"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease -- of the joy that kills."

This piece repeatedly broke my expectations. I expected existentialism, maybe a story about Mrs. Mallard falling into some form of depression or finding a new life after her husband's death. I didn't expect the happiness, but I find it very interesting and I might even agree with it in her situation.

Rather than falling into a depression at the news of her husband's death, it seems that Mrs. Mallard is falling out of one. She becomes almost giddy, hopeful and excited for her future of freedom. What's really interesting about this reaction is that she wasn't quite unhappy in her marriage. She describes how he has never looked at her with anything but love, and how she had sometimes loved him too. But she seems to have felt restricted by that marriage, by that very love. "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself," the narrator says. While there had never been anything significantly harmful about their relationship, it had become an obligation, a set of rules and limitations within which she had to live. 

But now, despite what was such an objectively great tragedy, she felt happy again -- "...she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window." She suddenly found herself free of the restrictions that she hadn't realized existed, in much the way that a person getting glasses for the first time might suddenly realize how much of the world they've been missing. 

Then, just as suddenly, it all comes crashing back down when her husband walks through the door. Suddenly the freedom she didn't know she wanted had been taken back from her, suddenly all of the restrictions had returned. And apparently, that shock was enough to give her a heart attack. I find it funny that the news that "should" have broken her heart actually gave her great joy, and the news that "should" have given her great joy actually broke her heart. This story does a great job of painting the differences in perspective, particularly with respect to relationships; where some see support and love, others see restriction. What is terrible for one person may be great for another, and vice versa.

What I wonder is whether Mr. Mallard, after Mrs. Mallard's actual death, had the same epiphany of freedom. Did he grieve, or did he explore?