We can say the following about Naturalism in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" and "A Pair of Silk Stockings":
Both short stories are Naturalistic in the sense that they are both pessimistic. They do not provide happyendings, and their take on life is quite negative.
The evidence such pessimism is the ending of each story. In "The Story of an Hour," the main character thinks she will finally be a free, independent woman, but she ends up dying. In "A Pair of Silk Stockings," the main character has to go back to her fastidious, poor life after a moment of happiness.
<h3>Pessimism in literature:</h3>
A characteristic of Naturalism in literature is pessimism. Naturalist authors believed in determinism, which establishes that we are the product of our circumstances. A poor person will likely remain poor, for example.
That leads to pessimism, which is a negative attitude toward life. In Naturalism, happy endings are quite uncommon. As a matter of fact, endings are mostly tragic and sad.
<h3>Pessimism in Kate Chopin:</h3>
The two stories we are analyzing here are pessimistic, which makes them Naturalistic, among other things. Their endings are quite far from happy.
In "Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard is told her husband has died. Instead of being sad, she is happy that she will finally be free of the constraints of marriage.
However, in the end she is the one who dies. She has a heart condition and, upon finding out that her husband is very much alive, Mrs. Mallard has a heart attack.
A similar sad ending takes place in "A Pair of Silk Stockings," in which Mrs. Sommers allows herself to live a little after a very long time of sacrificing herself.
As a poor mother, she is often saving money and doing her best to provide for her children. One day, however, she has a delights herself buying some fancy stockings, shoes, and gloves, and eating at a fancy restaurant.
Her tragedy is that, after a brief moment of happiness, she must return to her poor, difficult life.
