How does Mrs. Mallard In “The Story of an Hour” compare to Nora in A Dolls House?
rowens Teacher High School – 12th Grade eNotes Editor Great question! Both Nora and Mrs. Mallard are products of the Victorian Era, a time when women were viewed more as possessions than as people. Both women also come to points of epiphany in their lives when they realize that their role as wife does not make them happy. For Mrs. Mallard, this moment comes when she thinks her husband has died. For the first moment of her life, she feels hopeful for the future. For the first time she finally feels “free, body and soul, free,” and repeats that phrase over and over to herself. She knows that from that point on she will be her own person, able to make her own decisions, and though she often loved her controlling husband, she knows she will be happier with him dead. When she exits her bedroom, she is no longer Mrs. Mallard, but Louise. This is significant, because heretofore, she has always been identified as an extension of someone else. Now she is herself. The moment it is revealed that
