Mrs Mallard In The Story Of An Hour

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin depicts a character by the name of Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard is an older woman who has heart troubles and is being given the news of a railroad disaster in which her husband, Brently Mallard, was killed. Her situation may happen to others pretty often but most people believe that this is a one in a million occurrence because it hasn’t happened too often. However, the situation in which Mrs. Mallard currently finds herself in ties into the rest of the work because she does not take the news like every other woman would and dies when she sees her husband walk through the door. The idea of freedom from her husband due to his death was present throughout the short story and gave a better understanding as to how she was treated by her husband.
Mallard was made out to be a delicate flower at the start of the story but soon after was revealed to be much stronger than what they thought. “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 husband’s death.” With this statement made one assumes that she is a fragile woman due to her heart condition, making it seem as though the story will be one of great sadness or depression. However, they soon realize that this woman is not a glass flower but a very odd and wondrous woman who will soon be discovered. “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” Whatever may be reaching into her soul signifies a revelation to her of something she had not yet thought of but is going to figure out soon enough. The idea of death in this short story is presented as it always is but is soon changed after because of the way Mrs. Mallard reacts to