Edna Pontellier vs. Mrs. Mallard Essay Example

her identity. Mrs. Mallard’s dream of being free of her husband also sets her apart from other women of her time.While they both have many similarities, they also have many differences.

Mrs. Mallard never had time to develop her identity and to pursue any of her dreams because she is shocked to death by the fact that she finds out that her husband is actually alive. This sets her apart from Edna, because unlike Edna Mrs. Mallard never really feels what is like to be free. She experiences a short awakening when she remembers that finally she can make her own decisions, but that is short-lived and Mrs. Mallard never has time to develop her feeling fully.

Also Mrs.Mallard never fought for her freedom like Edna, it was given to her by her husbands supposedly death. Her short lived happiness and then sudden attack of the idea that her husband is back and all the dreams that she had upstairs by herself were to never come true causes her death. Unlike Mrs. Mallard Edna’s awakenings help her develop at a steady pace and little by little she tries to win her freedom.

To do that she starts to paint, which help her define herself. Later on Edna also becomes sexually dissatisfied, and Arobin is more then happy to please her.Her life as a painter and a lover is completely different then her life with her husband and little by little she starts to break off from her life with Mr. Pontellier. Her little escapade with Robert at the beginning of the novel guides her decisions later on, her love for Robert makes her want to

be free, because if she was free she would have been able to pursue Robert.

The differences in both women, Edna and Mrs. Mallard are there because The Story of an Hour is a short story which doesn’t allow the character Mrs. Mallard to develop, while in the novel The Awakening, Edna develops into a complex character.The author Kate Chopin in both stories uses nature to describe their want for freedom. In The Story of an Hour the author uses the image of twittering birds and the sky to show the freedom that Mrs.

Mallard wanted. In The Awakening, Chopin uses the image of the sea. The sea serves to symbolize what Edna cannot have; it is “seductive” which lures Edna to want her life. She wants to love whomever she wishes and to do as she pleases. While the images are different for each woman because they are two different individuals, the author relies on these images to get the audience to understand Edna’s and Mrs.

Mallard’s pains. Kate Chopin’s message in both of these stories is the same. Chopin tries to send a message to women and to men about the oppression of women. She dislikes the idea that women are property and that they are to be kept at home to take care of the house and to be shown off like a porcelain doll. In The Awakening and The Story of an Hour, she expresses the idea that women want to be somebody and to bring something to the world. ( It is a commentary: if you want the bib.

read the sctual stories)