Mid-term writing test

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

In the 12th paragraph, Louise says that marriage is basically a crime. She thinks that being married means living for someone else and not be free.

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

Despite the fact that Louise felt free, she still feels sad because she did love her husband. She is, however, glad at the same time that he’s gone because now, she can start living for herself.

3.Why does Louise Mallard suddenly stop crying? Indicate the place in the text?

At the 3rd paragraph, Louise stops crying. She does so because she does not feel sad anymore.

4.How does Louise’s sister and his friend, Richards, feel about the Mallard’s marriage.

They think that their marriage is strong, especially Josephine. She has a hard time telling Louise that her husband’s dead because she thinks that Louise loves him.


The story of an hour by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who learns that her husband was killed. All of the events happen in a matter of an hour. The irony used in this short story and the way marriage is perceived is what makes it so captivating.

Louise Mallard learns that her husband, Brently Mallard was killed in an accident. You would expect her to be sad, completely heart-broken. However, it is not the case. Louise feels this peculiar joy, this freedom emanate from her. She feels that she can finally live for herself. This is particularly ironic. She feels reborn, like she has been given a second chance at happiness when her husband dies. At the 14th paragraph, she says : "Free! Body and soul free!". The death of someone else freed her. Instead of thinking that something was taked from her, she feels like her life was given back to her : « Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own». The irony in this story is strickingly present at the end of the story. Louise dies of happiness and right after, her husband returns, alive. Her joy will be the source of her death.

When Louise goes alone to her room, she feels strange. What she mistook for joy, was actually the beginning of a heart attack : « She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will ». The fact that she tried to fight « joy » means that , for a short moment, she feels guilty of being so happy.

At the beginning of the story, Josephine doesn’t know how to break the news to her sister : « It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.». Josephine probably thought that Louise loved her husband. That means Louise was faking her marriage. She made it seem as though she was happy being married. She felt happy in the end because she was relieved; faking must’ve been exausting.
From Louise’s point of view, marriage is like being emprisoned. She felt trapped. She feels that, alone, she can be completely happy and enjoy the rest of her life.

This short story is very different from what I’ve read before. It’s unsettling to read about a woman who dies of happiness upon learning her husband’s death.

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