Assignment #4-- Criticism

When reading a work of literature, many methods and techniques are used in order for the reader to have a better understanding of the text. Many forms of criticism such as biographical, gender, and psychological criticism can best be used as a way to make a story more comprehendable. Today I will discuss about biographical criticism. Using knowledge of an author's life to better gain insight of a story can be best described as biographical criticism. One story that can best fit this form of criticism is "The story of an hour," by Kate Chopin. If we focus on Kate Chopin's life we learn that she became a widow at an early age and having to raise alone six children. She then managed to run her husband's business (suggesting that she was an independent woman) after being influenced by widows who managed their own lives. Kate Chopin embraced widowhood as a new life filled with hope, possabilities and happiness. After knowing these facts about the author we can have a clearer understanding of "The story of an hour." Just like the author the main character Ms. Mallard receives the news by her sister and friend that her husband had been killed. The fact that the story takes sometime around the spring suggests that it was the beginning of a new life. She cries at first and feels grief but is then comforted by the thought that she gets to be free. She was looking forward to begin a new life where no one would have to tell her what to do. Obviously Kate Chopin began a new life after her husband's death becoming a strong independent woman. At the end of the story when Ms. Mallard finds out that her husband was not dead, instead of being happy she felt devastated which led to her sudden death. In my understanding Kate Chopin's view of marriage was not very good. She liked being a widow which is probably the reason she decided to kill the character of Ms.Mallard.