Story of an Hour

My first reaction to this story was that Mrs. Mallard was relieved of her husband’s passing. I read the story to my husband, and his reaction was that Mrs. Mallard was sad of her husband’s passing.
I do not believe that Mrs. Mallard’s husband physically abused her, but I do think he had some kind of emotional exploitation toward Mrs. Mallard. This story was written in the 1800’s, back when women did not have many rights. “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being”, (page 194-15) suggest to me that she is going be able to be her own person again, thinking her own thoughts, making her own choices.
I found the irony in this story to be that Mrs. Mallard was relieved of her husband’s death, and how she finally felt free, when in the end she dies of heart disease when she sees that her husband is indeed alive, and well. “A joy that kills”, (194-20) is such a broad statement. The readers could go either way, thinking that she was so happy to see her husband, that’s why she died, or the disappointment of seeing her husband, and that’s what ended her life.
“Story of an Hour” (Kate Chopin) Compact sixth edition, Literature, reading, reacting, writing (Kirszner, and Mandell)