Lily Lively

Mrs. Lewis

English 3 Honors

7 October 2022

Comparative Writing: The Story of an Hour and the Crucible; Elizabeth and Mrs. Mallard

In the story of an hour and the Crucible both women feel chained to their duties and

responsibilities as a mother and as a wife and a woman in society. Historically women are the

ones to stay home, take care of the children, clean the house, and prepare food. These roles are

imposed on both Elizabeth and Mrs. Mallard, ask the women of the household. Even though

these stories are years apart those gender roles still exist. In the Crucible we see Elizabeth

making dinner for John, taking care of the children, but also a side of her that resents her

husband for cheating, and does not want to do those things anymore because of that. “ I do not,

judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John -

with a smile - only somewhat bewildered” (Act 2, Miller) Elizabeth says this to john with a hint of

sarcasm because she was a good wife and he still cheated. Now he is accusing her of not being a good

wife because she is cold to him, but she feels justified in her reasonings. Elizabeth resents him and does

not want to feel burdened by keeping the secret of him cheating no longer, which differs from Mrs.

mallard. “When she abandoned herself, a little whispered word escaped her parted lips “free, free free!”

(Chopin, paragraph 11) Mrs. Mallard feels free when she realizes her husband has died because she

does not have to uphold that standard of being a Good Wife for him and now, she is free unlike

Elizabeth who is still trapped in a relationship with John. But, at the end of the play we see that her

husband is not dead, and that she is not free from her duties. This upsets her so much that she has a
heart failure. Elizabeth and Ms. Mallard are similar yet different in several ways but the main thing that

ties them together is their feeling of restraint by societies expectations of women and wives.