Who Is Mr. Mallard's Fault In A Marriage?

Through Mrs. Mallard, we could see the social repression that women felt at that time. Therefore, in this story there is so much repression, Chopin said "They were locked into marriages" that probably loved. At least Mrs. Mallard says her husband "never looked at her save with love" (Chopin 34).

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.

Through Mrs. Mallard, we could see the social repression that women felt at that time. Therefore, in this story there is so much repression, Chopin said "They were locked into marriages" that probably loved. At least Mrs. Mallard says her husband "never looked at her save with love" (Chopin 34).

Mallard being a bad husband, the author makes no implications to such a thing. In fact, we are told that he “had never looked save with love upon her,” (CITE) which would imply she had no real ill feelings toward Mr. Mallard. That is, she had no real grounds for her negativity towards him. She even tried to appeal to her own emotions by pointing this reasoning out to herself, but in the end, she put up a poor defense of how she deserved to feel elated over her husband’s death. “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion…” (CITE) Mrs. Mallard allowed her selfish emotions to take over, “her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her.” (CITE) This possibly even ruined a good thing between her and her husband. Then again, the love in the relationship seemed very one sided as Mrs. Mallard admitted that her love for her husband was not complete. The way she tosses aside a relationship like she did makes it challenging for one to sympathize with Mrs. Mallard's character.

The story continues to reveal a conflict Mrs. Mallard may have had in the relationship with her husband. Though she speaks about him lovingly and knows that he loved her, there is something deeper that is brought to the surface in

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.

While Mrs. Mallard remembers Mr. Mallard as a kind and tender man who loved her, she also viewed him as the oppression that marriage put upon women and men. While Mr. Mallard was kind and loving to his wife, he was also controlling and overbearing. Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister and Richards, Mr. Mallard’s friend is there to break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Richards has learned of Mr. Mallard’s death at the newspaper office, not wanting to believe the information that was received, Richards waited for the new to be delivered for a second time before enlisting the help of Josephine. They are both there to support Mrs. Mallard and their support shows that they care for Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.

Just as all of the women submitted they also had a different type of love for their husbands. Mrs. Mallard’s love was stated as, “And yet she loved him – sometimes.” This shows that while the marriage was not a success at her standards she did lover her husband. The mother in “A Sorrowful Woman” showed her lover for her husband by entertaining him when he asked her out to dinner. She also traded roles for him for a brief time when she helped him to bed and out of their son’s room. While all three women loved their husband’s enough to do unthinkable acts, they did not appear to

Mr. Mallard adored his wife. As indicated in the story, his touches were with “kind tender hands’. The author depicts his glances upon her were “with love...” Perhaps, therein lays the problem. His vast love may have smothered her. “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men

All relationship has a problem or assumption of some type, if it didn’t it would not be a relationship. In the story, Mrs. Mallard is happy to hear about her husband’s death because it is like the cuffs around her hands began to loosen up. In the story, Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as a woman without a say in anything but now she does she is free from a man over the female world. For example “ She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life “ (Chopin page 1). This is

The Woman protagonist and Mrs.Mallard both become aware that they are active in the system of traditional gender roles once their husbands loosen their restraints on their subjects and leaving them alone. Mrs.Mallard becomes aware of this tragedy by secluding herself from both her sister and Richard, while the women protagonist becomes aware through the strange and peculiar formations of the wall she is enclosed in through her husband’s treatment. After a period of weeping with her sister and the accompany of Richard, Mrs.Mallard decides to seclude herself from her company and locks herself in a room. There she griefs a little more but then feels something strange. As if something ominous in the room. She asks for her body to be freed from this intruding danger. But then it something comes to her mind; she was free. Free from her husband, her marriage. After all “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Chopin 1). Although as the reader finds out latter that Mr.Mallard is fine, well and still the man in the family, without the presence of a male figure to asses dominance by proxy, Mrs.Mallard comes to the epiphany that she has been held back. She has been held back by the bondage of marriage which prevents from feeling any source of identity or originality. She comes to realize her presumed dead husband has held her back from choosing she wants to accomplish in life. She desires her selfish ambitions over the state of her marriage. She comes to realize this revelation when that love has been taken away by a tragic accident. To Mrs.Mallard love can now take the backseat in her carriage; she can let her desires roam wherever they so please now that her husband has been presumed dead. And while she might think she has control, the wife of John has no power. But the protagonist wife is starting to come to her senses that she might just be the victim of her husband's grave captivity. Assigned with bed rest by her husband, the main character is locked in a room and is required to do absolutely nothing but rest. This means she cannot read, write, draw, or anything that would revolve around

Rather than giving up and ending the marriage, many couples could save the marriage by trying to work through the problems that arise. Many people do not realize how much hard work has to be put into a marriage for it to be successful. When planning a wedding, some couples spend a lot of time preparing the vows that will be exchanged during the ceremony, but sadly the partners fail to live by the vows day after day. Scores of married couples drift apart because their hectic lives do not allow them to spend enough quality time together, which is important for a healthy marriage. Communication is also an essential factor in working through problems in a marriage.

The Mallard’s relationship seems to be a caring yet troublesome bond that has a sense of deliverance. Mr. Mallard looks at Mrs. Mallard “with love upon her” (121). He has to be strong and supportive of the couple. Though they love each other, Mr. Mallard appears to be overprotective. He takes care of his wife while she suffers with heart trouble. He goes to get whatever the couple needs. She loves her husband,

Socrates, a Greek philosopher once said: "Each one must know himself." Unfortunately, most of us are not aware of our true character. Social conventions are the main cause making us repress what we really think and feel. Only when unexpected events happen, we do have an opportunity to take a close look at our hidden self. "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin reflects the dramatic development process of Mrs. Mallard's character through the death of her husband; it demonstrates that the true identity cannot be sheltered forever.

Mallard which obstructed their ability to have a strong relationship. Their mutual feelings for each other were not equal. Mr. Mallard had greater affection for Mrs. Mallard and exhibited more passion and intimacy, as indicated by Mrs. Mallard who described him as having “kind, tender hands folded in death…” (Chopin 129). However, a considerable age difference existed between this couple. Mrs. Mallard was described as having “two white slender hands” and “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin 129), while Mr. Mallard’s features were “fixed and gray” (Chopin 129). Mrs. Mallard, who had a youthful calm face, was restrained in her marriage to Mr. Mallard who was visibly older with gray hair and controlling in his rigid ways. She was subjected to her husband’s patriarchal role in their marriage which made her unhappy and unable to express her repressed youthful nature. Nonetheless, it turned out that Mrs. Mallard did not favor Brently Mallard as her husband and wished to not be married to him. Hence, she began to cheer that she was “free” (Chopin 129) as she gathered her thoughts in the privacy of her bedroom.