Body and soul free” (169-170). Louise’s celebration of her husband’s death ends when she leaves her bedroom to be with her sister again. Suddenly they hear someone turning a key in the front door and they turn to see Brently Mallard, Louise’s husband. Louise was so shocked of her husband’s arrival that she, having prior heart trouble, has a heart attack brought on by “joy that kills”, or so the doctors said (170). Chopin uses quite a bit of figurative language in her story; two of the best examples are Louise’s heart trouble and the open window in her bedroom.
Leslie Knox Ms. Baldwin English 3/ Period 6 2 March 2013 The Story of an Hour Essay In the story, The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, there is a woman with a heart condition that receives bad news. She deals with thenews in a different way than most people would. At first she js sad, but then she realizes she is happy. At the end of the storythere is a major twist. The woman, Mrs. Mallard, is told by her sister Josephine and her husbands friend Richards, that her husband Brently Mallard has been killed in a railroad accodent at work.
Through the struggles of this character, the reader experiences the different stages of grieving and the ultimate cost of heartbreak. The story opens with a description of how the characters were very tactful in breaking the news of the death of Mr. Mallard to Mrs. Mallard on the account of Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble. Richard, Mr. Mallard’s friend, hastens to announce the dreadful news with tender care. Yet, her sister, Josephine, is the one who gently breaks the news to her. These precautions were taken out of the fear of the possible impact of the devastating news on her already fragile health.
A few moments later--a shot! (p. 96) The man Blanche had married had killed himself because of her. Throughout the rest of the play the “Varsouviana” is symbolic because whenever it is playing, something bad is either happening or is going to happen to Blanche. Whenever the Varsouviana starts playing, it generates a sense of anxiety. The “Varsouviana” plays when Blanche runs into the bathroom crying because Stanley hands her ticket back to Laurel for her birthday.
She is a middle aged woman with heart trouble, and bad news was about to come her way of the “possible death of her husband” (Chopin, 1894, para.1). Mrs. Mallard was a lady who was possibly controlled in her life by her husband. “When hearing the news of the death, she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in Josephine’s arms” (Chopin, 1894, para.3). I can feel the attachment that she had with her husband, but wept once also shows maybe some antipathy. Mrs. Mallard made her way to her room and stared out her window to watch her new life take fold.
They both fear that when they tell Louise the news of the wreck that killed her husband, Louise may become very sick. Richard and Josephine feel they need to deliver the news with great care and caution. . At first we think that Louise is very upset over the news that her husband had been killed in a train wreck; however we are told that she realizes the freedom she might have if she is no longer tied down to her husband. Louise keeps repeating to herself “free, free, free.” The very first action we are told about that Louise performs describes as unusual by Chopin.
Your Name Name of Class Professors Name Date The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman The short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was first published in 1899 and is the journal of Jane who is quite ill with what is regarded as “temporary nervous depression” (Gilman, 1899). She is taken away on holiday by her husband, and kept in a room where she is meant to be healing. However, she finds herself distracted by the wallpaper in the room, and begins a downward spiral into complete psychosis as her perception of and relationship with the wallpaper evolves. The relationship with the yellow wallpaper is not the only thing that changes, as she soon begins to see distinct changes in her husband, her sister-in-law, and herself. She is compelled to unlock the secret of the wallpaper, at any
Both marriages are restricting, and challenge the protagonists’ concept of self and individuality. In “The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard gets the news of her husband’s death from her sister and her husband’s friend. She quickly retreats to the privacy of her own room which her companions believe is to grieve in solitude. In actuality, she shows the reader that she is finally confronting the wasted days of her life, and through that realizes that she has been given a second chance. She reflects on her marriage and we find that, although it was a good one, her husband never knew how unhappy his wife was.
In Gilman’s story, the narrator’s husband, John, passes out when he sees his wife completely insane creeping and crawling around the room trying to figure out the wallpaper. On the other hand, in Chopin’s story, the wife, Louise, who was ecstatic about news of her husband’s death, realizing she was finally free to live life on her terms, saw her husband walk in the door and the sudden disappointment resulted in her death due to a heart attack. The women in both stories feel that the men intervene in their lives so much to the point where they feel like the men are living their lives for them. The oppression between one another in each couple led to the insanity of one woman and the death of another. I believe that if they didn’t try so hard to live each other’s lives and gave themselves some freedom and time apart they could have avoided ending both stories with a character on the
Mallard,” as being “afflicted with a heart trouble.” Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards have to therefore tell her very carefully that her husband, Brently Mallard, was on a list of those killed in a railroad accident. Then the narrative continues with a description of Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to the news: first, immediately weeping with “wild abandonment,” forgoing the initial shock and denial of “many women,” then absconding to her room alone, where at first she sits facing the window. Here, the author uses imagery of the outdoors, including trees “all aquiver with the new spring life,” the smell of spring rain, patches of blue sky, and birdsong, to first hint at new opportunities to come. Then we are told Mrs. Mallard sits “motionless,” with “a dull stare,” without thought, presumably a remnant of her stagnation in marriage. The story continues with climactic suspense as it is revealed that there is “something coming to her” that is frightening her, but she doesn’t know what it is.