My initial reaction to the story was surprise. It begins very darkly mentioning heart conditions and then the supposed death of the husband. The most interesting part to me was how quickly Mrs Mallard's opinion on the death changed from sorrow to joy. I was surprised at the sudden change of tone in the story and was expecting something to happen to Mrs. Mallard by the end.
I think one of the main literary elements in the story is irony. After the story started out with the sister worried about her heart and that the sorrow of the death might kill her, the “joy” of her liberation was was ultimately did her in. The main point the author was trying to make was that the husbands death did grant Mrs. Mallard a new freedom and independence. Since the story was written in the late 1800's it makes sense for the women to feel constrained to the house. When she goes up into her room she sees an entirely new world outside and a new joy even if at first she doesn't believe that she should feel that way.
The question I would like to know is why was she so happy? And how controlling was her husband.
