The short story "The Story Of An Hour", by Kate Chopin, uses realism as a literary style. This means that it was presented "as is" and focuses on imagery, accurate representation of the setting, and the character itself. One realistic element is how Mrs. Louise Mallard is being treated by those around her - in that time period, it was common for women to be seen as fragile, "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death".
Chopin’s story is realistic because it leaves readers with the feeling that the events of the story could happen to someone in real life. The setting is also realistic. Chopin gives us a nuanced story of a woman’s reaction to her husband’s supposed death. Louise Mallard, the protagonist, has two reactions to this news. The first is the expected, conventional public reaction that her family members see and which may be perfectly sincere. The second reaction is more private, and it’s a reaction that goes against accepted social norms. Because of the disparity between her two reactions, we’re forced to try to decipher what Louise is actually thinking. One inference we can draw from Louise’s private reaction is that she’s celebrating her freedom from the oppressiveness of marriage at the time. Another inference is that she’s eccentric and selfish. We can’t reach any sure conclusions with respect to Louise because Chopin never overtly reveals Louise’s feelings toward her marriage or her husband. In fact, many women in Louise’s position would be completely helpless without a husband because they wouldn’t have a source of income.
All Chopin gives us is an hour of Louise’s life, an eventful hour in which she has an initial public and then private reaction—one of sorrow and then one of joy. These reactions come before her final reaction, which is a presumably private reaction of disappointment. The disappointment stems from the loss of her newfound freedom when she ultimately learns that her husband is still alive. Again, her private reaction stands in contrast to what the public (her family members) perceive. They believe her heart has given out because it can’t bear the shock of receiving two major and conflicting pieces of information.
