The theme of the poem “The wife” by Emily Dickinson and Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour” is related; they both expressed the hidden difficulties and indescribable feelings behind being a wife. In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard is depressed to face the death of her husband. However, as we progress through the story, we can see how Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state unfolds. She felt relieved that she would not be oppressed by marriage and regain her own freedom. She unveiled her true emotions when she was in her room alone; she would whisper to herself, “Free! Body and soul free!” “She would have no one follower her” indicates that she only feels safe to release her emotions when no one sees her.
In the poem “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson, she describes how much a woman has to give up to become a wife and will not be honored by others.
“She rose to his requirement, dropped
The playthings of her life
To take the honorable work
Of woman and of wife.”
It was as if getting married was all about satisfying her husband’s needs; the lady has to sacrifice and leave all her “playthings” behind; she now is no longer a girl but a wife and a woman.
“If aught she missed in her new day
Of amplitude, or awe,
Or first prospective, or the gold
In using wore away,”
I believe here the term “abrupt” refers to the sudden transition in this woman’s life, from a relatively carefree young unmarried girl to a married woman with many responsibilities. She says nothing about what she’s amazed by and her plans for her new life.
“It lay unmentioned, as the sea
Develops pearl and weed,
But only to himself is known
The fathoms they abide.”
At last, we can see how the poet has described a married woman who would keep her emotions all to herself, only she is aware of her inner thoughts and feelings.
It would be hard for me to comprehend the difficulty of being a wife from my standpoint, but it is quite easy to imagine what a woman like Mrs. Mallard and the wife from the poem has sacrificed to become a wife living in that era. I believe both the short story and the poem are trying to illustrate that both women have no one to share their thoughts with and how confined and restricted they are in a marriage. To further portray how Mrs. Millard felt constrained by her marriage, at the end of the short story, Mrs. Millard had died of heart disease, “Of the joy that kills,” because she finally had a taste of freedom without getting locked inside a marriage.
