The theme of Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour?” because of the low mood and unhappiness. My assumption is that Mrs. Mallard emotions before she found out her husband passed away were described as the lines below from the poem:
“If aught she missed in her new day
Of amplitude, or awe,
Or first prospective, or the gold
In using wore away”
In my opinion the lines above describe the nostalgia of spontaneous glee, wonder, and good thoughts that aren’t there anymore. In Mrs. Mallard’s words, being “free”. I’m pretty sure in the beginning of both marriages mentioned there were wonderful times, but somewhere they grew apart. This has caused the wives to be full of disappointment, grief, and not wanting to be with the person anymore. During these times society didn’t believe in divorce, so women really had to stick it out with their husbands. This made them miserable, however they continued their duties of being a good wife. Emotions were held inside, and it was all about the husbands. Mrs. Mallard’s joy to find out her husband passed away made it obvious to readers that she wasn’t happy. So unhappy to the point she drops dead when her husband walks through the door alive.
One thought on “Lynette Spears Discussion 9”
Hey Lynette, I picked up on the repression as well. I had to re-read it a few that’s what stood out to me the most. Im not sure if I was being biased because Im a woman and the idea of marriage sounds suffocating to me, but in the beginning of the poem and the message I picked up from the story, it seems like the women internalize their wants. When Mrs. Mallard was alone, it was the only time she could express her true feelings, even calling them monstrous at one point. Thank you for sharing!