The open window was a curse to Mrs. Mallard, because before sitting at the it on the day of her husband’s death, she did not know what it meant to have the basic human right of freedom. “She was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window,” and she certainly must have become addicted to it. One cannot taste the full extent of life, the possibilities that await outside the open window on a rainy day, and then simply be expected to return to content confinement. It has been said that ignorance is bliss, and Mrs. Mallard was living in ignorance to what life could be without her husband. Her life simply was as it was, and in the time period during which she lived, there wasn’t any way of changing it, no purpose in dreaming dreams
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.
Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Sommers have a fair share of intemperance. Mrs. Mallard has come to the realization that the death of her husband is not only a tragic occurrence, but also a beneficial cutting of her previously binding marital ties. The crisis of her grief has given her new insight on her life, and Mrs. Mallard understands that her marriage has limited her independence and freedom. Due to this realization she immediately forgets about the accident and starts to think about her freedom: ““Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering” (paragraph 14). It is only an hour after Mrs. Mallard has received the bitter news of her husband’s death. Considering that her husband is gone, instead of mourning, she is overwhelmed with the freedom she
Mallard both lead distinctive lives due to their beliefs, environment and health. At an early age Janie married Logan Killicks because of her grandmother’s dying wish (Hurston, 15). Janie soon left Killicks and married Joes Starks a prosperous man who’s desire was to become rich and well known (Hurston, 29). Starks passed away and Janie married a younger man than her named Tea Cake (Hurston 116). Janie left her home town with Teacake and had the privilege to travel to new places and experience freedom, love and happiness (Hurston, 131). A hurricane arrived to the muck and Teacake was bitten by a dog with rabbis, Teacake tried to kill Janie, and in self-defense Janie killed Teacake. After Teacake’s death Janie was able to “pull her horizon like a great net” (Hurston, 173). Janie accomplished her dreams through perseverance and was satisfied. On the other hand Mrs. Mallard was a house wife that constantly obliged her husband’s orders and felt trapped. She was also “afflicted with a heart trouble” (Chopin, 1). A railroad accident occurred and Mr. Mallard was pronounced dead. Mrs. Mallard began to seek for freedom and said “free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin, 15). Mrs. Mallard was going to exert herself to a life filled with freedom and happiness however, Mr. Brently returned and Mrs. Mallard then died “of a heart disease”(Chopin, 21). Mrs. Mallard was going to fulfil her ambition to lead life with privilege but, unfortunately she died before she could begin.
While Glaspell communicates women’s view of marriage through significance of the canary and setting, Chopin makes use of the symbolism in Mrs. Mallard’s room door along with the front door of her home to illustrate the struggles that women during her time. After news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard retreats back to her room, having no one accompany her. She resides there long enough that her sister, Josephine, must “implor[e] for admission” with “her lips to the keyhole” (Chopin 16). Josephine is convinced that grief has consumed her sister who was making herself ill. Although she does weep over the death of her husband, Mrs. Mallard “was drinking in a very elixir of life” (Chopin 16). The door that divides her and the rest of the characters represents a separation from her ordinary life and the life that she must keep private. Only behind this door does Mrs. Mallard feel safe to confide in her feelings, which was that of joy and a profound desire for a freedom that “would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin 16), without concern for what others will make
While many women fulfilled their "responsibilities", a large number of women responded to this attempt to define and limit their roles with their own literature and work in the feminist movement”(Ewell). So we are now thinking that Mrs. Mallard was unhappy in her marriage because behind closed doors she now expresses how she really feels, it says “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air…”(p.496). At this point of the story begins to twist, something completely different than the reader expected to happen! So we now come to understand that Mrs. Mallard is actually feeling like new human being, she is being reborn. She is now seeing everything in a whole new way now that her husband has passed she is now free, free of her husband’s shadow. In the same sense we can easily interpret that winter, meaning her husband has died and spring meaning her freedom is yet to come and has now been reborn. In the story Mrs. Mallard is standing before an opened window, an open window may mean several things I interpret it as being vulnerable since she was in despair but it may also symbolize many opportunities for her
This personal confession shows that Mrs. Mallard, though she will mourn at first, now is free to “live for herself,” (228) not for her imposing husband. Before her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard believed she was in a healthy, normal marriage. This death revealed to her how while she cared about her husband, she despised the lack of freedom her marriage had given her. All of the realizations that Mrs. Mallard reaches during her time of reflection shows the readers exactly why she will no longer mourn the death of her husband.
In the midst of her grieving, Mrs. Mallard pictures the time that is to come, when she will be able to make all of her own decisions and will be given the freedom to live her life as she pleases. Suddenly, she feels relieved more than she is upset. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death…but she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely (Booth 307). Her desire for freedom overcame the despair of her husband’s death.
Although she tried to deny the emotion approaching her, when Louise looks out the open window she experiences a feeling of liberation. Chopin describes the liberation of the window by saying, “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (236). While looking outside of the window, Mrs. Mallard relates to nature’s new spring life as she now experiences new emotions of freedom from her marriage. Since Mr. Mallard’s death ends the confinement Mrs. Mallard feels, the open window demonstrates her now free, open life full of new opportunities. As Wimmer states in his article, “this 'openness,' then, is really itself a symbol of the boundless possibilities Louise can experience with her newfound independence.” She realizes she can live her
Mrs. Mallard had, "in that brief moment of illumination"(15), stumbled upon a truth: she was now her own person, free from the confines of her husband. She had loved her husband, "sometimes"(15), but that didn't matter: "What could love ....count for in the face of theis possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! THE theme of the story unfolds at this point: Mrs. Mallard, through the death of her husband, is able to experience the joy of the realization
This is where the story takes a positive turn and where Mrs. Mallard begins to recognize her freedom for the first time. The open window is symbolically Mrs. Mallard’s connection to the world and fresh start at life. Sometimes we open windows to let new fresh air in and let the old air out. She was getting rid of her old life and was finally accepting and loving her freedom and the new opportunities to come after the death of Mr. Mallard.
Author, Kate Chopin, presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. Finally, she recognizes the freedom she has desired for a long time and it overcomes her sorrow: "Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering." In her soul, the dark clouds are disappearing because she is illuminated. All the memories of her husband are now of the past. She is living in the present. At this point, she is no longer "Mrs.Mallard." She is Louise and is ready to welcome a new horizon of freedom : "Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own." Overwhelmed with a new sense of herself, she feels as if she
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.
Immediately after Mrs. Mallard receives the news about her husband she races to her room where she sits in “ a comfortable, armchair”. The chair symbolizes her oppressive life she had and freedom from society’s expectations. Since it was a tradition to be married by a certain age their marriage was probably planned. So she may have been obligated to marry Bentley. Sitting in the chair and looking out the window Mrs. Mallard starts to indulge in her thoughts. An open window is also a form of her freedom. Her paying attention to the blue sky, and describing it as a blue sky, big clouds, tree tops and the smell of fresh rain. By describing all the senses imagery was also being used the image representing on how she imagined her new life without her husband. The open window is a symbol for her bright future and her husband that won 't be there anymore to change her decisions. Imagery is shown throughout the story by showing how
When she goes in her room alone, she unveils her true emotions. The setting shows comfort and indicates that she feels safe. The "open window" symbolises her new beginning and she fills her mind with fantasies of freedom. "She would have no one follow her" indicates that she had only her room to retreat to and it is from this place that she is able to look out at the world. The metaphor "delicious breath of rain", the "peddler", "a distant song" and the sparrows are all symbolical of spring which represents new hope for a better life for Mrs Mallard.
Shoop.com says that “the fear of death hovers over the Mallards house like a constant specter. People are always trying to keep it away. Even on the beat of normal days, Mr. Mallard has to be guarded against a potent”. A really important object of “the story of an hour” is the “open window”. This is important because of the fact that it means a new born On Mrs. Mallard’s life just like sparksnote.com states that “the open window from which Louise goes for much of the story represents the freedom and responsibility”.