<P> The title of the short story refers to the time elapsed between the moments at which the protagonist , Louise Mallard , hears that her husband is dead , and when she discovers that he is alive after all . `` The Story of an Hour '' was controversial by American standards of the 1890s because it features a female protagonist who feels liberated by the news of her husband 's death . In Unveiling Kate Chopin , Emily Toth argues that Chopin `` had to have her heroine die '' in order to make the story publishable `` . ( The `` heroine '' dies when she sees her husband alive after he was thought to be dead . ) </P>
what is the short story the story of an hour about
the time elapsed between the moments at which the protagonist , Louise Mallard , hears that her husband is dead , and when she discovers that he is alive after all