Second Chances In The Story of an Hour, written by Kate Chopin, she writes about how a woman, Mrs. Mallard, is living with her husband, but not actually living her own life. Many women in the 1800s marry in their twenties and their husbands tend to be older by five years or more. This makes it a normality for the men to have a higher stance in the marriage. Throughout the story, Kate Chopin urges women that, though they may dream of getting married and having a life with their husbands, to live a life of their own with no regrets as well. When Mrs. Mallard’s husband is reportedly killed in an accident, Mrs. Mallard grieves for the loss of her husband although, as she grieves, she begins to see her husband’s death as an opportunity for her to live her life for herself. …show more content…
Mallard is told her husband has been killed, she goes through some stages of grief. Many people believe there are five to seven stages of grief beginning with denial, guilt, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Mrs. Mallard never denies the loss of her husband like other wives have. She begins with crying, but strangely does not have the “inability to accept” the news about her husband (496). Reading that she is not reacting the same way as others makes her actions a bit odd. After crying over the loss of her husband, Mrs. Mallard leaves her sister and goes to her room for privacy. Mrs. Mallard’s sister thinks she leaves to possibly cause harm to herself, but little does her sister know that this is where Mrs. Mallard’s transition
Pg. 278, 279). Her sister then comes into the room and tells her “open the door--- you will make yourself ill.” (Pg. 279), and she is afraid that she will hurt herself. So, Mrs. Mallard finally came out of her room, hugged her sister, and went downstairs with her sister and Richards. Then, the twist in the story comes.
Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" proves to be a timeless short story. Although this story was written in the nineteenth century, it is still reflective and relevant of today's society. It is still popular in many high schools and college classrooms. A critical examination of this piece of literature can be done using character analysis. This is an important tool in analyzing the meanings "between the lines" in this story. Mrs. Mallard is the main character and therefore plays the most important role in the story. This makes it necessary to examine her character in order to gain insights into the story's meaning. Several key elements relating to her personality surface in the story. These elements give insights into her feelings and her thoughts. The character analysis shows Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as insensitive, selfish and a wishful thinker.
Why would a married woman go out, spend the night with a man whom she barely knows, when she has a wonderful, devoted husband and child? Mrs. Mallard's cry of ultimate relief and the joy she felt when she learned of her husband's deathis intolerable.
“The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin, published in 1894, tells a story of a woman who believes she will now experience freedom from her repressive marriage. Chopin records the rollercoaster of emotions Mrs. Mallard felt after learning of her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard experiences strong emotions but not of grief or despre but rather freedom and joy. After the death of her husband she realizes the limitless potential of her own self-assertion. In the story, the reader sees the common view of marriage in the late nineteenth hundreds. Mrs. Mallard felt free from a redistricting and sheltering marriage and becomes self possessed. Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband still lives, she know that all hope of freedom is gone. With the use of symbolism and characterization, Chopin creates the under lining theme
Mrs. Mallard was held back from a large part of her life. Being alone was her new beginning. It was feeling that Mrs. Mallard longed for but never got the chance to do. Although Mrs. Mallard was married and the news of her husband's passing was at first devisating, she thought about what it would be life to finally be on her own. Not only was she lost in her thoughts, Mrs. Mallard also became joyful over being
Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...
Imagine if you are so excited that your husband died and he walks in your front door,how would you feel? Bad, just like how Mrs. Mallard felt when she saw her husband walk through, she died instantly. In this story Mrs.Mallard’s husband died. At first, she was sorta sad but then she realized she now had a life of her own.
She would not have grieved over someone she did not love. Even in the heat of her passion, she thinks about her lost love. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked safe with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. Her love may not have been the greatest love of all time, but it was still love. Marriage was not kind to Mrs. Mallard, her life was dull and not worth living, her face showed the years of repression.
Mrs.Mallard chose to accept the truth, weep and become haunted by the news and yet later the story takes an unexpected turn. She later becomes fine with the outcome for it lead her to freedom. The views of death and its significance with both writers is written with a strong aura of suffering and
Mrs. Mallard is taken good care by her sister, Josephine and her husband’s friend, Richards. Now knowing Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble, Richards is the first person to witness a horrific news about Mr. Mallard has been in a railroad disaster in the newspaper. While feeling shocked and uncertain, Richards check again to make sure is it true or not. Then the message went towards Josephine. Josephine is the only closest person who can tell her sister this heartbreaking message.
Mallard’s emotions over the presumed death of her husband. The author used both dramatic and situational irony to mislead the reader and surprise them with a plot twist ending. By utilizing both external and internal conflict the author expresses the internal debate of Mrs. Mallard’s true feelings and those of the people around her. The author used symbolism to display Mrs. Mallard’s desire for freedom from her marriage. In the end it was not joy that killed Mrs. Mallard but the realization that she lost her
She realizes that this is the benefit of her husband’s death. She has no one to live for in the coming years but herself. Moments after this revelation, her thought to be deceased husband walks through the front door. He had not died after all. The shock of his appearance kills Mrs. Mallard.
Mallard’s decision of being happy about her husband’s death was very wise and correct because that was a window of opportunity to gain her freedom back. Now she realizes that she will be able to make her own decisions and choices. Even though great care was given to her due to her heart problem, her husband still has controlled upon her life. Freedom is what motivates Mrs. Mallard to be happy with her husband’s death.
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...
The story takes place in the late nineteenth century, a time when women had very limited rights. Mrs. Mallard, a young woman who has a bad heart, plays the main character in this story. She receives news that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. Mrs. Mallard is shocked and bewildered by the death of her husband. However, the feeling of bewilderment is only a temporary feeling that quickly leads to an overwhelming sense of freedom. A freedom she has desperately longed for. Yet, shortly after receiving the news of her husbands death there is a knock at the door. Upon opening the door, she discovers that her husband is not dead, for he is standing in the doorway alive and well. Mr. Mallard’s appearance causes his wife to die. “[T]he doctors … said she [has] died of heart disease – of jo...