Kate Chopin did not disclose all the characters’s names in the story. Though she revealed the full names of the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard and her husband, Brently Mallard, Chopin however addressed Louise’s sister by her first name and her husband’s friend by the last name. Revealing the firstRead more
Kate Chopin did not disclose all the characters’s names in the story. Though she revealed the full names of the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard and her husband, Brently Mallard, Chopin however addressed Louise’s sister by her first name and her husband’s friend by the last name. Revealing the first name showed intimacy and close relation with a person as seen through the naming of Josephine, Louise’s sister. However, Brently’s friend is named by the last name, Richards, meaning a formal relation. For Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, the word “mallard” means a kind of duck who mated for life but are not steady as seen here through the main couple.
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Mrs Mallard is a middle-class woman living at an age where the women were expected to follow a set of social norms and expectations imposed upon them. Middle-class women like Louise led repressive and limited life under the control of their husbands. They were not free to do what they want and the oRead more
Mrs Mallard is a middle-class woman living at an age where the women were expected to follow a set of social norms and expectations imposed upon them. Middle-class women like Louise led repressive and limited life under the control of their husbands. They were not free to do what they want and the only supposed way they could actually taste freedom was through the death of their husband as seen here in the story. Class plays an important role in understanding how middle-class Victorian women suffered during that time and were bounded to their husbands and certain rules, leaving their freedom behind.
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