Mrs. Mallard from "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
             Young Bride from "The Hand" by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
             I thoroughly enjoyed reading these two particular short stories because they portrayed two married women at different points in their lives. Mrs. Mallard seems to be portrayed as an older woman and of course, the newly married bride is portrayed as being young. In "The Story of an Hour," the story seems to present the idea that Mrs. Mallard has been unhappy for quite a long time and ready to be set free. "The Hand" reflects on the feelings or emotions that a young bride may go through being newly married to someone, especially someone she has only known for a matter of a month and two weeks.
             Mrs. Mallard seems to be a very troubled individual. The story unfolds her character as she is made aware that her husband, Mr. Mallard, was killed by a terrible railroad disaster. She had grown up in a time that divorce was scrutinized and was not an option for anyone and was expected to put her true feelings aside, and act as a wife should in that day and time. Mrs. Mallard begins to feel as though she must portray that she is distraught with her husband's death. She wept and sought affection from a loved one like any other happily married woman would portray to feel.
             As Mrs. Mallard sat alone in her room, she began to feel warm inside and set free. She feels as though she had been kept in a cage her entire marriage, and for once the door was opened and she could roam free like a bird. "When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free!" (11; all page references are to the class text, The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, 5th ed.). She had felt so repressed for so many years, because she had lived a lie.
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