In the few paragraphs that make up a short story, the author has to be able to capture the reader’s interest with limited sentences. It is the complexity of the focus upon a single character, which makes a short story interesting and Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour does indeed do so. Chopin depicts the main character, Mrs. Mallard, to be living in polite society. Many women in polite society lived a repressed life, and Mrs. Mallard is of no exception. When she is told the news of her husband’s death, her reaction is where the interest of the story is at its climax.
During an era where women were seen merely as to be dutiful, beautiful and married, Mrs. Mallard true personality is hidden behind a pseudo surface life. She has to play her role in society, so she is unable to reveal her own interior thoughts, feelings and opinions.

