After researching the life of Kate Chopin, her works do not seem so strange, in comparison with her life and grief. Seemingly death and isolation fuel her writings and her disgust for contemporary society. Though she was born in 1850 into an upper-middle class family, they were Irish1. Being an Irish immigrant was the worst Ethnicity during the middle and late nineteenth century in America. This period was full of hatred towards the Irish always being depicted as thieves and scoundrels. This hate escalated to the "Molly McGuire" murders and the hanging of over one dozen innocent Irish immigrants. Furthermore, death plagued Kate Chop

This new "freedom" of Mrs. Mallard, likely is the same Kate Chopin felt after the death of her husband. Her experience with marriage seemingly is very similar to Mrs. Mallard's, as the role of "wife" was fine for Chopin until her husband pasted away. After several years, Chopin finally started to express her feelings through writing and wishes other women should learn of the "evils" of marriage. Thus I can conclude, at some point Chopin had a similar experience to Mrs. Mallard's and thus she modeled this story partly after her life and marriage. To add to the impact Chopin titles this work, "Story of an Hour," signifying the whole story takes place over a single hour.

5. Cunningham. Culture and Values, Volume II. Pages 378 and 379. Harcourt/Brace College Publishers. Orlando, FL. 1998.

As the story progresses the irony and it's purpose increases. We get a mixed message from Chopin, in that once Mrs. Mallard has this intervention she can not sustain her life. Thus we are left with the ambiguous question, what causes Mrs. Mallard's death? To be honest, I am not quite sure myself. However, Chopin hints that "freedom" of mind and body is more valuable than life itself. Therefore, she implies that after this intervention by Mrs. Mallard, that going back to the confines of marriage would be killing the life and heart of Louise, thus death is the only solution and of course the "heart condition" foreshadowing an impending death.

In 1894, Kate Chopin created my subject of focus, "Story of an Hour." After several re-reads it becomes more apparent that Chopin uses symbolism to substitute long description and explanations. This allows Chopin to effectively complete the

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