Criticism is one of the most important aspects of literary works because it helps the reader to have a broader perspective of the works, which could be poetry, literature or plays. The process of criticizing works of art can be focused in areas that include psychological, theological, gender, and Marxist. There are a number of approaches that can be used as forms of literal criticism; one of them is the use of the archetypal approach. There is no specific way to explain exactly what literature means and is to every single person. It can be a type of historical or fictional genre, a poem, a novel or a short story that can be used by the writer to express a certain situation or emotion. It can also be a form of information used to gain knowledge about a specific time period in history. Regardless, we all see literature in our own way and for me I have always seen it as a way to gain more meaning/knowledge and as an escape from my daily life. While reading Kate Chopin's work entitled The Story of an Hour, I found myself using the archetypal approach and analyzing the tone and imagery of the story. The meaning of the term archetype can be loosely interpreted as the original, so in this context original can simply be understood as the initial idea of ​​the model which can be duplicated to produce others, it can also be considered or said to be a blue print of something. Depending on the context in which this term is used, it could mean an approach that contains elements of all other approaches because they borrowed from them. The reason why this form of criticism caught my interest is because it brings out a combination of elements present in o...... middle of paper ......s. However, the end of the story creates suspense when her husband comes home alive and Mrs. Mallard's life is cut short. “When the doctors came, they said she died of heart disease, of joy that kills (Clugston 2010).” It is obvious that the character, Mrs. Mallard, feared being married and only hoped to be alone with no one to answer to. Kate Chopin set the tone and used a great deal of imagery to express and show the emotions of the characters throughout the story. In this way she managed to involve me in the story and make comparisons with that of my life. It easily captured my imagination and helped me gain a deeper insight into the life perspective of the characters and also took me away from my daily life. Works Cited Clugston, R.W. (2010). Journey into literature. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG125.10.2/sections/ch00