The Story of an Hour: Style 1 key example

The language in the story is poetic—many of the sentences are long and lyrical, and there’s a lot of figurative language and imagery. This writing style helps illustrate Louise’s mindset after she finds out that her husband, Brently, was killed in an accident. The story’s major plot points are presented in a brief, uncomplicated way—for instance, Brently’s death at the beginning of the story and Louise’s death at end of the story are both revealed in single sentences. In contrast, Louise’s emotions and surrounding environment are described in great detail. For example, the story vividly describes the beautiful and invigorating sights, smells, and sounds outside Louise’s  bedroom window. Then, Louise’s joy at realizing that she’s freer and happier without her husband is described in a similarly poetic way. The purpose of this is to emphasize Louise’s inner world; the reader is meant to pay more attention to her subjective experiences and emotions than on what is objectively going on in the plot.

The story also uses metaphor and simile to describe Louise’s feelings: her grief over Brently’s death is a “storm,” for instance, and her exhaustion after weeping is a ghost that “haunt[s]” her. Again, this stylistic choice makes Louise’s experience feel visceral and real for the reader, and it calls attention to the importance of her reaction to the plot as opposed to the plot itself. Chopin’s flowery writing style shows the reader what’s happening rather than telling them, ensuring that they feel the full richness and importance of the changes that Louise undergoes in her last hour of life.