Chopin’s portrayal dissects human emotion, and more specifically Mrs. Mallard’s initial struggle with her husband’s death, and emotion that follows afterwards. Delving into the complexity of human psyche, Chopin constructs a world out of subtle imagery and raw emotion. By examining the story’s imagery and Mrs. Mallard’s personal reaction to the news of her husband’s death, we argue that Chopin uses an indirect characterisation of Mrs. Mallard to explain her feelings towards her husband’s death.
Mrs. Mallard’s range of feelings after her husband’s death exemplifies the complexity and depth of human emotion. Initially succumbed to shock, a flurry of emotion is expected, especially when it relates to a death. This whirlwind can be made …show more content…
Mallard’s feelings toward her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard’s initial emotional response is of extreme grief and shock. She sits in a chair alone in a quiet room, after she leaves the living room she feels both spiritually and un-spiritually drained. Chopin creates a scene of spring and new life through the window that Mrs. Mallard is sitting in front of that is essential in her transformation from grief to happiness. By creating these images instead of using dialogue between characters, it allows the readers to uncover the development of Mrs. Mallard’s emotional transition. The readers can begin to see Mrs. Mallard’s change while she is sitting and gazing out of the window looking at how there was “patches of blue sky” between the clouds and that it signifies hope for her future (par. 6). Chopin then goes on to illustrate how Mrs. Mallard felt numb and that she sat for a while just staring at out of her window, coming to grips with her feelings and what this news would mean for the rest of her life. She was then able to be happy with the thought of being free and be able to make her own decisions. When Mrs. Mallard is able to join her sister, she has feelings of happiness for what her future holds and how the death of her husband has opened up a new life for …show more content…
Mallard’s emotional response to her husband’s death, a second mode of representation was created in the form of visual art. The piece shows Mrs. Mallard in her room, separated from her sister by the door. One version of Mrs. Mallard is sitting in the armchair by the window, gazing out to see the Springtime outside. Here, Mrs. Mallard is colored with a gradient starting with blue and going to gray and finally yellow. The coloration of her body represents the various emotions Mrs. Mallard is going through over by the window. When Mrs. Mallard is over by the window looking at the scenery outside, her mood to begin with is quite distraught as Chopin writes, “She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat...” (par. 7). Then Mrs. Mallard’s mood shifts to one of numbness as seen when the story says “...there was a dull stare in her eyes...” (par. 8). After gazing out into springtime outside her window, Mrs. Mallard is feeling joy at the prospect of being free from her marriage now that her husband is dead and she could finally “live for herself” (par. 14). Over by the door is another version of Mrs. Mallard later in the text about to open the door and she is colored completely yellow. This portrayal of her displays how completely she embraces her newfound freedom, in contrast to her sister who wanted to help her grieve through talking. Their contrasting colors
Mrs. Mallard’s range of feelings after her husband’s death exemplifies the complexity and depth of human emotion. Initially succumbed to shock, a flurry of emotion is expected, especially when it relates to a death. This whirlwind can be made …show more content…
Mallard’s feelings toward her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard’s initial emotional response is of extreme grief and shock. She sits in a chair alone in a quiet room, after she leaves the living room she feels both spiritually and un-spiritually drained. Chopin creates a scene of spring and new life through the window that Mrs. Mallard is sitting in front of that is essential in her transformation from grief to happiness. By creating these images instead of using dialogue between characters, it allows the readers to uncover the development of Mrs. Mallard’s emotional transition. The readers can begin to see Mrs. Mallard’s change while she is sitting and gazing out of the window looking at how there was “patches of blue sky” between the clouds and that it signifies hope for her future (par. 6). Chopin then goes on to illustrate how Mrs. Mallard felt numb and that she sat for a while just staring at out of her window, coming to grips with her feelings and what this news would mean for the rest of her life. She was then able to be happy with the thought of being free and be able to make her own decisions. When Mrs. Mallard is able to join her sister, she has feelings of happiness for what her future holds and how the death of her husband has opened up a new life for …show more content…
Mallard’s emotional response to her husband’s death, a second mode of representation was created in the form of visual art. The piece shows Mrs. Mallard in her room, separated from her sister by the door. One version of Mrs. Mallard is sitting in the armchair by the window, gazing out to see the Springtime outside. Here, Mrs. Mallard is colored with a gradient starting with blue and going to gray and finally yellow. The coloration of her body represents the various emotions Mrs. Mallard is going through over by the window. When Mrs. Mallard is over by the window looking at the scenery outside, her mood to begin with is quite distraught as Chopin writes, “She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat...” (par. 7). Then Mrs. Mallard’s mood shifts to one of numbness as seen when the story says “...there was a dull stare in her eyes...” (par. 8). After gazing out into springtime outside her window, Mrs. Mallard is feeling joy at the prospect of being free from her marriage now that her husband is dead and she could finally “live for herself” (par. 14). Over by the door is another version of Mrs. Mallard later in the text about to open the door and she is colored completely yellow. This portrayal of her displays how completely she embraces her newfound freedom, in contrast to her sister who wanted to help her grieve through talking. Their contrasting colors