Generally, literary experts – namely, authors, poets, and playwrights – create fictional works that reflect the regimes they live in. In other words, most literary fictional works reflect the prevailing socioeconomic and political realities of their creators. Similarly, literary experts may develop fictional works that reflect their personal experiences. Through their works, literary experts thus explore various aspects of their life experiences. By examining the events going on at the time of creating their works, literary experts satisfy the rules of historicism. In addition, literary experts reflect their personal experiences through their works. In other words, historicism has to do with how literary works reflect the reality of the time period in which they are created. Historicism is reflected in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour narrative. To expound, this tale reflects certain aspects of the author’s life experiences. By making the concept of death a central feature in the narrative, Chopin reflects the various deaths that characterized her life. The narrative is about a certain lady’s perplexing response after receiving news of the sudden demise of her husband. The woman’s response indicates an inclination towards feminism. This idea is evident through the woman’s defiant stance towards her husband’s demise. It is as if the lady defies social conventions about female subordination. Toward the close of the 19th century (1894), when the narrative was authored, the concept of feminism was emerging. This development could have inspired Chopin’s portrayal of the lady. In addition, Chopin mostly grew up in a female-dominated society, hence her inclination to advocate for female empowerment (Jacobus 63). The author was mostly mentored by female characters, an experience that could have inspired her to value female supremacy as is evident in the narrative. All in all, it is clear that Chopin’s The Story of an Hour narrative depicts historicism since it dwells on death as it gravitates towards female empowerment, aspects that were real in the author’s personal life as well as in the society at the time the tale was written.
To illustrate, The Story of an Hour narrative is based on the supposed death of Brentley Mallard – the husband to Louise Mallard – thus reflecting a number of real life deaths that characterized Chopin’s life. In 1855, when the author was just 5 years old, her father died in a rail accident. This death was significant to Chopin. The death is reflected in the narrative through Brentley’s sudden death. Just like Louise – Brentley’s wife – is suddenly made a widow in the narrative, Chopin was made an orphan by her father’s death. Later, death stalked Chopin by claiming her great grandmother to which the great granddaughter had become very close (Toth 22). This real life death is reflected in The Story of an Hour narrative through Brentley’s death that somehow brings grief to Louise – the widow. Afterwards, Chopin felt the sting of death when her half-brother succumbed to typhoid fever. In the tale, Brentley’s death represents the demise of Chopin’s half-brother. Another death, arguably the most devastating, denied Chopin the company of Oscar Chopin – the author’s husband – when Oscar succumbed to malaria in 1882. This demise, which made Chopin a widow at a young age of thirty-two years, marked the turning point of the author’s life as it left her with the responsibility of taking care of the couple’s six children – one daughter and 5 sons (Toth 65). In The Story of an Hour narrative, Louise feels a similar loss after Brentley dies. The foregoing discourse proves that Chopin’s life was characterized by a number of deaths which claimed some of her closest relatives. It can thus be plausibly argued that the concept of death was very real to the author. This idea could explain why Chopin chose to base The Story of an Hour narrative on the supposed demise of Brentley. The horror of losing a close associate thus comes into play through the tale. Such a phenomenon validates the argument that Chopin’s tale has a historical leaning.
In addition, at the time Chopin was writing The Story of an Hour narrative, a wave of feminism was sweeping across the American social and economic landscape. The influence of this historical time period on the author’s ideas and general world view is clearly evident through the characterization of Louise – a woman who has supposedly lost her husband through death. To illustrate, after Louise learns about Brentley’s supposed death, the lady does not seem to view this as a sad or negative event. Instead of descending into a state of weeping, she goes upstairs, sits herself into a comfortable chair, and enters into a reverie of the wonderful time before her. Chopin makes readers to gain access to Louise’s thoughts which indicate that the wife has been suffering under her husband’s dominion. This phenomenon paints a picture of a patriarchal society that seriously subjugates women. For example, Louise is happy that she will be able to live a life of her own. Further, the supposedly widowed lady thinks that marriage should not make mates captives of each other. Instead, she is of the idea that marriage couples should have space to exercise their respective discrete freedoms. Such thoughts demonstrate that Louise eagerly wants to free herself from the yoke imposed on her by the patriarchal social arrangement (Kahle 12). Clearly, the supposed widow’s ideas resonate with the late 19th century feminist movement that sought to emancipate women. This idea thus proves that Chopin was heavily influenced by the socioeconomic and political developments prevalent in her era as she wrote The Story of an Hour narrative.
Further, the feminist influences that were prevalent during Chopin’s formative years are explicitly depicted through The Story of an Hour narrative. To expound, most of the author’s mentors were women. These ladies – including Chopin’s great grandmother, grandmother, and mother – were thus cardinal reference points for Chopin’s entire life. Further, the author later enrolled at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Saint Louis where all tutors were ladies (Toth 54). The student’s interaction with her female teachers thus made her to develop an inclination towards female empowerment. Considering that these were Chopin’s formative years, the various female mentors had a profound influence on her life. This idea is vindicated through the author’s characterization of Louise in The Story of an Hour narrative. To illustrate, Louise is a lady who espouses the idea that women can successfully exist without men. The character’s actions and utterances authenticate this contention. It is vital to note that following the alleged death of Brentley, Louise feels as though she has experienced a rebirth. She is of the idea that Brentley’s demise has permitted her access to the elixir of life. Through such musings, Louise demonstrates her feminist convictions; she thinks she can enjoy a life of better quality after Brentley’s demise (Bendixen and Nagel 206). The fact that Louise is not fidgety or agitated also indicates her pessimism; she thinks that her life will be excellent. These are ideas that Chopin derived from the prevailing feminist ideologies of her time. The influence of historical influences on Chopin’s The Story of an Hour narrative is thus clearly evident.
In summary, through her The Story of an Hour narrative, Chopin proves that she was influenced by her life experiences as well as historical events such as the late 19thcentury feminist movement. To illustrate, the narrative revolves around the death of Brentley, thus reflecting the many deaths that characterized Chopin’s life. While aged 5 years, Chopin lost her father. Afterwards, the author went through the deaths of her great grandmother, her half-brother, as well as her husband. Further, the author indicates that Louise is a woman who ardently desires to break free from male domination. Consequently, Louise celebrates Brentley’s death. The supposedly widowed lady depicts behaviors that clearly belie the seriousness of the incident. This view is representative of the feminist wave that was prevalent at the time Chopin authored the narrative. In addition, the female influences of the author during her formative years are evident through the dispositions of Louise. The allegedly widowed lady does not significantly flinch after receiving news of her husband’s demise. This idea is reflective of the fact that most of Chopin’s mentors were women. The author thus holds that women can successfully live without men. The influence of historical happenings on the authors’ life is thus clearly evident through The Story of an Hour tale.
Works Cited
Bendixen, Alfred and Nagel, James. A Companion to the American Short Story. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2010. Print.
Jacobus, Lee Alfred. Literature. Toronto, Canada: Pearson Education Canada, 1996. Print.
Kahle, Antje. First Wave of Feminism in Politics and Literature. Munich, Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2010. Print.
Toth, Emily. Unveiling Kate Chopin. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. Print.