The Short Story in The United States

So now that you've read the original version of "Her Letters," we pose the question: do we really know what happened? Let's consider what it means if we do not assume that she had an affair. Here is an edition written by Maddy and I where we look at what happened after the river. I.                                                             She had given orders that she wished to remain undisturbed and moreover had locked the doors of her room.                                                             The house was very still. The rain was falling steadily from a leaden sky in which there was no gleam, no rift, no promise. A generous wood fire had been lighted in the ample fireplace and it brightened and illumined the luxurious apartment to its furthermost corner.                                                             From some remote nook of her writing desk the woman took a thick bundle of letters, bound tightly together with strong, coarse tw

( https://www.katechopin.org/her-letters/ ) In Kate Chopin’s “Her Letters,” a woman leaves a bundle of ambiguous letters to her husband to destroy once she passes away. Upon her command, he never opens the letters, but spirals out of control over what they may contain. Here are some questions to help look deeper into the text. How does Kate Chopin use allusions to the setting, nature, and the weather to convey the condition and emotions of the characters in the story? Contrast the way Chopin juxtaposes ‘promise’ made by the river to the man towards the end of the story with the lack of ‘promise’ offered by the sky to the woman towards the beginning. What could this symbolize within the context of Southern American society? Note the repetition Chopin employs throughout the story. Pick one instance of repetition and analyze how this adds to the deeper meaning of the story. Compare the status of women in Chopin’s “Her Letters” to in Child’s “Slavery’s Pleasant Homes” an