Choices in Life
...er husband. It is often true that marriage is not always about mutual love between two people and while Chopin was writing, this was more often the case. Marriage is as much about social status and acceptance as it is about love. It seems from the description that Mrs. Mallard has been trapped in this marriage by her husband’s lack of variety, and controlling ways. I believe she does love her husband, but how deep and true is this love? Marriage defines boundaries among people that can lead to problems communicating with each other. The Mallards' marriage was affected by both their inability to talk to each other and Mrs. Mallard's determination that her marriage was made by a “powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (189). But she doesn't realize that the problems in marriage affect men and women equally. Marriage is a unity, and with unity, comes respect and treating each other fairly. To me, Mrs. Mallard is a very sympathetic person, and she was very much looking foreword to living out the rest of her life for herself. However, I also believe that she could have tried to improve her own situation a little, either by reaching out to her husband or by letting go of the marriage altogether. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard's unfortunate situation to show how aspects of marriage can be harmful. I think the Mallards' relationship could be a warning to others that if you are lying about your happiness to keep the marriage together, you can destroy the entire family. I do not have the exact numbers, but I am very sure that the divorce rate back in the 19th Century was not anything near the 50% mark as it is today. The difference is that back then, marriage was pretty much “for better or for worse.” Today, people bail too quickly, I believe, and we are sending a message to others that it's acceptable to go ahead and get married and if it doesn't work out to get divorced. Also, I believe that she could have tried improving her life better with her husband instead of portraying this “game” of acting happy and in love, when in fact she was not. She seems to be passing all the ...