Positive View On Life Mrs Mallard example essay topic

The Story of an Hour - by Kate Chopin Kate Chopin wrote a short story about women's liberation in the 19. century. In "The Story of an Hour" we are introduced to Mrs Mallard who is told that her husband is dead. Mrs Mallard has got heart troubles, and therefore the sad news are brought to her carefully by her sister and her husband's friend Richard. Mrs Mallard reacts with grief and she wants to be alone, so she locks herself into her room. At first, I got the impression that Mrs Mallard was sad because of her husband's death.

But as I kept on reading I understood that this wasn't the case at all. Mrs Mallard is pretending she is mourning over her husband's death. She gives the expression that she wants to be alone with her grief, so she locks herself into her room. But because of the third person limited point of view, we know what is really going on inside Mrs Mallard's mind. In her room Mrs Mallard sinks into a roomy armchair, and when she looks outside her window she sees "the tops of trees in the open square before her house, and they are all aquiver with the new spring life."The delicious breath of rain was in the air and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves". This indicates that Mrs Mallard isn't mourning at all.

She senses positive vibrations and starts to taste her freedom. Freedom is an unfamiliar feeling to Mrs Mallard. But suddenly she begins to recognize the feeling and she is repeating the word "free" to herself over and over again. "The vacant stare and look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body".

Her body language is unconsciously showing that she is changing, and the relief of the escape from her husband is clearly emphasized here. Mrs Mallard welcomes her freedom, and she feels free because she knows "there would be no one to live for her during these coming years; she would live for herself". She is changing from a prisoner woman in an unhappy marriage, to a free and independent person. She finally feels that her "body and soul is free". She starts to fantasize about all the days she has got ahead of her. "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long.

It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long". Mrs Mallard's life isn't longer a waist of time. She has got a reason to live, and she knows she will be able to enjoy all the days she has got ahead of her. Mrs Mallard is a strong woman and she has got a burning desire to free herself from "the powerful will bending hers". If Mrs Mallard had lived in the 20. century she would be an active feminist. Her husband's death rescues her from the prison most women have suffer from for years.

With a positive view on life Mrs Mallard leave her room "with a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carries herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory". But when Mrs Mallard sees her husband entering the house, the story takes a dramatic turn. Her sweet victory dies out, her heart gives way and she dies too. The doctors concludes that she died "of joy that kills".

But as a reader you know that nothing can be further from the truth. We have been present in Mrs Mallard's mind all the time, so we know why she died. Personally I enjoyed the story. I think it's a very important theme which Kate Chopin brings to the surface. The story made me think about the situation we have between men and women today. I realized that I'm lucky to live in a culture where women and men have approximately the same rights.

I also enjoyed the ironic ending. As a reader, I know what actually happened, and to be confided a secret, makes the story even better in my opinion.