Mid-Term Test 2

Part A

1. What is Louise Mallard’s opinion of marriage? Indicate the paragraph that suggests it?

According to Louise Mallard, marriage is only one thing; a prison for body and soul. In

the twelfth paragraph, she describes marriage as a right to bend other's will, and criticizes the life that comes with the wedding vows. She also claims that in her marriage, her life was not her own to live, but was the companion of a man, tied to his side, with not many opportunities to do as she pleased.

2. Why is there so much description of what is outside the window when Louise is alone in her room?

The description of the environment outside of Mrs. Mallard's window is very significant in the story. When see looks through the glass, she sees the freedom of nature; the freedom that life can give. The scene would be for her a revelation of what she became. No longer are her wings cut off. She can fly and nothing can stop her.

3. Why did the author make the story so short?

The author made the short story with the present length, because the story is only in an hour's lap of time. Moreover, I think it would be an accumulation of unnecessary words, only to make it longer. Being short, precise, strait to the point, the story leaves no place for ambiguity.

4. Explain how Louise can feel joy and sadness at the same time?

Louise can feel joy and sadness at the same time, because even though she is happy she is free from her husband's grip, she still loved him most of the time they were married. She would remember how he loved her, and feel a sense of loneliness for a couple of moments, but then she would be joyful with her future life that would await her. At the shocking news of her husband's death, she cried, with a sense of salvation enveloping her.

Part B

In The Story of An Hour, the author uses irony. To begin with, the message in the short story is very significant. It explains to us that hope can be urge on a person, and then be robbed in an instant. Moreover, it makes you learn that you should not be so quick to get over someone or something in your life. In addition, you ought not to rejoice until you see the dead body with your own eyes. This is what happened to Mrs. Mallard in the story. Like the title explains, the whole action in the story took place in an hour. During that time, Louise Mallard received the deceitful news that her husband had died, planned her life, and had thoroughly stopped grieving. Life is short is another of the many messages in the story.

To continue with, the irony takes many forms in the short story presented to us by Kate Chopin. One of them being that she thought her husband dead and finally rid of him, when at the end he comes back and she is the one who ends up dead. Another ironic scene would be when Josephine was going to announce to her sister that her husband had died; she said she had to take "great care" and "break to her as gently as possible the news," because Louise had a heart disease. Finally, it wasn't because of the news that she had a heart attack; it was because of the news of his return. She had wanted so badly to live her life free from now on that when her husband came back, she went into shock of seeing her dreams crushed. Furthermore, the irony continues with Richard, the husband's friend, when he assures himself twice that Mr. Mallard is dead, receiving two telegrams informing the death, but then sees himself wrong when the said husband returns home. One last irony would be when Mrs. Mallard contemplated her life with her husband, she had said: "Life might be long". While on the contrary, when she died, her life wasn't so long after all.

Finally, in The Story Of An Hour, the author tries to warn us that marriage shouldn't imprison one's soul, and that we should treat as an equal our life companion. This was the problem in the Mallard's marriage. The man was the one ordering and the woman had to obey. If one person in a couple acts superior to his companion, the other one will likely be sad, and crushed under the weight of the pressure. This is not the life a married couple should have. There should be love, which they mostly did have, but not enough to overcome the obstacles that stood between them.

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