Daily Archives: October 22, 2022

Prompt: How does the theme of the Emily Dickinson poem “The Wife” relate to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour?” The theme of Emily Dickinson’s poem ” The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour” by showing how in the poem the wife laments on how she is drowning in her marriage and cannot find herself, Mrs. Mallard is grief-stricken at first with her husband’s death but realizes she is free to do what she needs like the waves have calmed down and she can finally breathe again. In that time era, most women’s entire lives are dedicated to their husbands and domestic life. For Mrs. Mallard to finally enjoy her life it’s like her husband’s death bought out life in her in a way.

The theme in “The Wife” and “The Story of an Hour” relate to each other of the women wanting to have an internal sense of being good enough and worthy of love. Both poems shine the light on how yes in society it is respectable if you’re married but being a wife can cause suffering, especially for the women in both poems who value their independence life. In The Wife, “If ought She missed in Her new Day, Of Amplitude, or Awe Or first Prospective Or the Gold In using, wear away,” analyzes the women’s new married life she can’t express the old life she misses when she was independent, using the world “Amplitude” to show the change she’s going through. Her married life has more responsibilities and pressure she may not be able to handle. In The Story of an Hour, when Mrs. Mallard finds out about her husband’s death she says “She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!” this tells us that she’s discontent with her husband and is a benefit to her being free now. Usually, when someone finds out about the passing of someone they love, their first reaction would be to become emotional and ask questions but Mrs. Mallard just sits motionless on her chair and doesn’t seem to be phased by it, opening her arms means she’s comfortable now. In both poems, the women will have a new journey of them being independent and don’t have to worry about the pressure marriage can bring.

During an earlier time period, women were not on equal footing with men. The Story Of An Hour by Kate Chopin and The Wife by Emily Dickinson relate heavily to this theme since they both address the unhappiness of the oppressed woman. At the time, a woman’s main goal was to find a husband and sustain a family. In more cases than not, the wife would wind up miserable and emotionally suppressed. Mrs. Mallard from the Story Of An Hour suffered the same fate up until her husband’s death which is when she had finally realized what she had been missing for all those years. She briefly shares her thoughts in this quote: “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free! The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes “.  On a more imaginative note, the poem, The Wife, by Emily Dickinson also alludes to the unfortunate wife’s sacrifice to her husband and family. Laying out the imagery, Emily wrote: (referring to the wife’s depression) “It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed,” To me this evokes a deep, sinking feeling as mentioning the sea is synonymous with depth. Seemingly, nobody knows about the troubles that come in upholding entire families and nobody cares. I believe both of the characters I mentioned were emotionally, and at some points physically, stuck in pits of desperation as they went completely unnoticed.

A common theme between the two readings is a woman wanting to be released from their husbands. However, another theme that also came to mind is what it means for a woman who desires of finding her own identity and self-worth in the world. To be able to exist as her own person without the constraints of societal pressure. To be more than whatever men tell women to be and seek out opportunities. Lines 8-9 from Emily Dickinson’s The Wife “It lay unmentioned, as the sea, develops pearl and weed.” and the line from Story of An Hour- “Go away. I am not making myself ill. No; she was drinking in the very elixir of life through that open window.” Both resonate with the idea of starting a new chapter and embarking on a personal journey to discovering oneself. The “sea” that the wife mentions could be interpreted as her husband who “develops pearl and weed” – with “Pearl” meaning a dream or something similar and “weed” being like a seed of doubt planted by the husband. While the line “she was drinking in the very elixir of life through that open window” could symbolize that nothing is “wrong” with her and that the “elixir of life” is really her finally opening her eyes and take in the realization that now she no longer needs to grieve for her dead husband. That she’s taken in the sights and beauty of her surroundings which inspire her to have a new outlook on her life.  

The poem “The Wife,” written by Emily Dickson, expresses what it represents to get married; when a woman becomes a wife, she losses her independence and identity, as indicated when the author says, “dropped the playthings of her life” to carry out wife duties as “his requirement.” Metaphoric words such as “pearl” and “weed” describe marriage elements. She needs to be submissive and respectful to hold the “Wife” title as her new identity. The conventional practice of a wife was to please their husband because they belonged to men’s property. That was a reality for a married woman during 19 century. Similarly, the narration of “Story of an hour?” by Kate Chopin contributes to the topic of marriage. When Mrs. Mallard finds out that his husband is dead, she starts crying because of his abandonment but quickly realizes that his husband’s death means freedom. Her moment of enlightenment, staring at the window, changed Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state from sadness to relief, empowerment, and independence. The narrator whispers, “Free! Body and soul free!” to dictate her coming years. Even though the protagonist died at the end of the story when she found out her husband was not dead, the moment of imagining her life as independent was already a victory.