"The Story of An Hour"

In “The Story of An Hour” Kate Chopin writes about a woman who is happy about her husband’s death. Her sister and her husband’s friend break the news to her because of heart problem. I don’t think people understand why she is so happy to find out the news about her husband

When her sister tells her about her husband Mrs. Mallard goes to her room to be alone. I think she does this so that no one would see her reaction to this tragedy. She described her feelings about the situation as being free. She says that her mind and body are free. I think that she feels free because she can now live for herself, she doesn’t have to worry about anyone else. At first she is upset about the news but a feeling comes over her and she describes that feeling to be joy. As she sits in her room thinking about her freedom her sister worries about her. They think that she will make herself sick by staying in the room.

She finally comes out the room where her sister waits for her. Mrs. Mallard walks out of the room like a “Goddess of victory”. This meaning that she walked as if she has just won something. As her and her sister walk upstairs someone walks through the door to their surprise it was Mr. Mallard. Their friend Richard tries to cover him up so that Mrs. Mallard won’t be overwhelmed by the sight of her supposes to be dead husband. But it is too late. Mr. Mallard walks in to find his wife dead.

In the end the doctors say that she died from a disease of the joy that kills. Does this mean that she was so happy about the death of her husband that it killed her? Or does this mean that she was so happy that he walked through the door alive that it killed her? Either way I think that Mrs. Mallard’s sister and their friend killed her because they didn’t know all the fact of his death. They should have wait till they knew for sure.