Grachelle Anne Ho 12-ABM-AA

J. Kylene Lumusad

Lexie Mae Schall

Mia Carla Tabasa

"Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin

1. How would you describe the main character/protagonist?

Mrs. Mallard is a very emotional and imaginative yet optimistic character.
Even when faced with multiple emotions at once, such as grief, freedom, and joy,
Mrs. Mallard could cope and conclude with how she felt. She was, in herself, a free
soul as she craved a deep longing for freedom.

2. How did Mrs. Mallard react to the news that her husband died?
Upon hearing the devastating news, Mrs. Mallard whimpered at her loss
and could not quickly grasp the information she just received. However, the
moment she regained her senses, she found herself drowning in the thought of
gaining the independence that most women do not have during her decade. It is
quite contradicting since it depicts that a person’s death can obtain satisfaction
from someone else.

3. When Mrs. Mallard was alone in her room, what did she see from the open room
window? Describe the sight, sound, and smell from the scene. What does this
scenery mean for Mrs. Mallard?
When Mrs. Mallard was in her room alone, she sees the tops of trees
quivering with the new spring life, the patches of blue sky through the clouds, the
breath of rain in the air, a peddler crying his wares, someone singing in the
distance, and the birds twittering. This scenery for Mrs. Mallard through the
window opens her a fresh new start and freedom from societal standards as her
 husband has passed away. She no longer has to serve her husband but serve and
treat herself better and was filled with excitement upon thinking of this
independent life.

4. What does it mean when she uttered, “Free! Body and Soul, Free!”
At that time of the story, there was still a patriarchal society, highlighting
the supremacy of masculinity over femininity, and there was the authority of men
over women. The meaning behind "Free! Body and soul free!" is that Mrs. Louise
Mallard has the freedom to do what she wants and now live for herself instead of
for her husband's desires. She enjoyed thinking about her independence, and she
was relieved not to have to obey everything that her husband needs her to do now.

5. Is Mr. Mallard an unkind man? How did she describe him?

Mr. Brently Mallard is a kind man who loved his wife dearly, and Mrs.
Mallard would weep again for the death of her husband. She describes her
husband as "kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked
save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead." Mr. Mallard loved her, but
Mrs. Mallard doesn't quite seem to love him the way he loves her as "the face that
had never looked save with love upon her."

6. What is the conflict of the story?

The conflict lies within herself as well as the society around her. Relating to
when this story was dated, women have not entitled to the same rights as men, so
Mrs. Millard was, in a sense, trapped in their marriage. Only doing what she was
told to by societal standards and not by what she desires.

7. What is the “joy that kills”? Of what does Mrs. Mallard die?

The dream of Mrs. Louise Mallard to have a free independent life was
broken by the moment she learned that her husband Brently was still alive and the
 "joy that kills." The doctor said that she died from heart disease and assumed that
she was thrilled to see her husband alive, to the point that she passed away from
such happiness. But it may not be the case as Mrs. Mallard was excited about her
new independent life without her husband, and seeing Brently alive, she dies
because the freedom she longs for is gone.

8. In what way did the setting (Mrs. Mallard’s home in Midwest America, late
1800s) influence the main character’s behavior and perspective?
Gender stereotypes were prevalent in the late 1800s, and it is quite common
to see scenarios of women seeking support from men; they must serve them in
return, and men inherit more leverages than the opposite sex. Mrs. Mallard
engraved that thought, which in one moment, she felt a sense of relief when she
received the news since she thought she would be free from her husband. Society
has made her carry such a burden in which most women during those times were
affected by it.