Horton Horton1
English 102-400
S. Johnson
July 20, 12
Great Sorrow
Many women throughout life will have to endure the terrible news that their significant other has passed away. Also not preparing one’s self for the time of death can definitely impact a person tremendously. However, there are some women that have a deep feeling of relief when they hear the news also. As portrayed by Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour,” she grieved and also felt relieved. Mrs. Mallard went through a range of emotions such as grief, a feeling of comfort, and despair.
The first range of emotion is grief. Mrs. Mallard had been abruptly hit with the news of her husband, Mr. Mallards’, death by her sister Josephine. She had been totally grief struck by the news. “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (540). This was a time of sorrow for Mrs. Mallard. “She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams” (540). This quote reflects the continuous feelings that Mrs. Mallard was experiencing following her husbands’ death.
The second range of emotion is a feeling of comfort. Although Mrs. Mallard was feeling sad, she felt a sigh of relief. Suddenly, there was not anything better than being a free woman. Even though she loved her husband, there was a felling of being
Horton2
incarcerated while in her marriage. ”She said it over and over under her breath: Free,free, free!”(541). Abruptly she knew that she could explore her life once again with abundance. There “There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they...