The Story of an Hour
...ied also restricted her from doing many of the things that she may have wanted to do. “There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself,” the story said (189). The story continued to say that, “there will be no powerful will bending hers.” In reading that short excerpt, one may think that she felt a sense of freedom. She felt that no one would be able to live her life except for her. Numerous times throughout the story, Mrs. Mallard would repeat the same phrase, “Free! Body and soul free!” She felt like the “Goddess of Victory”, as if she overcame a great burden. The questions to answer are, “Why did she feel so trapped in the first place? Why did she feel like she was finally free? What was Mr. Mallard doing to make her feel this way?” Maybe he was too overprotective of her. He could have loved her so much that he did not want anything to happen to her, especially due to her health. Nevertheless, no matter the reason, she felt imprisoned by him. Mrs. Mallard saw it as a “blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (pg. 189). In fact, she saw it as crime-like. She was anxious to experience the days ahead, thinking about “spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own” (pg. 190). Mr. Mallard’s death brought a completely new life into Mrs. Mallard’s world. This life of freedom was something that she looked forward to with a passion. On page 190, the author mentioned that Mrs. Mallard said a prayer that her life would be long, and that only the day before, she thought, “with a shudder that life might be long.” Ironically, she didn’t live too long after all. Maybe that is what she wanted all along. Death may have been her only option. If she were still alive, she could still be limited in the things she would be able to do. If her husband was not around to control her, it could be her sister to take over that position. In her mind, she felt that she was free, but in reality, she would have never been free. Someone would have been watching her at all times because of her condition, no matter what she had to say. The sad part about the whole situation is that, Mr. Ma...