Bryan Nocera
Mr. Baden
EWRT 1B
October 16, 2015
A Prison Made With Love
“The fundamental sense of freedom is freedom from chains, from imprisonment, from enslavement by others. The rest is extension of this sense, or else metaphor.”
- Isaiah Berlin
Imprisonment takes many forms. It can involve a physical location, complete with metal bars and jailers, or it may be of the more abstract variety wherein an otherwise free person’s ability to make decisions pertaining to their life is removed. Emotional imprisonment is illustrated in “The Story of an Hour”, authored by Kate Chopin, who gives the account of Mrs. Louise Mallard, a young woman who, upon learning of her husband’s accidental death, realizes that she has been stifled by her marriage and …show more content…
Mallard is a young, affluent, and fragile woman who must be treated with great care. In the opening sentence, the first thing learned about her is that she suffers from “a heart trouble” (Chopin). It is not explicitly announced what variety of heart trouble she possesses, however her friends take “great care” to “break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin). In this notable juxtaposition, Louise, who is both young and affluent, suffers from a heart trouble which categorically is a disease more characteristically present in individuals who are elderly, engage in a deficient lifestyle, or have suffered major trauma. It is evident that there exists some sort of inconsistency in Louise Mallard’s life as a goodwife and, quickly, the nature of her heart trouble becomes …show more content…
As she sits, closed off from the rest of those in the house, idly processing the news, there are a variety of stimuli which becomes apparent to her by way of the room’s open window. Consecutively, she notices “the tops of trees […] aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain, […] a peddler […] crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing […] and the countless sparrows […] twittering in the eaves” (Chopin). Initially she does not recognize the significance of these sensory events, however she notices “something coming to her […] too subtle and elusive to name”, which she notices “creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents the color that filled the air” (Chopin). As she sits idle and motionless, Louise’s subconscious is aware of the implications of her husband’s death and the sensory events act as a trigger, symbolizing a beckoning to erupt like the “new spring life” (Chopin). It is after these events that Louise abandons resisting the feeling arising from her and finally whispers, “free, free, free!” (Chopin). The sensory events and consequent realization mark the beginning of Louise’s transformation and make it clear that this process is one of profound emotion and extreme
Mr. Baden
EWRT 1B
October 16, 2015
A Prison Made With Love
“The fundamental sense of freedom is freedom from chains, from imprisonment, from enslavement by others. The rest is extension of this sense, or else metaphor.”
- Isaiah Berlin
Imprisonment takes many forms. It can involve a physical location, complete with metal bars and jailers, or it may be of the more abstract variety wherein an otherwise free person’s ability to make decisions pertaining to their life is removed. Emotional imprisonment is illustrated in “The Story of an Hour”, authored by Kate Chopin, who gives the account of Mrs. Louise Mallard, a young woman who, upon learning of her husband’s accidental death, realizes that she has been stifled by her marriage and …show more content…
Mallard is a young, affluent, and fragile woman who must be treated with great care. In the opening sentence, the first thing learned about her is that she suffers from “a heart trouble” (Chopin). It is not explicitly announced what variety of heart trouble she possesses, however her friends take “great care” to “break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin). In this notable juxtaposition, Louise, who is both young and affluent, suffers from a heart trouble which categorically is a disease more characteristically present in individuals who are elderly, engage in a deficient lifestyle, or have suffered major trauma. It is evident that there exists some sort of inconsistency in Louise Mallard’s life as a goodwife and, quickly, the nature of her heart trouble becomes …show more content…
As she sits, closed off from the rest of those in the house, idly processing the news, there are a variety of stimuli which becomes apparent to her by way of the room’s open window. Consecutively, she notices “the tops of trees […] aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain, […] a peddler […] crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing […] and the countless sparrows […] twittering in the eaves” (Chopin). Initially she does not recognize the significance of these sensory events, however she notices “something coming to her […] too subtle and elusive to name”, which she notices “creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents the color that filled the air” (Chopin). As she sits idle and motionless, Louise’s subconscious is aware of the implications of her husband’s death and the sensory events act as a trigger, symbolizing a beckoning to erupt like the “new spring life” (Chopin). It is after these events that Louise abandons resisting the feeling arising from her and finally whispers, “free, free, free!” (Chopin). The sensory events and consequent realization mark the beginning of Louise’s transformation and make it clear that this process is one of profound emotion and extreme