The Story of an Hour

As terrible as it sounds, I could almost relate to Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour. I married two years ago at age 21 to a man 10 years older than myself, and have regretted it for most of our marriage. The part I can relate to in the story is simply the wishing to be free part (not that I would be happy for my husband to die). So in the story when Mrs. Mallard was looking to the future, "But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long progression of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome," I can relate in the sense that freedom is a treasured thing and I miss not having mine.

"And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not." I thought this was a poignant line that really spoke to me as well, because I do love my husband, but there are times when it feels like all I want is to be free of him and all the emotional hurt he has caused and causes me.

I thought the ending of the story was both sad and almost funny. Mrs. Mallard was deliriously joyful at the news of her husbands death which meant her future independence. Then... "Someone was opening the front door with a latch key. It was Brently Mallard who entered..." And Mrs. Mallard died then and there. In a way, I guess Mrs. Mallard got her freedom, but she wouldn't enjoy it in the ways she had planned.