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Mrs. Mallard's Freedom In The Story Of An Hour

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In Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, Mrs.Mallard receives the new that her husband was killed in a train wreck. Mrs. Mallard has been told that she has heart problems, so her sister Josephine is the one who tells her the bad news. The first thing Mrs. Mallard did is wept in her sister's arms. She then went into her room all alone and cries some more as she looks out of her window. The Story of an Hour takes place during the time period that women were controlled by their husbands. Mrs. Mallard comes to her senses and realizes that now that her husband is dead, she can live her own life. Soon after she comes to that realization and is thrilled about the fact that she is now free, her husband who was thought to have been killed in the accident, came home. Mrs. Mallard dies of what the doctor said was overwhelming joy which caused her heart to stop. We as the readers can infer that she dies of not joy but of sadness. …show more content…

In paragraph eleven, Chopin writes “She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free!” Mrs. Mallard is so excited that she repeats the word “free” over and over again so she can let the reality sink in that she is in fact free. In paragraph eleven, Chopin also writes “Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.” This tells the reader that her husband passing is an amazing, relaxing feeling for Mrs. Mallard. Her sister, Josephine is outside her door telling her to open the door that she is going to make herself ill. The reader knows that Mrs. Mallard was secretly in joy, but the characters were

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“The Story of an Hour” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. It is about a woman named Mrs. Mallard, who had to be informed of her husband’s death very carefully because she had a heart condition. After her sister notified her of the accident her husband was in, she cried and locked herself in her room until she started to accept and appreciate her new-found independence. When Mrs. Mallard came out of the room and walked downstairs with her sister, to her surprise, her husband walked in the front door. Mrs. Mallard had a heart attack from an overwhelming amount of shock and joy.

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Throughout the story readers can see Mrs. Mallard being characterized through the ironic events. The story says, “And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not” (8). This shows how Mrs. Mallard cares for her husband but doesn’t enjoy the power he carries over her, which nobody in the story realizes. “She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities.

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Today, most people would assume that the reaction to a loved one’s death would be immediate grief; however, that would not be the case in the late 1800s. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” women were expected to grieve differently than men. The story conveys the main character Mrs. Mallard’s distress and joy after she discovered the supposed death of her husband. The story does not demonstrate Mrs. Mallard following the stages of grief that would be expected when grieving over her husband. In spite of the fact that Mrs. Mallard was grieving she was likewise encountering joy and satisfaction since she then realizes that she is currently free.

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In the beginning of the story, she heard the news of her husband’s death in train accident from her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend, Richard. She was shocked by the news and showed sad feelings in the story. However, when I was reading through the story, I could infer that Mallard had a terrible marriage life with her husband because the story later said that Mallard was happy because she had freedom. In the beginning of the story, she was shocked and sad but later on, she was happy because of in dependence. These evidences prove that she is a dynamic character.

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In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, after hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s emotions did not portray sadness or despair instead she was relieved and rejoiced. Even though Mrs. Mallard admits that her husband was kind and loving, she feels joy after hearing the news of her husband’s death that she will no longer be known as Mrs. Mallard. Although it was acknowledged in the story that Louise Mallard loved Bentley Mallard, we can tell by the statement “had never looked save with love upon her,” (Chopin, 1894), the favor was not returned. The main theme we see in this story is the oppression of marriage. Death of her husband shows that Mrs. Mallard finally has freedom.

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Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the readers to contemplate a hidden meaning woven into the story line. Mr. Mallard is assumed to die in a railroad accident, leaving Mrs. Mallard devastated. Instead of feeling sadness or grief, Mrs. Mallard actually feels free. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Page 499).

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The plot of the story takes place in Mrs. Mallards mind. This gives us the advantage of knowing what’s going on in her brain,

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Chopin writes, “She could see in the open square of her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life... there were patches of blue sky showing here and there,” (Chopin 307). This quote is implying that even when Mrs. Mallard got the news of her husband’s death, the world is still going on and she has a whole new life ahead of her being a single

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Mallard reaches a sense of exuberant liberation. She is overwhelmed with feelings of a newfound freedom. Chopin illustrates this burst of hope once again through nature imagery when she writes, “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air”(Chopin 237). Though Mrs. Mallard tries, she cannot fight the growing sense of freedom that overtakes her. Chopin writes this change as a powerful realization that Mrs. Mallard cannot help but accept.

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Both of these women felt trapped within their marriage and simply wanted a way out. “Story of an Hour” begins as a tale about a woman who is struck with the devastating news that her husband has died in a train accident. However, this was not so crippling to the wife, Mrs. Mallard. Her emotions overwhelmed her. When she looked out her window while sitting in her chair,

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First of all, imagery is used in “The Story of an Hour” to help the reader understand Mrs. Mallard as a character. A long list of the deaths from the crash were delivered to the newspaper office. Leading the list off, right up top, was “Brently Mallard.” Right away, Kate Chopin tells the reader that Mrs. Mallard is afflicted with heart disease. Brently Mallard’s friend, Richards, comes to break the news to Mrs. Mallard.

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She felt free “she said it over and over… free free free.” (p241). She felt free from her marriage, free from her old life and free from the way she used to live when she was in marriage. In the 19th century, women were housewives while the man did everything and free is what Mrs.Mallard, she felt free from being trapped, free from her husband being oppressive and with this many married women today and back then can relate to what Mrs.Mallard felt and to what Chopin wrote. The feeling of having freedom is a feeling that Mrs.Mallard never had, it was a strange feeling to her

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The readers can be more sympathetic towards Mrs. Mallard.

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Her first name is only told after her husband dies. Thus, it symbolizes her being free, “Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering” (Chopin 203). The reader is told that Mr. Mallard is assumed to die from a railroad accident.

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The story of an Hour Critical Analysis through a Psychological Perspective using both Freud and Lacan’s theory approach. In the beginning of the story, the Chopin informs the audience of Mrs. Mallard serious heart condition. Her friends and family were worried how to break the news to her of her husband’s death. After giving it much thought Mrs. Mallard was given the news as gently as possible of her husband’s death.

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