The theme of this short story is betrayal. Richard and her sister betrayed her trust and lied about Mr. Mallard’s death. I think the story of her husband’s death was made up by Richard and her sister. When Mr. Mallard walked in they didn’t act surprised or curious to how he’s alive; they just blocked him from his wife’s view. The tone switches from mournful to joyful and back to mournful. In the beginning Mrs. Mallard finds out about her husband’s death, weeps over it, and isolates to her room to mourn. In her room she realizes she is finally a free woman and gets this overbearing feeling of joy. At the end of the story she realizes the story was false and her husband is alive. She ends up dying of “joy that kills”, and leaves her husband