spring is an ironic contrast to her own discovery that she can no longer live a repressed life with her husband
The old, corrupt order continues, and that for Chopin is a cruel irony that mythological critics would see as an unnatural disruption of the nature of things.

14. Reader Response
Focuses attention on the reader rather than the work itself
Describes what goes on in the reader’s mind during the process of reading a text
Do not assume that a literary work is a finished product, but is an evolving creation of a reader – therefore, there is no single definitive reading of a work because readers create rather than discover meaning
Do not see a “correct” reading but are interested in the reader’s experience with the text

15. Reader Response – “Story of an Hour”
Chopin does not say that Mrs. Mallard’s marriage is repressive; that troubling fact dawns on the reader at the same time the recognition forces its way into Mrs. Mallard’s consciousness
How the reader responds to this discovery is not entirely controlled by Chopin; imagining different readers can allow us to imagine a variety of responses based on the readers’ impressions, memories, or experiences with marriage

16. Feminist
Seek to correct or supplement what they regard as a predominantly male-dominated critical perspective with a feminist consciousness
Examine how images of women in literature reflect what the patriarchal social forces that have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with men
Examine how gender affects the way men and women write about each other and how genders use language differently
Characterized by a broad range of disciplines – history, sociology, psychology, linguistics, etc. – to provide a perspective sensitive to feminist issues

17. Feminist – “Story of an Hour”
Explore the psychological stress created by the expectations that marriage imposes on Mrs. Mallard
The issue is not her being married to Brently Mallard but her being married at all – marriage as an institution that creates in men and women the assumed right to “impose a private will upon a fellow creature.”
Might note that the protagonist is introduced as Mrs. Mallard (learn that her first name is Louis later in the story); she is defined by her marital status and her husband’s name is related to a male duck
Her emotions and the cause of her death are interpreted in male terms by male doctors