Joy Of Freedom In Louise Mallard's The Story Of An Hour

Mallard, they get the idea that she is a small, frail woman who would do nothing more than rest for most of the day. Upon receiving news that her husband has died, it would be expected that she may cry or sob. However, after a brief moment of mourning, she begins to feel excited about her husband’s death. “Free! Body and soul free!”( ). At first, someone may be startled by this response, as it appears that she has no reason to be acting this way, but if you look between the lines, you realize why. Ms. Mallard was a woman who felt trapped in her marriage. She craved freedom and was never to reach it until the death of her husband. When she first feels it, she likens it to something vial or sinister, but soon after she compares it to an elixir of eternal life. While this reaction appears to be extreme, it is important to realize that divorce was not an accepted practice at the time of this story. This means that she was essentially stuck in her marriage until one of them died, which is why she was so untroubled by the demise of her

“Story of an Hour” uses Louise Mallard’s repressed life as a wife to elucidate how repression can lead to bottled up depression. Louise Mallard understands the “right” way for women to behave, but her internal thoughts and feelings are anything but correct. This is first illustrated by the initial reaction to her husband’s death, where she cries instead of feeling numb, as she suspects other women would do. The death of her husband acts as a catalyst to alleviate her depression that rooted in her marriage. In the beginning of the story we are introduced to Louise’s heart problem, which shows the extent to which she believes her marriage has trapped her. The author of the story gives a vague description of Mallard’s heart condition just simply calling it a “heart problem” (Choplin 452). This vague description shows how her “heart problem” is both physical and

Mallard is unsatisfied with the limitations of her marriage, however, like Desiree, she is submissive and believes that the end of her duties as a wife will come at the death of her husband and her freedom will be given to her. Also, she experiences little or no feelings because of her marriage. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband’s death, cries, but ironically she senses a moment of euphoric pleasure at the awaiting freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Mrs. Millard is now aware of things that were not noticeable before such as: the beginning of spring, patches of blue sky through clouds, the twittering of sparrows and the smelling of the pending rain, which may signify the nature of her freedom. Mrs. Mallard would now be able to live her life outside the home and find her identity.

The story unviels its theme at this point: Mrs. Mallard, for the first time in her life, experiences a new-found freedom. Instead of dreading the future without her husband, "she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely". She could now live her life and be absolutely free of the imposing will of her husband: There would be no one to live for her during the coming years; she would live for herself. There would be now powerful will bending hers in the blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature.(15)

She initially laments his passing but then, "She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" Mrs. Mallard feels liberated and alleviated from this occurrence and is presently a free lady. Starting now and into the foreseeable future, she will just know satisfaction and contentment. "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence."

Mrs. Louise Mallard never really had any freedom because she married young and was always confined in her home doing wifely duties“‘ Free! Body and soul free!”’she whispered this multiple times. Louise Mallard, has come the realization that her husband's passing was not only tragic, but also a beneficial cutting of her marital ties. The crisis of her grief has given her a new insight on life and she also understands that her marriage has limited her independence and freedom. Mrs. Mallard was very unhappy in her marriage and she barely loved her husband. “‘And yet she had loved him--sometimes”’ Mrs. Mallard was seeking freedom from her marriage because she was unhappy and when she found out her husband died she could feel the freedom she’s always

It takes pride to fight for what you desire, like Mrs. Mallard did in “The Story of an Hour,” she tried to exploit her own freedom. Even though, after traumatic event that caused her to rethink her way of life. Mrs. Mallard shows what it is to bounce back from a traumatic event like the presumed death of her husband. Mrs. Mallard view is that she always waited all her life to explore her new life and to be set free into the world without being the less dominant sex. Freedom is the essence of life and it provides hope and upbringing joy to a person’s life.

The audience would have expected Mrs. Mallard to be upset after learning of her husband’s death in “The Story of an Hour” but she expresses joy. Her joy does not come from a place of true hatred; she claims that she did love him at some point, she was just tired of her life being control by her husband. She realizes that her husband’s death means her freedom and that, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in

In the short story, written by Kate Chopin we are able to live through Louise Mallards’ emotions after she was given the dreadful news that her husband, Brently, had been killed in a railroad accident. She is finally beginning to feel a sense of freedom and independence, an hour has gone

Mallard has a heart condition and her husband recently has died. She feels depleted at first, but then she starts to not feel sorry as she realizes she has more freedom. However, Mr. Mallard comes in through the door being alive this whole time and everyone is in shock. Once Mrs. Mallard see her husband she is in shock and passes away at the sight.

Marcus Tullius Cicero stated, “What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.” Freedom is a gift many people crave, but often something that many people don’t receive. It is difficult to obtain full independence, and that is often a roadblock to the things one wants to achieve. This is demonstrated in Kate Chopin’s realistic fictional story, “The Story of an Hour.” This story introduces us to Louise Mallard, a dynamic character afflicted with heart trouble. One day, over the course of an hour, she is told that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. Shocked and distressed, Louise falls into a state of grieving and depression as she stares through her bedroom window by herself. She begins to attempt to picture her life alone, without her husband, but it pains her to think about living in her lonesome. Her mood quickly takes a turn as she sits and thinks, realizing then that she would be living for herself- distanced from her troubled marriage and able to be free for the first time. She becomes thrilled to live her life independently and envisions her life finally belonging to herself. Her vision is quickly ripped from her when her husband walks through the front door of their house, completely alive, despite what Louise had been told. Louise dies instantly at the sight of her husband, her freedom- and her life- ripped away from her.

In “The Story of an Hour” the main character Louise Mallard suffers from a bad heart, but otherwise, she is young and cute. Louise learned from family members that her husband had just been killed in a railroad disaster. As she grieves alone in her upstairs bedroom, she suddenly is hit with new emotions. She realizes that she did love her husband and he loved her, but what she wants more than anything is to be free. Free to go and do as she pleases without anyone watching over her. Later

Write a critical analysis of any aspect of "The Story of an Hour" which you found of interest and significance.

I think Mrs. Mallard felt trapped in her marriage, a marriage where communication no longer existed. I believe this caused her to feel very alone and restless in her marriage. In the late nineteenth century, women basically had little or no rights. It was thought that women’s sole purpose in society was to marry, have children, and to care for their family and household. Women of this era were not allowed to satisfy their own wants and desires. Therefore, we can assume that Mrs. Mallard got married at a young age. This fact, along with the crumbling of her marriage caused her to feel lost in a world where she knew not even herself. The fact that she was unable to experience life for herself resulted in her yearning desire for independence. These explanations contributed to Mrs. Mallard’s overwhelming enjoyment of her newfound freedom.

Mallard thinks to herself about all of the possible opportunities she comes to a point of insight about her life to come. She is given the news about her husband and in response causes her to analyze what on Earth is going on and eventually causing herself to rejoice on her newfound freedom (Deneau 211). She goes through a metamorphosis and he finds herself to beaming with emotions she would not have expected to feel in such a situation (Jamil 215). Suddenly she can see things more clearly than she had before about life. Before, she was an empty vessel, that has to conform to how the social norm is, having her emotions subdued, and had no excitement for the next day. Now, instead of living a life filled with emptiness she finds her life to be more valuable with her this freedom. She has a sense of independence that blossoms from within, as she thinks for her own and not for anyone else (Jamil