The Story of an Hour - A big story in a small space The "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman trapped in a repressive marriage, from which she desperately wants to escape. She is given this chance, almost by chance, and the story tells of the time she is granted this freedom. The story is very short (only two pages), so it is interesting to consider as a piece of minimalist literature, and the surprise ending provides an opportunity to observe Chopin's use of foreshadowing. The story is very short, but every word matters in the story and every line has a great depth of meaning. It is possible to infer a lot about the woman's life, even if on the surface we are given very little. A telegraph and a railway are mentioned in the first paragraph, so you get an idea of ​​the period in which the story takes place. We are also given her married name and her husband's full name. The fact that she is referred to only as "Mrs. Mallard" while her husband's full name is given, along with what we learn on the second page, gives some indication of the repression she has endured and the humiliation to which she has been subjected. society. woman in those times. From the first paragraph we also learn that she lives in a man's world, because although it is her sister who tells her the news, it is her husband's friend who rushes in with the story. Even after his death, she is confined to the structures she adopted during her married life, including her husband's close friends. It can also be assumed that Brently Mallard was quite wealthy, because they live in a house with comfortable furniture upstairs. , and has the opportunity and reason to travel. Plus, they can afford a doctor's diagnosis that says they have a "heart disorder." The most important idea conveyed in the story is summed up in two sentences, towards the end of the story, "There would be no mighty will that could bend his will." in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will on another human being. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime than he considered it in that brief moment of enlightenment".