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.
State how marriage is presented in the stories, “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour.” In “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour” there are two distinguishable women who are dependent on and controlled by their husbands both physically and emotionally. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs.
Oppression of Women in 19th Century Literature In the stories “The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the female characters are unequal and less important than the men in society. The duties of women during this
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.
Mrs. Mallard is, outwardly, a typical woman in the 19th century with a husband, family, and home. It is first apparent that Mrs. Mallard is not satisfied with her role as a wife when she receives the news of her husband’s death and begins to feel a sensation of joy that overcomes her. The wife’s unhappiness with her married life is enhanced when the narrator states, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” (Chopin 16) The reader infers that Mrs. Mallard was figuratively suffocating under the duties and stereotypes a 19th century woman was subjected to, such as caring for a house and family instead of pursuing a career outside of the home. Mrs. Mallard views her husband’s death as an escape from her role and a chance to have control over her life and choices, showed when she whispers “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin 16) In the final portion of the story Mrs. Mallard’s husband returns home, having never been in an accident, and she dies of what doctors determine is an overwhelming joy for seeing her husband alive. The reader infers that Mrs. Mallard has lost her chance of a new start and freedom from her role and dies of grief over her loss of freedom. The author contrasts Mrs. Mallard’s lack of control and freedom in her life to
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
Mrs. Mallard feels the freedom run through her body, she finally says what she truly feels. She has been under so much distress living for her husband, and now she feels the comfort of being alone. Mrs. Mallard clearly expresses the feelings she’s been keeping to herself because she now has the freedom to think for herself.
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)
True Sadness In the short story "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin, the author, presents the reader with an obscure view of marriage. Chopin's main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, experiences the excitement of freedom instead of the devastation of loneliness after she receives the news of her husband's death. Mrs. Mallard disturbingly finds out that Brently, her husband is still alive. She know knew that her only chance at freedom is gone. The disappointment instantly kills Mrs. Mallard. Published in the late 1800s, the overbearing nature of marriage presented in "The Story of an Hour" may very well reflect, but not restricted to, that era.
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.
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
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
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.