Rhetorical Analysis, "Story of an Hour"

Kate Chopin is an American author from the late 1800’s, who wrote the short story, “The Story of an Hour”. She uses a pathetic appeal to invoke her audience’s emotions. She emphasizes certain emotions to get her readers to actually feel what it is like to be relieved of being trapped in a marriage where you do not have your own free will. “The Story of an Hour” is similar to the personal experience of Chopin’s mother, Eliza O’Flaherty. In the book “Unveiling Kate Chopin” written by Emily Toth, she writes that ““The Story of an Hour” can be read as the story of Eliza O’Flaherty’s marriage, the submission of a young woman to someone else’s will”. (Toth, 1999, pg. 10) This confirmed my thoughts precisely. Chopin begins the story by emphasizing the fact that the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard has a heart condition. It is my belief that Mrs. Mallard was a character that Chopin was using to portray her mother, Eliza. Toth, who has read all of Chopin’s writings says “Kate Chopin often used the original names of people who inspired her stories”. (Toth, 1999, pg.10 ) Toth also writes that “Eliza’s name in French which is “Eleeza” sounds a lot like Louise. (Toth, 1999, pg.10) It is not known if Chopin’s mother truly had a heart condition or not. However, I believe she mentions this in the story to give an alternate reason for Mrs. Mallard’s death at the end of the story. This, I think is for the readers who might not follow that she possibly died from the abrupt realization that she actually was not going to experience the freedom of not being trapped in a marriage. In the story, Chopin introduces three characters. Josephine, who is Mrs. Mallard’s sister. She gives Mrs. Mallard the news of the sudden death of Brently Mallard. Brently Mallard is Mrs. Mallard’s husband. Richards is a friend of Mr. Mallard, he is the person who learned of the accident that killed Brently and revealed it to Josephine. These characters have the same names of people in Chopin’s life.