Week 9 Discussion

The theme of the Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an hour,” because they both long for freedom. In the poem “The Wife,” She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life To take the honorable work Of woman and of wife. In this stanza, the poet shares that the woman is getting married and entering her new life to be a wife She made changes, sacrifices, and dropped all her own dreams as a lady/girl to become a wife. Being a man’s wife was an honorable stand for women during the Victorian Era. If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away, In this stanza, it is a reflection of thoughts and opinions that cannot be shared. She doesn’t share the things she misses in this new life. The word “amplitude” refers to the drastic changes that the woman has experienced from being a young woman with a carefree life to a wife filled with a lot more responsibilities. She does not discuss what she is awed by, and she doesn’t mention her future expectations from her new life because it has slowly faded away with time. It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed, But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide. In this last stanza, the married woman keeps her happiness and sadness within herself and only she is aware of her own thoughts, feelings, and memories. Within the sea lies depth and only the married woman know how she feels.   As in “The Story of an hour,” Mrs. Mallard felt grief for her husband when she heard he was hit by a train, she transitioned into accepting […]

Times have changed for the most part but back then it seemed a woman’s identity was defined by the state of their marriage. In the short story “The Marriage” The wife is robbed of her free will and decision making. Her image and character became publicly synonymous with her husbands which in turn forced her to follow her husbands every command. In “the story of an hour” the wife found herself dealing with the same problem of freedom and identity, except that instead of the story dwelling on her sad life, when she hears her husband had died, she becomes so happy and thrilled at the thought of having a space of time in which she’s her own woman that she ends up dying of a heart attack. Regardless, in both stories the world was robbed of these women.

One of the key similarities between these two works is how each woman views marriage as a sort of trap. In “The Story of an Hour” we can see that the wife is overjoyed by the news her husband passed as seen in the line, “She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!”. This explicitly shows how the Mrs. Mallard felt ensnared by her marriage, to the point where her husband dying was the best option for her. This is also seen in the astonishment she shows when her husband shows up alive as seen in, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease — of the joy that kills”. This shows how her sudden shift in mood was so severe that she ended up passing away.  The poem shares the same views as seen in the line, “It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed ,But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide”. These lines show how the wife felt like her life was wasting away being a stay home wife.

The theme of Emily Dicksons poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallards emotional state in “The Story of An Hour”  because in the poem “The Wife” it talks about how a woman that was married had her husband die and it was hard for her and it wasn’t easy but she had to pull her self together and move on and care for herself. In the poem The story of an hour it talks about how Mrs. Millard takes comfort when her husband died and people can see how strong she is for moving on. So as you can see the themes are pretty similar because they both talk about marriage and how to move on and stay strong. they both went along for there own needs and continued work. After Mrs. Millards husband death she was extremely sad but got over it and which it lead her to have more freedom.

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 […]

The theme in Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” explains to the reader that she sacrifice a lot of things for this marriage “The playthings of her life” and the secure only keep to herself like in the deepest in the sea, not even her husband know”But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide.” Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour, tells us about her being free of the death of her husband, it also in a way to shows the reader that she’s out of the cage”There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers” nothing can stop her from being free now. From these two articles, we can see that it is not just Emily and Mrs. Mallrds in this cruel marriage, it is the worst possible century to be born in (anything before 20th century). Marriage for women is like a birdcage, and the owner(husband) dresses (expect) the wife to be the way he wanted to be.

The poem “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson relates to the story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin because both story I feel like is dealing with freedom and also marriage. In the poem “The Wife” she is stuck between being a free woman and also being a wife as she mentioned in the poem “She rose to his requirement, dropped the playthings of her life” meaning that she is willing to up it and do whatever to become the perfect wife she is supposed to be, and in “The Story of An Hour” shes with her partner that she truly loves but once he passes away she mentions “body and soul free” she felt like a free woman after the death of her husband. Both woman are dealing with marriage form a different point of view one feel like they are required to any and everything for a man at any given moment and one feels happy that her man passed away.

The theme of the Emily Dickson poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs.Mallards emotional state in “The Story of an Hour” is because the theme I noticed in Emily Dickson’s poem was when I was reading the second group of four lines as she was explaining that if she was to miss anything at all in the new day it would feel that to her as she was not able to accomplish what she had settled for the day because she was a women who enjoyed to do work and missing a day didn’t settle right with her and basically ruined her plans. The way it relates to “The Story of an Hour” to me is because in this story Louise basically was not around the moment her husband died but the people who were are trying to figure ways to tell Louise about her husbands death so that she does not react in a certain way especially since she was not there. The way these two connect are because they both speak about in their own ways how they feel ashamed if they were to miss something big in their lives and in each of them it shows they end up not being in certain places during important times.

“The Wife” by Emily Dickinson relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “Story of An Hour” because Mrs. Mallard expresses joy in freedom from her husband dying. At first, Mrs. Mallard is washed over with emotions of grief. she later on realizes she will be living for herself in the coming years, repeating “Free! Body and soul free!”. In “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson, the quote “She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life To take the honorable work Of woman and of wife.” shows how she or woman in general would drop their interests or what they were doing and take the role/stereotype as a woman and wife. Emily then ends with “It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed, But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide.”, which means how her “wife duties” continue to become the normality of every day living to her husband, restricted to enjoy the things she likes to do.

Both the short story, “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and the poem, “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson explores the lack of freedom and individuality of a married woman deeply and thoroughly, despite their limited length. During the Victorian times, to which both writings date back, a wife was more of a status symbol. She was something to acquire, something that makes a boy a man, gives him credibility. A wife was her husband’s property, whose only happiness, need and want in life was to be just that. If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away, It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed, This quote goes to show just how little a woman’s needs really meant. They went unmentioned and were treated as nonexistent. A wife’s only possible way to freedom and individuality was becoming widowed. “Story of an Hour” sheds light on such experience. Some could easily think that all those women who lived through such times were weak and had no concept of self. But I believe that the strength to shoulder of such burden with so much humanity, grace and endurance and then to forgive all that could only found in women.

In “The Story of an Hour” I think that Mrs. Mallard being youthful and being married to Mr. Mallard so young, seemed to be an unknown burden to her, until she heard that he had been killed in the accident. Especially in the 12th paragraph when she mentions there being “no powerful will bending hers.” She had been longing for her freedom from this marriage, and now saw that she had the world at her finger tips. I think this is where it parallels with Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife”. In this poem, the paragraph is  “She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life To take the honorable work Of woman and of wife.” I think this paragraph ties in with what I spoke about above. Mrs. Mallard is thrilled at the opportunity to go live her life as a single woman, and to see what the world can give to her.  This has similar themes as the second paragraph from “The Wife”. “If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away.”

In the poem “The Wife” it talks about a woman who is not married, depict herself as a wife and describes what it is to be a woman and what it is to be a married woman. The story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is about a married woman named Louise Mallard who’s husband passes away due to a railroad accident but she learns to be herself because being married made her feel as if her some of her freedom was taken away. The two main characters have similar life aspects as to feeling like a free person when not married. In the poem “The Wife” it says “She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life To take the honorable work of woman and of wife”. The beginning of this section of the poem shows that the woman when being married takes the personal fun of her life to take on the more responsible tasks of a married woman.

In “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson, the author explains how her childhood experience was detrimentally impacted because of how young she had to throw her youth away and center her life on being a wife. She explains that being a wife includes making heavy sacrifices and leaving behind dreams and aspirations you have for yourself.  “If aught she missed in her day of amplitude, or awe, or first prospective, or the gold in using wore away”. These lines from the poem demonstrate the wife pondering about what life could have been, had she not become a wife so early.  This enhances how the decision was not something she was ready for and included sacrificing one way of life for another, and in turn this left her with questioning thoughts. “The Story of an Hour” relates to “The Wife”,  as both the women aren’t that happy with their marriage and it keeps them in a way of life they do not appreciate. The wife in “The Story of an Hour” has a realization after a brief period of grief when hearing her husband had passed away, where she was filled with a new found sense of independence, and a sense of freedom that she will now be living for herself here on out. She is almost paralyzed with emotion. Both the poem and story exemplify how women should make a life of their own, one they would be excited to live with or without someone else, before committing a lifetime to marriage.  A lot of times, marriage can come with sacrifices that draw you away from your souls true desires if you are not careful about the commitment.

It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed, But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide. From stanza 3, It was like the sea, unmentioned, developing pearls and weeds. But only to himself (life partner) is known the deep secrets they abide. This stanza could be similar to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state towards her husband’s false death in the story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. Dickinson and Chopin seems to have a strong emotional impact on husbands. “But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought”. (Lines 34-36) This quotation appears after Louise has gone alone to her room to deal with the news of Brently’s death. After an initial fit of tears, Louise looks out her window at the wide-open spaces below. This quotation is our first hint that Louise’s reaction to Brently’s death will be surprising and that Louise is very different from other women. Whereas most women would gaze reflectively at the sky and clouds, Louise’s gaze suggests something different, something shrewder or more active. What she sees as she gazes out the window is different from what other women would likely see after their husbands have died. Not long after this passage, Louise acknowledges the joyous feeling of independence that Brently’s death has given her. Here, at the window, the first breaths of these feelings are stirring, and her “intelligent thought” will quickly engage once again as she processes these feelings and allows herself to analyze what they mean.

In “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson, the narrator talks about her past memory during her childhood how she didn’t really have the best childhood  because she had to leave it all behind and give up her childhood in order to be the wife. She tells us that the idea of being a wife is like having to make a big sacrifice or just leaving behind things you couldn’t now do anymore more in all the possibilities you had in life after becoming the wife and having more responsibilities then to focus on yourself and your own life.  “If aught she missed in her day of amplitude, or awe, or first prospective, or the gold in using wore away”. These lines from the poem demonstrate the wife’s curiosity and questions of what could have been her potential or possibilities.  Also, it really tells us that how she  isn’t really  that happy in her marriage or getting married but it’s something that is not talked about during that time period of the story. “The Story of an Hour” relates to the theme of “The Wife” because of how both the women aren’t really that happy with their marriage and how that is a topic, during that point in history, that was not talked about. But the wife in “the story of an hour” is filled with new found hope of independence freedom from the women after hearing about her husband’s death. She repeats the word “free” and is now happy over the thought of living a full long life being free. Both the poem and story show how women felt about the role of being a wife and wondering  the possibilities and potential they had in their own life’s way behind of their lives  before becoming a wife and not having the […]

The poem “The Wife” shares a similar theme with the “Story of An Hour” as it relates to two wives. One is brand new, prepping herself for the duties of being a good wife and the other has just lost her husband and is processing his death. The excerpt from the poem that stands out the most is the last section: “It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed, But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide.” This mainly relates to the short story “Story of An Hour” as they widow is left in complete shock but after grieving feels free. She is almost ashamed to feel this way and gets choked up from admitting it. The relief the widow feels being released from her marriage is the weed and the love and happiness from the same marriage being the pearls. The new wife openly expresses throughout the entire poem how she is to lay down her life of fun and uplift the responsibilities of being a wife.

Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” and the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin are particularly similar when it comes to exposing the sexist gender roles expected to be followed by women in the 18th and in the 19th century, and the erasure of their self identities in detriment of their marriage life.  In the first lines of the spenserian poem by Dickinson, she says “She rose to his requirement, dropped/ The playthings of her life /To take the honorable work/ Of woman and of wife.” As an allusion to a women who has dropped her entire identity and passions after marrying, where she referred as “playthings” — or in other words, something not worth to be taken seriously. And decided to perform the greatest “work” attributed to women in that era: Being an honorable wife.  Attributes which we see on the story “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin, where after one of the characters, Mrs. Mallard’s, receives the unfortunate news about her husband passing away in a train accident, she sinks into sadness and the feeling of abandonment. Revealing then, at a first glance, a certain vulnerability expected by a married women at that time.  Further, Dickinson says “If aught she missed in her new day/ Of amplitude, or awe / Or first prospective, or the gold / In using wore away” As a way to show some certain of disappointment and fear of missing not only the days that she had left in the past and her own individuality, but fear that the feeling for the husband — who now she had to look up for — would eventually wear away. Which we can relate to Chopin’s story, on the paragraphs 13-14, when after a short grief, Mrs. Mallard’s realizes that now she was […]

In “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Choppin, Louis Mallard has a heart problem and is therefore carefully informed of her husband’s death. Ms. Mallard does not take this news lightly, she begins to cry and heads up to her room where she can be alone. She sits in front of an open window. There she sees trees and can hear the apprenticing rain. She feels at peace and begins reaping the word “free”. For the first time in a long time, Ms. Mallard feels a sense of freedom and relief over the death of her husband. She can see the years ahead which belong to only her. But all of this is suddenly taken away from when were husband, Brently, came back. Brently had not been an accident, and Ms. Mallard dies of a heart attack brought on by happiness.  The themes in “The Story of an Hour” closely relate to “The Wife”, by Emily Dickinson. They both discuss the topic of how many women were unhappy in their marriages at the time. The poem states “She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life”. Women in marriages had to take surrender to another’s demands. In this case, when Ms. Mallard no longer had to follow someone else orders, she felt relieved and free from marriage.

Love, Poem 17: The Wife by Emily Dickinson shares the same theme of the wife who “dropped/ the playthings of her life/ to take the honorable work/ of woman  and of wife” as “The Story of an Hour.” When Mrs. Mallard’s husband is thought to have passed in an accident, her immediate reaction is grief, but when given some time she comes to her senses. The “gold/ [that has] in using  wore wore away” in “The Wife” parallels how, rather than going dull with grief, Mrs. Mallard’s eyes became keen and bright, picturing the years ahead of her with joyous disbelief. “As the sea/ develops pearl and weed” refers to how Mrs. Mallard had buried her emotions, her sense of awe and joy for the world, under layers much as an oyster buries a grain of sand in layers until nothing but a beautiful pearl is visible to the eye. She is exalted at the death of her husband, for as a widow she would have freedom from the “powerful will bending hers” (Chopin, 12).

The poem “The Wife” conveys the theme of the struggle between social norms and self willingness to be a wife in the 19th century. It starts with describing the early stage of a woman being a wife who has to “drop the playings of her life to take the honorable of women and of wife.” In “The Story of an Hour”, Louise is a perfect example that manages to do that. Her sister Josephine and Richards both believe she is a respectful wife who has already gotten rid of naivety and become totally mature. Louise does feel sad right after she hears the news of her husband’s death due to the honors she has today benefits from the marriage. However, when she goes back to the room and thinks alone, her imagination of a future living without a husband makes her feel excited and happy that never had before. By looking at the vibrant scene through the window, she realizes she sacrifices the whole world for the marriage, just as Emily Dickinson writes “Of first prospective, or the gold in using wore away.” in “The Wife”. She is ready to grasp the chance to enjoy the freedom for the rest of her life. Finally, however, the return of her husband destroys her last hope. At that time, there is no way for her to pursue freedom since her potential has been escaped under marriage. The cause of her death “lay unmentioned, as the sea develops pearl and weed.” Under the great pressure of social norms, Confirming death as an attribute to joy at least leaves her the last dignity.

The concept of independence is one of the most prominent themes in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour and Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife.” For example, once the shock of knowing that her husband had died has worn off, Louise realizes that she now has the freedom to live her own life. Emily Dickinson emphasizes personal issues of independence, society, and women in her poem “The Wife.”    “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin). This quote demonstrates Louise’s fear of her existence, foreseeing years of monotonous, unchangeable reliance and subjugation. Brently’s death, on the other hand, leaves her free and independent, and her existence becomes suddenly worthwhile.   “If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away,” (Dickinson).   Mrs. Mallard was unable to be herself during her marriage, as these lines demonstrate. She wonders how her days will be now that she is self-sufficient and can do whatever she wants.

“The Story of the Hour” shows us back in the days the way society viewed women as the weak gender and marriage was very difficult for women to enjoy their life, and in the story, Mrs. Mallard was very upset because of her husband’s death. In contrast to other women who might not have the strength to move forward, after the death of her husband, she takes comfort, and we see the strength and the ability in her to pass her husband’s death. The poem “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson is connected to Mrs. Mallard’s “The Story of the Hour.” By Kate Chopin in his poem, Dickinson says that “To take the honorable work Of woman and a wife.” It means that being married is not an easy job, in another word it shows the hard work of a married woman after her husband’s death. She devotes herself to work, to take care of her needs.

How the Theme of Emily Dickson’s Poem “The Wife” Relates to Mrs. Mallard Emotional State in “The Story of An Hour.” The poem “The Wife” by Emily Dickson is about women and marriage. The poem illustrates a woman’s emotional and behavioral state as she prepares to marry. It delves into the sacrifices, adjustments, and the social perceptions associated with a woman marrying. “The story of an hour” examines a woman’s feelings following the death of her husband (Paul, 2019). Kate Chopin, the author, exemplifies the violation of a woman’s independence through her range of emotions. Both of these works are primarily concerned with marriage. More precisely, the position of a woman in marriage. This paper will discuss the feminism and inequality issues that are prevalent in “The Wife” and relate to “The Story of An Hour.” As represented in “The Wife,” a woman’s responsibility in marriage is to accommodate her husband’s wants. “She met his expectations,” the author writes. The statement depicts the guy as the dominant figure, with the woman serving only to do his bidding (Ayothi, 2017). Mrs. Mallard, on the other hand, is depicted as gaining independence as demonstrated by her feelings. She is torn between sadness and relief. The writer’s phrase, “her life would be her own,” demonstrates how powerless the woman was in marriage. Womanhood is devalued in society. The poem refers to a woman’s unmarried actions as “playthings.” Without a husband, a woman is believed to be losing her value. “In usage wore away,” the writer writes, illustrating how easily a woman’s worth is disregarded. It is evident from “The Story of An Hour” that society does not comprehend Mrs. Ballard’s plight (Paul, 2019). The poem concludes with the phrase “it lay unmentioned, as the sea,” emphasizing how ineffective the woman of no value […]

The theme of “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson relates to Miss Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of the Hour” by Kate Chopin, in that it outlines what society expects of women in her time. Miss Mallard plays the role of the dutiful wife as she hears news of her husband’s death and mourns his passing. This theme is shown in the line “To take the honorable work / Of woman and of wife.” (Dickinson) After her initial grief, she then reflects upon her newly found freedom, and her emotional state goes from sorrow to joy at having been freed from her duties as a wife. “If aught she missed in her new day” and “It lay unmentioned, as the sea” (Dickinson) shows that a woman may have hidden feelings of longing for the things that she has to give up to serve her husband, and it would not be surprising if this lead to feelings of resentment. Being liberated from such a burden would naturally lead to feelings of joy.

The theme of Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of An Hour” because Mrs. Mallard lived her life for him as her wife and after his passing there was grievance but also a feeling of freedom living her life not revolved around her husband. Dickinson says; “She rose to his requirement, dropped. The playthings of her life To take the honorable work Of woman and of wife.” Dickinson’s description of what women would do for a man was exactly what Mrs. Mallard was to her husband, her life was her husband, that’s why after finding out he passed away there was a scene of freedom that she felt. After having felt freed, Dickinson  states “If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away.” Dickinson describes women missing their old self and this relates to Mrs. Mallard. She beggings to reminisce about her past self and missed it. Lastly, in the poem, Dickinson says ” it lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed” meaning that it never gets brought up to a woman’s husband and it’s left unsaid. Mrs. Mallard went through the same thing with not letting her husband know and it was left unsaid till she also forget about herself till he passed away and her life was hers again.  

The theme of the poem “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson talks about what she as a woman has to sacrifice “playthings In her life” when becoming a married woman. Emily does not want to get married but has to follow society norms. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard was in an unhappy marriage. When her husband dies her perception of life changes she finds her true self. She realized how much freedom she has “there would be no powerful will bending hers” she felt relief knowing she could live for herself and not nobody else. Emily’s poem relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state because both women are unhappy married women who had to play the role of a wife living by a man’s expectation taking away their freedom. Both stories show how women back then had to live up to society’s norm of women living up to men’s expectations. 

In “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson, the narrator talks about how she leaves her childhood behind in order to play the role of a wife. She implies the idea that being a wife is like making a great sacrifice of leaving behind any potential and possibilities you once had before becoming a wife. “If aught she missed in her day of amplitude, or awe, or first prospective, or the gold in using wore away”. These lines from the poem demonstrate the wife’s curiosity and questions of what could have been her potential or possibilities. Also, it shows how she is unhappy in her marriage but it’s something that is not talked about during that time period. “The Story of an Hour” relates to the theme of “The Wife” because of how both the women are unhappy in their marriage and how that is a topic, during that point in history, that was not talked about. But the wife in “the story of an hour” is filled with new found hope of independence after hearing about her husband’s death. She repeats the word “free” and is now happy over the thought of living a full long life. Both the poem and story show how women felt about the role of a wife and wondering about possibilities of life before becoming a wife. 

Gender inequality in Emily Dickinson’s “The Wife” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour. Emily Dickson’s poem “The Wife” demonstrates how marriage institutions perpetuate a privilege and inequality system for women. The poem depicts marriage as an institution governed by patriarchal rules, a fact that signifies gender inequality. The poem’s first line, “She rose his requirement, dropped the playthings of her life,” expounds an ideology that transitions from girlhood to becoming a woman, and then a wife prevents women from accessing self-dignity and freedom. Married women are considered their husbands’ possessions, which leaves them no choice but to comply with whatever rules their husbands impose on them. The resultant of explained ideology is a situation where women suffer emotional pressure. Emily’s poem contradicts a socially constructed ideology that marriage strengthens women with claims that it reduces women to mere men’s objects that abide blindly to her husband. Kate Chopin’s story “The Story of an Hour” illustrates the theme of inequality through Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state of mind.   The story depicts the state of a woman suffering from her husband’s restrictions and confinement to home chores. Mrs. Mallard was overjoyed after receiving information that her husband was dead. “she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,” but then she began to feel free (Chopin n.p). She expresses her feelings for freedom by repeating the word “Free! Body and soul free!” (n.p).   Readers expect Mrs. Mallard to mourn and grieve her husband’s demise, but the contrary happens because she knows her husband’s death meant her freedom. Mrs. Mallard’s emotions did not last long because her husband had not died. This realization caused her emotional breakdown and death.

The poem itself can be related to the emotional state of Mrs. Mallard in many ways since in the first stanza it can be seen when in the story it says “It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip -sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease — of the joy that kills.” This shows that referring to her emotional situation since she, seeing her husband enter and that absolutely nothing had happened to her, is something that would be difficult for anyone to process. At that moment, she knew that her freedom was over, that she would return to her previous life, that is before she learned of the “death” of her husband Brently Mallard. It was a very complicated emotional situation for her to see that everything changed radically again in her life. The story goes “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will.” upon a fellow-creature.” This is related to the last stanza of the poem since in the recently mentioned quote she clarifies that she only lived for her husband and by her own will, as her husband was the one who would dominate everything in the relationship, preventing that she can do anything she wants.

Back then, women were oppressed and had to abide by the males in their lives’ wishes. In “The Wife” the woman is stripped of her identity when she is married off and abides by her husband’s wishes. In “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard’s husband dies and she becomes distraught with grief at first and end up mourning the loss of her husband. After she is over the initial shock and mourn, she locks herself in her room and ends up realizing that she is free of him and doesn’t have to abide by his every whim. Both characters are in similar situations in feeling trapped in their marriages and end up realizing how dim their personalities are in said marriages. In, “The Wife” she ends up mentioning giving up “the playthings of her life” in this sense she means everything that makes her, her including most of her personality and in “The Story of an Hour” she mentions on how dim her personality gets with being married off and spending the rest of her life trying to please a man that doesn’t love her and ends up realizing she has “a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” They are both inherently sad deep down and know that marriage traps them.

The theme of Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” is about how a woman loses her identity when marrying a man. In “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard is initially overcome with grief upon learning of her husband’s untimely death. She then quickly realizes that his death results in her freedom. She becomes elated at the thought of living her life just for herself and not having to do as her husband commands. In “The Wife”, Dickinson speaks of this duty of a wife having to rise to her “husband’s requirement” and letting go of her own personal interests. Dickinson further elaborates on the sacrifices a wife makes by saying that her thoughts and feelings also “lay unmentioned”. She describes how a wife could not share her mind with her husband and compares the magnitude of these thoughts and feelings to the “fathoms” of the “sea”. This provides insight to the reader of how incredibly lonely this existence was for women.

The theme of the Emily Dickinson poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour.”, in many ways.  Cleary in the time period in which both the story and poem were written, feminism was just a trembling whisper.  However these short passages exploit the experiences of Women who were undermined and emotionally & physically abused first hand.  The theme of “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour” by using verbiage to set a dark tone when describing their relationship to their spouse and how they are bound to their partner.  This can be directly proven from lines eleven and 12 of, “The Wife”, where Dickinson quotes “But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide.” (11-12).  Mrs. Mallard proves to be relieved by her husbands death being that there is no longer a clasp on her independence.  This can be derived from, “The Story of an Hour”, when her sister Josephine mistakes Mrs. Mallards tears of joy for tears of greif, “I beg; open the door — you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven’s sake open the door.” “Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.” (15-16).  Finally, are many other examples in which you can make this direct correlation as well., but I find that this identifies best with the relation of the Women’s emotional state in the two passages. P.S. (I capitalized Women as the stories were related to feminism and independence) 🙂

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.

“The Wife,” a poem by Emily Dickson, reveals the poet’s concerns for the native feminineness in the middle-class people by articulating the gender roles of women by applying the term “wife” frequently. Patently, the poem’s persona is a woman, and conservatisms of marriage are articulated from the female perspective. Further, the theme in Dickinson’s poem tends to relate to Mallard’s passionate state in “The Story of an Hour.” In this regard, the paper discusses how the theme in Emily’s poem relates to Mallard’s work. “The Story of an Hour and The Wife” tend to focus on the female gender. Emily Dickson demonstrates the subtle feminist transformation of ladies to wives. The poet starts the first stanza by indicating that “I’m Wife.” According to Emily, females become their rulers after marriage (Dickinson 1). On the other hand, the “Story of an Hour” focuses on a female character who felt relieved after the death of her husband. After discovering that her husband escaped death, Mrs. Mallard passes through various feelings and emotions. Moreover, “The wife” and “The Story of an Hour” indicate that men exclusively dominated the marriage institution. For instance, in the poem “My Wife,” the poet indicates that once a female got married, her entire life changed completely as she had to submit to the man. Dickson believed that being a female, who comfort the notion of being a “woman,” marriage was a compulsory part of a female’s life. Mrs. Mallard’s joy in “The Story of an Hour” after discovering that her husband was no more indicates that she received freedom from the chains of being controlled by another person. As indicated by (Chopin 1), “she would live for herself,” thus showing that Mallard got liberty when the husband died. In conclusion, Emily Dickson’s The Wife and “The Story of […]

“She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life To take the honorable work Of woman and of wife” The first four lines relate to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour” because she did not really love her husband. Mrs. Mallard probably had to be forced to be with this man because of how things were in the nineteenth century. She had to leave who she was before the marriage, her true self, to be with someone who had destroyed this. If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away, Mrs. Mallard was not able to be herself during her marriage. She questions how her days are going to be freeing since her husband is dead now. She thinks of her spring and summer days and how those days will be her own. She repeats to herself that she is free. This is her “if”. It lay unmentioned, as the sea Develops pearl and weed, But only to himself is known The fathoms they abide. From the end of the story, we can see that her husband never was in the train wreck. He walks through the door and Mrs. Mallard has died of “heart disease” once she sees him. Her emotions are locked forever because she is not able to say how she really felt about her relationship. She was not able to express that she was unhappy in her marriage and did not really love her husband. Now, her emotions had sunk in the sea and turned into pearls and weeds.