I felt sympathy for Mrs. Mallard throughout this entire story. Chopin’s depiction of Mrs. Mallard’s character affords sympathy right from the start. The opening sentence and paragraph are clearly intended to induce a feeling of sympathy by telling of Mrs. Mallard being “afflicted with a heart trouble” and quickly revealing that she has to deal with the death of her husband.
However, as the story progresses another side of Mrs. Mallard is revealed. We find that she is a woman who has felt suppressed by her husband for many years. We also find that Mrs. Mallard is experiencing feelings of relief and joy that she is finally free from her husband’s suppression. I believe that Chopin’s intent for adding this twist to the story was to add the element of surprise and to invoke some feeling other than sympathy for Mrs. Mallard. Many people might feel negatively towards Mrs. Mallard for being happy that she is free from her husband. I, however, continued to feel sympathetic to Mrs. Mallard. I felt sorry for her inability to find happiness. I felt sorry for her inability to stand up to her husband and confront the problems in their marriage. It makes me question her husband’s true personality. I also wonder what other dynamics were in existence at that time to cause Mrs. Mallard to remain married to a man that she truly wanted to be away from. I am reminded of all the stories of physical abuse that I’ve seen on television. I’ve heard many stories of women who stay in abusive relationships for reasons that most of us cannot understand. I wonder if Mrs. Mallard was on the receiving end of some form of abuse, physical, verbal, or emotional.
