“True individual freedom cannot exist without independence,” was a quote Franklin D. Roosevelt once said. What is meant by this statement is you cannot have freedom without independence and vice versa. It’s like the peanut butter needed in a jelly sandwich. Mrs Mallard represents this quote in the short story The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin. One day, Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist received the news that her husband had died in a railroad accident. Once she had heard this, she went to her room and started to sob. She was sad that her husband died, yet she often had not loved him. But then, she realized that she can be free and independent since her husband is dead. Mrs. Mallard, also known as Louise, starts to pray that her life …show more content…
Mallard starts to feel free and independent since her husband isn’t around the house anymore. She came to her consensus that there are positive things that are coming from this. In the story, Mrs. Mallard says “‘Free Body and soul free!’ she kept whispering” (15). The reader learns that Mrs. Mallard is now feeling like waves of freedom have washed over her, instead of gloomy ones. She realized that she is now not held back by anyone, as she was seemingly restricted by her husband to do things she had always dreamed of doing, by herself. Her body and soul are free, looking forward to fun days later on in her life. She could finally have the freedom and independence she had always wanted. A little further into the story, Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts are “Spring and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long” (18). This is another example of the author showing Mrs. Mallard’s independence and freedom. She is looking forward to free and independent spring and summer days in the future. She also makes a quick prayer that life might be long because she now wants to experience fun days with her two new traits. Mrs. Mallard wants her freedom and independence to be the longest it possibly can, up until she dies. Mrs. Mallard wants to experience her freedom and independence now since her husband has
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
In addition the intense desire for freedom is even more obvious in "The Story of an Hour." Mrs. Mallard's craving for freedom is so strong that when she is given the news of her husband's death, she is relieved that "there would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself" (Chopin 2). It seems as though she wants to live her own life without having her husband tell her what to do all the time.
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.
Furthermore, the shift of Mrs. Mallard’s emotion is the key to interprets her eager to access freedom of this article. The processes of emotion shifting of Mrs. Mallard, can show how she think about the death news of her husband and her fantasy of freedom.
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)
Mrs. Mallard feels tied down and trapped in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8). Once Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband's death, she knew that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (paragraph 14). There now would be no husband who believes he had the "right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature"
Being free is what all humans want. They want to be free from their daily lives and control how they wish to live, but many times humans lose their freedom. Mrs. Mallard lost her freedom to her husband who controlled her daily life. She did not have freedom to life as she pleased, so when Mrs. Mallard was given the news of her husband’s passing she rejoiced in her newly gained freedom to live her own life without having another human being imposing their will upon her. With her husband death Mrs. Mallard received what she truly wanted, freedom.
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
Next, Mrs. Mallard was a woman who suffered from the times where women were treated with less value and importance. She lost her own life because rejoice at her husband’s tragedy. Her uncontrollable desire to be free made her become a frivolous woman, who let his personal longing’s end with his own life. When she realized that her husband was alive all his plans vanished. Her happiness was a temporary happiness which lasted less than an hour.
I n the Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin gives us the feeling that Mrs. Mallard is unhappy in the by telling us “she was presses down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (227). We learn right off that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition and should be treated tenderly. When she heard the news of her husbands death, she was at first upset and distraught. She did not begin to feel better until she had time to sit and think, with “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (227). Mrs. Mallard felt lonely and did not know what to do with herself anymore. She realized that there would no longer be someone there with her to be there when her life expired. She often had the feeling that life was too long and that the end would never come for her. That was a sign that Mrs. Mallard was a lonely and isolated woman. She was sitting there in the chair when it came to her in a sudden rush. That she is “Free! Body and soul free” (228). Mrs. Mallard knew then that life was not short after all. Life was short and she should live it to the fullest. She is now free to do as she pleases. Mrs. Mallard has a feeling of freedom, freedom form the loneliness and isolation that she has felt for a very long time. She is now free to be herself
After reading “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the reader can see that the text reveals a major theme about freedom with the use of a few characters, a basic setting, and plot. This text was written to address the crisis of the restricted lives women were forced to live during that time period. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is discussing how they were being careful to break the news of Louis husband’s death because she had a heart problem. In the middle of the text, we learn how the news was accepted. Finally, in the end of the text, the author adds an interesting plot twists that brings the meaning of the story together. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” is the best story because it developed the theme of the loss of freedom can be detrimental through her use of plot, setting, and character.
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
Mallard is happy at the idea of freedom again, it also tells you why she is happy about freedom. This is telling you that basically her thoughts did not matter to her husband. Everything she did, or thought was because he told her. He told her what to think, and he told her what to do. So the idea of freedom makes her happy because she does not have to deal with that