The theme of the poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour” because they are both similar. In “The Wife” talks about a lady who is married, most likely not wanting to be married, and has to live through it because it is her “duty”. In the last line of the poem, we find out that she may not be happy with her marriage and remains quiet about it. “It lay unmentioned, like the sea, Develops pearl and weed, But only to himself is known, The fathoms they abide.” This relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour.” because we see that Mrs. Mallard was quite happy when she heard her husband had passed and even started to whisper to herself “Free! Body and soul free!” and “free, free, free!” The keyword is whispering, maybe she didn’t have enough courage to stay it louder, but we see here that she didn’t seem too fond of being married. In both the poem and story, the women were forced into a domestic role of being the stay-at-home mom, housewife, and gender roles. Cult of Domesticity.
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2 thoughts on “Justine Hoppie Week 9 Discussion”
I agree with you, on the one hand it is true that she was sad when she found out about the supposed death of her husband. However, thinking everything clearly after returning to her room and standing by the window, she realized that it was something incredible to be free again and not live for someone other than herself. As you say yourself, before the news, we realized that her way of life was not what she wanted or wished to have, only fulfilling the role of wife and nothing more.
Hello Justine, the wife from the poem seems to be unhappy with her marriage. She wonders what her potential and possibilities could have been if she wasn’t a wife. Unfortunately, during that time period wives never spoke about the topic of being unhappy with their role as a wife. The wife in the short story, is relieved by the idea of having a new found independence, now that she thought her husband passed. Which shows that she wasn’t happy being a wife. During this time period being a wife almost felt like a sacrifice.You were letting go of many possibilities.