Howell Eglin

Mrs. Pritchard
English II-American Literature
December 7th 2015

The Story of an Hour Journal

Mrs. Mallard is a cruel character, and this is shown through the
descriptions of her joy when she learned of her husbands death. She
feels free when her husband is killed because she does not have to
abide by those rules to be a typical woman. When her husband is
killed, it seems as she somewhat is overreacting in her grief. I feel that
she is cruel because she should be grieving, yet she plans for her
future and she feels independent now. In private, this is what she
thinks of, not grieving her husband, as a typical woman would. It is
known that Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble. It is said, Knowing that Mrs.
Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to
break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death.
(Chopin 1) This heart trouble could be both physical and emotional
which would put the emphasis on her relationship with her husband,
Brently.
I would say that Chopins critique on the institution of marriage, as
expressed by Louise could be applicable today. Surely, not all
marriages, but there must be some marriages with women such as
Louise that would not grieve the loss of their husbands but plan for
their own futures instead. She shows how she wants her independence
by, She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free! The
vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her

eyes. This shows that Mrs. Mallard is happy to finally be able to be

independent from her husband and live her own life. This could be
applicable to marriage in todays society based on the specific instance
of what is happening within the relationship.