Question

Analyze the characteristics of Mrs.Mallard in "The story of an hour" by Kate Chopin (about 150 words). someone please help me, thank you very much!

Answer 1

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The Story of an Hour book cover

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1. What is it that really kills Mrs. Mallard?

Mrs. Mallard has a weak heart, and upon hearing that her husband is not dead, and that is not free from the confines of her marriage as she had thought, that is when, ironically, her heart gives out and she dies of shock.

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LITLADY33 eNotes educator | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

To add to what the above poster said, it is ironic that Mrs. Mallard dies, not because of news of her husband's death, but from the realization (and disappointment) that he is alive. At the end of the story, it says that "when the doctors came, they said she died of heart disease-- of a joy that kills." They assume that her weak heart could not handle the happiness she felt when her husband walked through the door alive. They do not know- or refuse to acknowledge- the actual cause for her death. Even if they had known that she truly died of shock and disappointment from seeing her husband alive, no one would have spoken it aloud because it was not something that was spoken during that time.

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