Unite Eight The Story of an Hour
一、Background Information
1. the Author: Kate Chopin
● An American novelist and short-story writer.
● Her main works:
1) Novel:
The Awakening (觉醒,1899)： It was considered Chopin’s masterpiece, was subject to harsh criticism at the time for its frank approach to sexual themes.
2) Collection of short stories:
Bayou Folk (支流人,1894) and A Night in Acadie(阿卡迪一夜 ,1897), which includes “The Story of an Hour”, and “The Storm”.
● Writing style
1) A mixtrue of romantici,relistic and local color elements.
These vivid and economical tales, richly flavored with local dialect, provide penetrating views of the heterogeneous (多样化的) culture of south Louisiana.
2) Praisedfor its craft and damned for its content.
Rebellious in chanllenging patriarchal(家长的，族长的) tradition and giving voice to women. General comments: Kate Chopin was Remembered only as one of the southern local colorist of the 1890s until The Awakening was Rediscovered in the 1970s as an early masterpiece of American Realism. She is one of the pioneers in the history of American Feminist literature.
2. Time background of the story
? It was created in the late 19th century , the time of the first peak (19th-early 20th) of American Feminist movement.
? In that patriarchal society , women always regarded as the second sex and these “new women” was labled as immoral. They were confined to family and husband and so called ladies’ virtues as sincerity,obedence and chastity(贞洁).
? Feminism
Feminism is a collection ofmovements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending
equal political, economic, and social rights for women. In addition, feminism seeks to
establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.
二、Text Analysis
1. Four stages of the story ( text organization)
1).Beginning (paras 1-2)
Mrs. Mallard was told that her husband, Breaty Mallard, had been dead in the railroad disaster.
2).
Mrs. Mallardwas so sad at the news that she wept in her sister’s arms.Then shen went away to her room alone and sat in the armchair, quite motionless, staring at one patch of blue sky through the window.
3).She was waiting for sth. coming to her and then realized it was freedom.She found sth. more important than her insipid(乏味无趣的) life ----free. Both body and soul are free. Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease suddendly when she saw the return of her husband.
2. Characters in the story :
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?
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? Mrs. Mallard Josephine (Mrs Mallard’s sister) Richards (a friend of Mrs. Mallard’s husband ) Brently Mallard (Mrs. Mallard’s husband) Mrs. Mallard :
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? She is young and beautiful but in poor health.(para1, para.8) She lives a comfortable life (para.10.)but her marriage is an unhappy one.
(para.12,para.15)
? She is rebellious and very much strong- willed. She is longing for freedom and wishes to
live for herself. In order to gain freedom, she can give up her husband, marriageand even love. (para.11-16; parapara19-20)
? She is a victim of her time and society---men-centered society.(para.23)
3. The clue of the story
Mrs. Mallard’s heart troule is an important clue goes through the whole article.
4. Conflict of the story
On surface level : between Mrs. Mallard’s heart disease and her husband’s death.
On deep level: her grief over the loss of her husband and her joy over her future freedom. ? ?
her desire for freedom and the confinement of social norm or the cultural concept of gender role in her age.
5. Summary Questions and Concluding Remarks
Questions:
1. How did Mrs. Mallard respond to the news of her husband’s death?
Q: At first Mrs. Mallard seemed to be heart-broken at the news , but she soon recovered from the grief and came to realize that she was free at last, free from the yoke of marriage and free from the deprssion caused by her unhappy life.she was resolved to live for herself and she longed for a long life.
2. Do you think Mrs. Mallard ever loved her husband?
Q: Mrs. Mallard loved her husband to some degree, but their marriage was an unhappy one (paras13-15)
3.What do you think was the real cause of Mrs. Mallard’s death ?
The doctor assumed that Mrs. Mallard must have died of “joy” after her husband still alive. But actually, it is the combination of shock, disappointment and despair she felt on seeing her husband alive that killed her.
Concluding remarks:
The death of Mrs. Mallard is far from an individual tragedy. It is a true reflection of the common fate of women in the 19th century. Simultaneously it is also a eulogy (颂歌)dedicated to them. Although all Mrs. Mallard’s efforts and desires end in vain, she echoes the second women movement in full swing in the United States and provokes more people,especially women to think about their own destinies.
6. The theme of the story
It revealed the awakening of feminine awareness , self-awareness and the thirsty for freedom and thr fruitless struggle of women for freedom in a man-centered society
7. writing skills used in the story
1) Excellent use of foreshadowing （预测，铺垫）:Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart
trouble foreshadows her final death of heart disease.
2) Sudden change of plots
Sudden change of plots is a writing technique ,widely used in novels,dramas, especially tragedies. Kate Chopin also introuduced a plot change into this short story.
The death of Mr. Mallard lead the whole story happen. But just when the plot reaches the climax, the unbelievable apperance of him ends the story, which totally astonishs us. without much space between climax and ending , the author gave us a surprise ending.
3) Skillful use of symbols
The imagery (意象) of nature
trees that full of the new spring life; The delicious breath of rain , a cry of a peddler, The notes of a distant song ,bords’ singing ; patches of blue sky. (paras5-6)
Symbolizes a new beginning for Mrs.Maralld, her renewal(复活) and rebirth, her new-sprung(刚出现的) of freedom.
三、Langue points
Useful Expressions
1) 患有心脏病 be afflicted with a heart trouble
2) 断断续续地说 in broken sentences
3) 关于……的消息 the intelligence of
4) 相信确有此事 assure oneself of
5) 考虑不周的朋友 less tender friend
6) 号啕大哭 weep with wild abandonment
7) 叫卖 cry one’s wares
8) 一片片蔚蓝的天空 patches of blue sky
9) 面容白皙而安详 with a fair, calm face
10) 在空中蔓延 creeping out of the sky
11) 胸脯上下起伏 one’s bosom rises and falls
12) 尽力 strive to
13) 击退；控制 beat back
14) 一双白嫩纤细的手 two white slender hands
15) 喃喃地说 under one’s breath
16) 茫然的目光 vacant stare
17) 恐惧的神情 look of terror
18) 心跳加快 one’s pulses beat fast
19) 沸腾的热血 running blood
20) 张开双臂 spread one’s arms out
21) 在未来的岁月里 during the coming years
22) 专横的意志 powerful will
23) 陶醉于 drink in
24) 永葆青春 an elixir of life
25) 狂想 one’s fancy was running riot
26) 战栗 with a shudder
27) 一副风尘仆仆的样子 a little travel-stained
28) 尖叫 a piercing cry
29) 把某人挡在……的视线之外 screen sb. from the view of