Who Is Louise Mallard A Sympathetic Character

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” and her novella, “The Awakening,” introduce two women seeking liberation from the repressive and subservient institution of marriage. One woman emerges as a sympathetic character and the other as a complex mixture of sympathetic and unsympathetic characteristics. In “The Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard exhibits several discernable sympathetic characteristics. For instance, her heart problem places her in a fragile state of health and makes the reader sympathetic to her vulnerability. Further, her heartfelt grief depicts her as a sympathetic character. As she grieves for the death of her husband, her grief drives her to lament that “she knew that she would weep again when she saw the …show more content…
Like Louise Mallard in “The Story of an Hour,” Edna also rebels against the restrictive nature of marriage. Her struggle to gain autonomy and the emotional distress resulting from the struggle highlight her sympathetic characteristics. Unfortunately, the destructive path she takes to achieve autonomy portrays her in an unsympathetic light. She selfishly puts her desires before all else and disregards the effect of her actions on those around her. As a mother, she often appears indifferent to her children. In chapter III, her husband reproaches her for "her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children." Moreover, she forms an infatuation with Robert Lebrun, commits adultery with Alcée Arobin , and moves out of the home she and her husband share. All of these reprehensible actions result from her selfish search for her independence. However, perhaps, the act that most depicts her as an unsympathetic character is her death. If viewed as a suicide, she appears selfish. If viewed as an accidental drowning, she appears careless. Either way, she leaves behind two motherless