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Essay On Mrs. Mallard In Kate Chopin's Story Of The Hour

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In the Story of the Hour by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard receives some very stressful and sad news from a family member and a friend of hers. This news causes her think a little bit more about life, generating a series of interesting reactions from Mrs. Mallard. She is highly conflicted with her feelings. She is overcome with sadness that her husband is dead, but she also comes to the realization that it has opened new doors. She now has freedom that she didn’t have before. What Mrs. Mallard doesn’t know is whether her feelings are good or bad, and how society would think of her thoughts. Mrs. Mallard has a heart defect, making sudden surprises and disaster extremely dangerous to her health. Her sister takes very special care not to bring the news of Mr. Mallard’s death to soon, or even all at once. Through a series of hints toward the death, Mrs. Mallard slowly …show more content…

Mallard starts to think some thoughts that worry her. In the midst of the sadness, she looks out the window and sees life and all it is. “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes.” She realizes that with her massive family, someone has to take care of everyone. With her husband being the only source of income to the family, she realizes she is required to get a job, or even career, in order to feed and care for her family. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” Mrs. Mallard decides that it isn’t a bad idea, she could finally follow her dreams and work. She could do anything a man could do without being judged as harshly for it, due to the fact that her husband is out of the picture and cannot stop her from living. As much as she hates to think it, he was only holding her

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