Choppin Support for Thesis Activity

Thesis #1:

Chopin makes the point that Mrs. Mallard was oppressed by her husband like many of the woman of the era. Mrs. Mallard was excited that she would finally “live for herself” after her husband died. She also states that she would live “a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely,” more specifically, not with her husband.

Thesis #2

While Mrs. Mallard stared out the window she saw an image of life that contrasted with her own room. Chopin shows this by describing outside using phrases like “new spring life” and when Mrs. Mallard tells her sister “'I am not making myself ill.' No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.” Whereas, when Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard sitting in the armchair he describes her as being “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.”