By:
Laura
Noor
Rafiah
Stephanie
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Louise is sad about her husbands death. Louise
explores nature and reflects upon her emotions
through one window. The forbidden joy of
happiness that kills.
Theme: Freedom, don‟t let someone control
you or boss you around.
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Forestall- to prevent something from happening.
 Sentence: The rain forestalled the wedding.
Repression- unconscious hiding of uncomfortable thoughts.
 Sentence: She recompressed the fact that she was feeling down and lonely.
Tumultuously- highly agitated, as the mind or emotions; distraught; turbulent.
 Sentence: He was tumultuous of his grade in math.
Importunities- urgent or persistent in solicitation, sometimes annoyingly so.
 Sentence: Her importunity was studying for the English exam.
Imploring- to beg urgently or piteously, as for aid or mercy; beseech; entreat.
 Sentence: His constant imploring made me want me forgive him more.
Hasten- to move or act with hurry; to hurry.
 Sentence: She hastened to finish the final lap.
Subtle- fine, delicate.
 Sentence: The silk on her shirt was subtle.
Slender- thin or slight; light and graceful.
 Sentence: I was so glad that my backpack was slender today.
Yonder- being in that place or over there; being that or those over there.
 Sentence: The road yonder Is the one to take.
Procession- the act of coming forth from a source.
 Sentence: The procession of these definitions are from Webster's dictionary.
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Irony- “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—
of the joy that kills.” Most people think of joy as a good thing, not
something that could kill you.
Simile- “She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair,
quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook
her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.”
Gives a very depressed, sad feeling.
Characterization (direct)- “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose
lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was
a dull stare in her eyes,...” Shows how she has changed for the worse with
the sad news of her husband‟s death.
Anaphora- “There would be no one to live for during those coming years;
she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will…” Used to
emphasize that she would be living for herself, that she is free. Gives a
feeling of triumph.
Mrs. Mallard:
“She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” “There was a
feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.”
She was a very depressed young woman with heart problems, she didn‟t completely love her husband, felt that
marriage is a negative. (“There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and
women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.”) She loves that she is now free and
can do whatever she wants to with her life. (“There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would
live for herself.”)
Richards:
“He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less
careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.” He was a friend of Mr. Mallard, he was very kind and gently
because he didn‟t want to upset Mrs. Mallard, he is very thoughtful. “at Richards‟ quick motion to screen him from the
view of his wife.”
He is quick thinking, trying to keep Mrs. Mallard from having a heart attack. He‟s a good person.
Josephine:
“It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.”
“Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the key hold, imploring for admission. „ Louise, open
the door! I beg; open the door--- you will make your self ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven‟s sake open the
door.‟”
Josephine is vey caring, she worries about her sister. Josephine doesn‟t want Louise to hurt herself.
Mr. Mallard:
Louise‟s husband, allegedly killed in a train accident. Brently arrives home unaware that there had been a train
accident. When his wife sees him, she dies of the forbidden joy of happiness.
Rising Action: Josephine tells Mrs. Mallard of
her husband‟s death gently, so as to not cause
Mrs. Mallard to have a heart trouble of some
sort. Mrs. Mallard immediately starts crying, not
even thinking that her husband‟s death was
impossible. She locks herself in her room to be
alone and mourn. She looks outside the open
window of her upstairs bedroom and sees the
open square below, hears the sounds of someone
singing, the birds chirping, a peddler shouting,
sees patches of blue sky trying to break through
the clouds, the treetops, breathes in the rainy
spring air. She realizes that she has a strange
feeling that she doesn‟t want to admit, but she
finally lets herself say it: free, she feels free. She
loves that she‟ll be able to spend the rest of her
life doing what she wants to do and not having
to do things because of others. Josephine begins
to worry that Mrs. Mallard will get sick, or
maybe try to kill herself. Mrs. Mallard comes
out of the room with a joyous feeling, and walks
downstairs side by side to Josephine, and at the
bottom of the stairs waits Richards.
Exposition: Mrs. Mallard had heart problems.
Plot
Climax: All of a sudden, Mr. Mallard
walks in through the front door, not
knowing that their was an accident and
that everyone thought he was dead.
There was
news of Mr. Mallard‟s death in an accident. Josephine, Mrs.
Mallard‟s sister, is there to break the news. Richards, a friend of
Mr. Mallard, had found out about Mr. Mallard‟s death, and was
there for support. They are in Mrs. Mallard‟s house sometime in
the late 19th century.
Falling Action: Josephine cries out with
shock, and Richards tries to block Mr. Mallard
from Mrs. Mallard.
Resolution: I don‟t believe that she saw Mr.
Mallard, yet she still died of a heart disease, “of the joy
that kills.” She didn‟t see her husband, she was just so
happy that she was free, that she had a heart attack.