Kate Chopin's Till Death Do Us Part

Till Death Do us Part
Kate Chopin’s creation of the frail hearted Mrs. Mallard enlightens through irony and twists, about the servitude and acceptance of fate women in the nineteenth century faced regarding marriage. A life of independence outside of the constraints of marriage was a fantasy for women like Mrs. Mallard. When she is finally offered the opportunity and it was taken away from her abruptly, it leads to her literal heartbreak. Mrs. Mallard’s death showcased her unwillingness to return to her life of limitation that she’d been longing to escape, the irony of her broken heart, the exemplification of the lifestyle of women of the era, as well as the bittersweet undertone of marriage. Kate Chopin’s focus on “sensitive, intelligent
Mrs. Mallard’s expression of overbearing devastation that ended her life accounts for the rash behavior she shows through her grief. Her death, as a result, is the icing on the cake and topped off all of the unorthodox demeanors she express leading up to it. It is mentioned previously that the news of Mr. Mallard’s death was broken carefully to the fragile hearted Mrs. Mallard. There is an unexpected revelation when Mrs. Mallard hears the news of her husband’s death, and she felt relief rather than despair. She reacts by, “abandon[ing] herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"” (443) Mrs. Mallard is excited to have finally gotten a chance to be her own person. She begins planning and looking forward to a life of freedom without the constriction marriage included. Her excitement would be short lived due to her husband’s reemergence, which was yet another unexpected twists to the plot. Seeing her husband alive and realizing that she would not have the freedom she longed for ended hope for the life she wanted. “It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one.”(444) Mrs. Mallard’s reaction, and the final event of the
Mallard’s, but rather tell a tale of an unhappy woman’s view of the world. After all, no reference is made towards Josephine (Mrs. Mallard’s sister)’s happiness. There is evidence suggesting Mrs. Mallard could have been a selfish person such as, “there would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.” This idea can be considered, although it is important to recognize that the Josephine, the only other women present in the story, isn’t alerted or concerned at either the beginning stages nor the end stages of Mrs. Mallard’s grief. She teats it as if it is the norm, inferring that she lives a similar life. In the story of an Hour of time, Chopin gives new meaning to the age-old saying, ‘Till death do us part.’ If not by his death, then she would achieve freedom through her own death. Unsatisfied with the era’s fate for women, she couldn’t bear the idea of facing life in her husband’s shadow once she had gotten a small taste of new consciousness. Through the creation of Mrs. Mallard’s dual characters, Chopin emphasizes that one would go to any length to attain what they