The "It" and the "Joy That Kills:" An Ecocritical Reading of Chopin's THE STORY OF AN HOUR

• Published in: The Explicator Vol. 78; no. 1; pp. 5 - 8
• Main Author: Geriguis, Lora E.
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Routledge 02.01.2020; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: "The Story of an Hour;" the "it" passage; American literature; Antecedents; Chopin, Kate (1851-1904); depictions of nature; Ecocriticism; Emotions; Fiction; interior domesticity vs. exterior natural spaces; Kate Chopin; Literary criticism; Metaphor; Short stories; the "joy that kills;" Louise's death; windows and doors as liminal thresholds
• ISSN: 0014-4940; 1939-926X
• DOI: 10.1080/00144940.2019.1668344

Geriguis critiques "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Identification of the unnamable "it" that passes through the open window in a pivotal moment of "The Story of an Hour" has long generated scholarly debate: "in a mere seven sentences this force remains perplexing, probably enigmatic." Reading "The Story of an Hour" with attention to the role windows and walks played in both Chopin's life and writings helps to position the antecedent of the puzzling "it" metaphor within the life-giving powers of nature. Noting the role that the external natural world plays in Louise's emotional life, in turn, reframes the story's drama as being not strictly a "domestic" one, but rather as aquiver with the tensions that lie in the competition between Louise's internal emotions and external affectations.