Mrs. Mallard's Life

589 Words3 Pages
In Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour we’re presented with a character suffocating from the expectations of a being a married a woman as symbolized by her heart condition, the restrictions of the protagonist’s life are physically ailing her and only when she has s learned of her husband’s death does she feel she is full of life again. Chopin details not only the repressive nature of a women’s life in the late 19th century, but the repressive nature of marriage itself both for men and women. Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is continuously brought up throughout the story and plays an important thematic role. Her will to live seems to be dampened, perhaps unknowingly (until later in the story) by her, but it is apparent because of the oppressive nature…show more content…
Mallard hears “The notes of a distant song which some one was singing” and the sparrows singing. She could see the blue sky through the clouds; in these words we first discover a small hint of Mrs. Mallard’s newfound joy. There’s a brief yet important line that exemplifies Mrs. Mallard’s malcontent in marriage “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression” obviously illustrating her feelings of oppression. An awareness comes to Mrs.Mallard; noticeably, the author puts emphasis on the slowness of the realization, using words such as, “subtle” and “creeping” adding a hesitancy to the sudden consciousness overtaking Mrs.Mallard, perhaps this hesitancy is indicative to the protagonist’s expected role in the marriage. A sudden yet reluctant realization comes to Mrs.Mallard and a new sense of life swells within her, her eyes “bright” and “keen” she can see so clearly her what future envisioned; finally, she becomes overwhelmed with a “monstrous joy”. In her joy following her husband’s death Mrs.Mallard admits, surprisingly, that Mr.Mallard was indeed kind and she had often loved him, nonetheless, Mrs.Mallard had secretly yearned to be free from the shackles that bound her to someone else’s ideals. The author notes that both men and women suffer from the pressures of marriage, she argues that once in marriage people believe they have the privilege to enforce their principles on their partner and in marriage people are expected to conform to their
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