I liked "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin because of the different circumstances in which the reader can place the main character, Mrs. Mallard, in for being upset when she realized that her husband was not dead. From the reaction of Mrs. Mallard, the reader may perceive that Mr. Mallard may have been somewhat abusive towards her. I feel that Mrs. Mallard's reaction towards her husband's death was proper at the beginning, middle, and just as proper at the end. Even when one's abuse is by a loved one, he or she will be saddened for a brief moment by the individual's death. I do not think that anyone should act the way people expect him or her to. I do not feel that M ...view middle of the document...
From that quote, Chopin is informing the reader that Mrs. Mallard may not have been happy with her marriage.Once Mrs. Mallard announced that she was "free, free, free! Body and soul, free!" (14), Chopin alerts the reader to understand that abuse may have been in Mrs. Mallard's marriage and that she was relieved of her husband's death. I think that by Chopin's usage of the word "body," I perceived that Mr. Mallard might have been physically abusive towards his wife also.When Mrs. Mallard understood that she was free, she felt that she would have the opportunity to live for herself and not anyone else. I think that Mrs. Mallard probably lived and breathed her husband's necessities and she may not have known of her owns. Chopin stated that Mrs. Mallard was "drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window" (14), which indicates to the reader that Mrs. Mallard had longed for something else. I feel that since an escape from Mrs. Mallard's loveless marriage had finally appeared, why should she mourn over a husband that she often not loved?In my opinion, I think that Mrs. Mallard was abused in some kind of way from her reaction to her husband's death. Chopin concludes that Mrs. Mallard dies in which I gathered from the joy of her being free. Some readers may think that Mrs. Mallard was a madwoman but I say that she was a victim in her husband's cruel world.WORKS CITED"The Story of an Hour." The Bedford Introduction To Literature. Ed. Michael Meyers.Boston: Boston/St. Martin's, 2002. 12-14.WORKS CONSULTED"Kate Chopin: The Woman." 7 Feb. 2004
