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.
2 thoughts on “Week 9 Discussion”
Hi Vivian,
I completely agree with this viewpoint the two passages both exhibit signs that the wife is losing herself and becoming an entity that complements the husband. When Mrs. Mallard realizes that her husband had passed she had a weight taken off her shoulder that had been weighing her down from doing anything that she wanted to do. Similarly in the poem, it says “It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed,”. This tells me the woman gets lost and becomes buried in the position of a wife
Your overview is good; however, the prompt asks you to refer to specific quotes from the poem and apply them to your understanding of “The Story of an Hour.”