The Story of an Hour
As we look at "The Story of an Hour", there many different views about Mrs. Mallard. Some people believe she was unwilling or unable to discuss what she wanted in everyday life with her husband. Other people believe she hated her husband and that is why she finally felt free when she heard he was dead. As we reviewed this story, we looked at the period in which it was written. Many women in that time, lived their lives with their parents until they were married. Most women did not move out on their own. Women were taught, at their mothers knee, how to keep house, how to cook, how to sew and they learned by watching their mothers, how to be a wife and mother. In watching their mother, they learned that the man was the head of the house and although he might ask his wife about her opinion, he was the one who made the final decisions and he was the one in charge of the finances. Mrs. Mallard didn't appear to even knew that she was not happy or content. She lived her lif!e as she was taught and how everyone did in that time. As the story begins, Mrs. Mallard is told, as gently as possible, that her husband had been killed in a train wreck. She immediately grieved for her husband. She needed time to herself so she goes to
Finally, she gives in to this emotion and realizes that she is free. Her husband was the head of the household and she deferred to him. She would not have fought it back if you knew that she wanted a new life or that she was not content with her life. She finally opens the door and with her sister begins to descend the stairs. She realized that this was a new beginning for her, a different life, one in which she would now make all decisions, she would not have to worry about pleasing someone else or what they might want. In walks her husband and although her husbands friend tries to block her view, she sees her husband, collapses and dies. Many women in that time, lived their lives with their parents until they were married. She knew she would grieve again for her husband but right now she was feeling this new freedom given to her. Her death is symbolic of her new emotions that she will now have to give up again. She might not have even realized that she felt confined within her marriage. She knew that she would grieve again, weep again for her husband but she would embrace this new life. Mallard loved her husband but she was like many women in that time. There, she sank into a chair and stared out the window at the trees which were aquiver with new spring life.
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