MRS. MALLARD’S “BRIEF MOMENT OF ILLUMINATION”
Mrs. Mallard’s "brief moment of illumination" is a very deep and touching story about a lady who is forced to be married to a man she did not really know and did not love deeply with all her heart, as if she is bound with unhappiness for life! Now she has been liberated. The narrator portrays that was feeling a kind of freedom that she could not describe, but does not know how to deal with it. In this essay matters such as this freedom she was feeling, the little love she had for her husband, the "monstrous joy" she was feeling will be discussed. Matters such as women’s issues and their feelings towards life and death are also included in this essay. These matters are all part of Mrs. Mallard’s "brief moment of illumination".
"Story of an Hour" was written and published in 1894. This story was written in an era where a lot of questions where risen, about who the dominant sex was and why. This story was written to share with the world how men treated women in that era and how men really felt about women. Women were forced to be with men and were bound to be unhappy.
The biggest question was the "Women’s Question". What role the women fulfilled in the society and that the female species were the less dominant species. Men were the overriding species, women were forced to do things they did not want to do and were forced to be with men they did not really love and care for. In the "Story of an Hour" Mrs. Mallard is also force being with a person she did not really know. She never really loved him and cared for him the way she was supposing to. Mrs. Mallard was treated the same as all the women were treated in that era, badly and were abused in many ways if they did not do what th...
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...ut it is not. The whole hour is about her inner conflict about her freedom and if she has been “wildly abandoned” by her husband and the feeling of freedom that she can not handle.
This concludes the essay about Mrs. Mallard’s “brief moment of illumination”. This essay has discussed everything that was mentioned in the introduction paragraph. The paragraph illustrates the narrator’s depiction of Mrs. Mallard’s “brief moment of illumination” very well. This shows her inner conflict she is fighting inside of her mind and thoughts about the freedom she has received and that she is bound to it and she does not know how to deal with it.
Bibliography
1. Starfield, Jane, 2008, Anthology of Poetry & Short Stories (A Reader for 2008)
2. Ferguson, I, 1997, Cross-Currents: An Anthology of Short Stories. Hatfield: Acacia Books
3. www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/
Mrs. Mallard?s freedom did not last but a few moments. Her reaction to the news of the death of her husband was not the way most people would have reacted. We do not know much about Mr. And Mrs. Mallards relationship. We gather from the text that her freedom must have been limited in some way for her to be feeling this way. Years ago women were expected to act a certain way and not to deviate from that. Mrs. Mallard could have been very young when she and Brently were married. She may not have had the opportunity to see the world through a liberated woman?s eyes and she thought now was her chance.
Throughout history women have pioneered their way into occupations that were once occupied solely by men. Not surprisingly, many achievements have come from women challenging and stepping out of their expected social roles. Today most women are free to voice their opinion and express themselves in every aspect of their lives, including their marriage. It was not long ago when women were deprived of this freedoms. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin Mrs. Mallard has been informed of the death of her husband. At first she feels melancholy because they both loved each other. He never mistreated her but at the same time she was chained to him. She quickly changes her mood when realizing what the death of her husband has given her. In the story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, Calixta is a loving
...r. Secondly, in “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard, representing a typical married women in today’s world, believes her relationship has gotten monotonous with her husband. She does not get to enjoy the freedom which she truly desires. Desperation took over her life which led to her own death. Lastly, in the story of “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa realizes there is no future in her marriage, which makes her understand her life has become a miserable one. The frustration of this woman caused by her husband soon allows her to recognize no one will ever see her as a valuable and smart person. The absence of attention which men have towards their respective women in the stories mentioned above provoke them to not reach the happiness they wish. It makes them feel like unworthy human beings with trapped dreams which turn out being the main cause of their endangered lives.
The struggle the other characters face in telling Mrs. Mallard of the news of her husband's death is an important demonstration of their initial perception of her strength. Through careful use of diction, Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as dependent. In mentioning her "heart trouble" (12) Chopin suggests that Mrs. Mallard is fragile. Consequently, Josephine's character supports this misconception as she speaks of the accident in broken sentences, and Richards provides little in the way of benefiting the situation. In using excess caution in approaching the elderly woman, Mrs. Mallard is given little opportunity to exhibit her strength. Clearly the caution taken towards Mrs. Mallard is significant in that it shows the reader the perception others have of her. The initial description the author provides readers with creates a picture that Mrs. Mallard is on the brink of death.
...t the end of the story shows that liberation of women in a society ruled by a patriarchal mindset is doomed to fail (Wan 169). According to Wan, the story of an hour is a true depiction of representation of women in the nineteenth century when movements against oppression of women began to emerge (170). Although the outcomes were not as tragic as depicted in the story, it was obviously a journey filled with many challenges, and the fact that a viable resolve is yet to be achieved to date shows the issue of gender equality is grim.
... of tragedy and lets her be the diamond in the rough. She is the one person whose vision is unaltered from the very beginning of the book and to her the other survivors draw their own courage.
During the time of its publication “The Story of an Hour” was not received with open arms. In fact, the topic itself was strange to many as it spoke of “a woman rejoicing in the death of her husband” (Hicks). And it
She proclaims her husbands love throughout the story, I feel, in an attempt to bind the disconnection she feels with her husband.
Mostly on every story, a person, place, or even an object can be described or represented more than what it actually really is. It’s just trying explain more than what the author is trying to get across the story, but it also makes you think twice about what it’s trying to say to show through the main idea. There is all sorts of symbols like the multiply sign is used to show that they double the number of what they’re trying to solve. Colors may also be used to show symbolism like they can make you label certain things and it symbolizes the object you labeled with the color.
“The Story of an Hour” was a story set in a time dominated by men. During this time women were dependent on men, but they always dreamed of freedom. Most people still think that men should be dominant and in control. They think that without men, women can’t do anything and that they can’t be happy. Well this story has a twist.
Women rights were extremely limited in may ways. Once they were married, their husband held all of their freedom. This story describes one case, Mrs. Mallard, and her experiences with hearing the news of a tragic accident which resulted in leaving her husband dead. She is overjoyed, because she knows she will be free. She will not have to live under him. Mrs. Mallard will finally get the chance to live her own life along with inheriting his goods. Knowing the rights women had and did not have in late 1800s ties together the reality of this short story.
Through the use of a concise plot, symbolism, descriptive setting, point of view, and dramatic irony, readers are left with a strong feeling of empathy for the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard. Through each paragraph of the story, readers continue to feel empathetic for the woman who grieves the loss of her husband, gains a new feeling of freedom outside of the restrictions of marriage, then loses that freedom when she discovers that her husband is not dead, all within an hour’s time. While women’s independence and freedom within marriage could still be a topic reflected in today’s literature, it would be a much different story than that of Chopin’s time. At the time this story was written, women were expected to do whatever it took to please and cater to their husbands. This story seems to draw from the changes of that time as women were beginning to gain more independence in their lives as in the suffrage movement, marriage, and employment outside the home. Much has changed in women’s rights since the end of the nineteenth century, which is a result of the work of women like Kate
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...
In “The Story of an Hour”, freedom was only allowed in your private thoughts. Meaning that you could of only dreamed of being free or finding yourself. In American society, marriage is seen as a time of your life where you do not live for yourself but for someone else. Marriage is seen as a place where you depend on your significant other for happiness or self-actualization. In marriage gender inequality is occurring. Mrs. Mallard undergo a confusion of emotions of feeling free and sadness once her husband passes
The main theme in “The Story of an Hour” is a woman’s freedom from oppression. Mrs. Mallard does not react accordingly to the news of her husband’s death; in the third paragraph it states, “she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment.” After her initial wave of shock and sadness has passed, however, she becomes elated with the thought of finally being free of her husband. Originally, she is described as being “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body” and having lines that “bespoke repression”; in an attempt to be a perfect wife to a man whom she did not even love, Mrs. Mallard has been masking her true self. Once she realizes that she has finally gained the freedom that she has been longing for, Mrs. Mallard begins to