Mrs. Mallard In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

In the short story The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin, the reader is forced to think about the meaning of the situation going on in the story, which brings up several questions. In this story, Mrs. Mallard is going through some sort of depression. But it’s interesting to see that it’s not like any grief anyone else goes through. In Kate Chopin’s short story, Mrs. Mallard is scared because her husband is dead, and she doesn’t know how she will survive without him. The beginning of the story shows that Mrs. Mallard is “afflicted with a heart trouble” because her husband is dead. Mrs. Mallard is more shocked than grievous though. It’s interesting that this so because the story states that most women will mourn immediately in a time like this. But Mrs. Mallard tries to keep in her tears. Maybe it’s because she is not good at accepting change, …show more content…
Mallard becomes fearful of what is to come. She has a short day dream about her future, which makes her “powerless.” Mrs. Mallard thinks about how her future will be without her husband. It’s someone she loves and cares about. The man that protected her during their marriage is gone. But this fear quickly sets sail from her psyche. Even though she is going to miss being someone being cared for and protected, “she would live for herself.” She will become independent, and free. The story says that she only loved her husband sometimes. So at first Mrs. Mallard is afraid of what will it be like without a husband, but she convinces herself that she did not always him. These conflicting emotions makes the reader really think about whether or not Mrs. Mallard had genuine feelings of grief after she finds out her husband is dead. Maybe her marriage is not something significant to her life, or she really doesn’t have a problem accepting change. She is suddenly happy and not afraid anymore. She hopes that her life will last long after this