Story Of An Hour And Sorrowful Woman Essay, Research Paper

The Story of an Hour and Gail Godwin?s A Sorrowful Woman are both similar

pieces of literary work in that both stories offers a revealing glimpse of

extremely unhappy marriages. Both Mrs. Mallard and the unnamed mistress in A

Sorrowful Woman called (the wife) seem to reveal a problem or possibly a disease

which is plainly inherited through the institution of there marriages. They are

so unhappy with the lives they lead and the person(s) in them they seem to drive

themselves to there own death. The Story of an Hour seems to pick up in the

middle of an on going battle of Mrs. Mallard?s feelings towards that of her

husband Brantly Mallard, (which seems to be a decent guy from this short story

introduction). This is why you really can not come to grasps with her hatred

towards Mr. Mallard and why she feels it. There is little introduction of the

husband Brantly Mallard which leaves any thought or opinions of him completely

to the imagination, while in A Sorrowful Woman the wife seems to be a very

selfish, and self centered person who can care only for herself. Godwin

describes mostly all characteristics about the husband and wife in that the wife

tells her husband that the sight of himself and the child made her so sick she

did not want to see them ever again. The husband being his very understanding

self-comments ?he understood such things, and asked what would she like him to

do? (33). In the begging Mrs. Mallard is so overwhelmingly happy (acting very

distraught) to receive the telegram informing her of Mr. Mallard?s death but

she had to conceal her happiness simply because there were loved ones in her

presence including her sister Josephine and Mr. Mallard?s great friend

Richard. It was he (Richard) who had received intelligence of the death as he

was in the newspaper room and heard fist word of the rail road disaster with

Brently Mallard?s name at the top of the death list. Josephine had delivered

this information just before Mrs. Mallard had stormed off to her room for the

concealment and solitude that she had needed (12-13). For the wife in A

Sorrowful Woman loneliness and solitude was all that she had wanted out of her

family member role throughout the story. She was placed to bed the first night

and was given a sleeping draught that was guaranteed to put her to rest swiftly

after informing her husband that she wanted to be away and out of the sight of

him and their little boy. For many days straight the wife remained there alone

and to her self only to appear to wonder throughout the house aimlessly a few

short times when the house was vacant. For Mrs. Mallard remaining in her room

resting in her roomy armchair staring aimlessly out of the open window was to

rejoice and unleash her true feelings of Mr. Mallard?s death after a few short

moments of morning (12). While in A Sorrowful Woman the wife was detained by her

own state of misery and loneliness for she wanted to be away from both her

husband and her child also (the majority of the time) sitting in her big chair

staring out at the snow-ridden branches wearing her slacks and an old sweater

(35). While there is no major role playing by Mr. Mallard in The Story of an

Hour the husband in A Sorrowful Woman tries to be very caring in every way

possible to his wife. The day after everything took place he brought her

breakfast in bed and let her lay to rest until it grew dark again, and after

taking there son for a walk he brought her up a tray of buttered toast, celery

sticks and soup. She says to him ?I am the luckiest woman,? (crying) he then

replies ?nonsense, you need a rest from us,? referring to there son and

himself (34). He would then continue to take over all of the house hold duties

such as: fixing her meals/sleeping liquids, doing dishes, making dinner for the

himself and there son, taking and picking up there son from school, and holding

down his employment at the office as well. All of these chores were beginning to

become too much for him to handle by himself so with his wife?s permission he

hired in the perfect young girl that was very dynamic. After a short period of

time the wife fired the girl because she had brought the child in to see his

mother and he sat a grasshopper in her hand which made her become very irate.

The husband then apologized to her and said he would take care of it but was

very disappointed that he had to let the girl go. As time went by his wife

became more and more distant moving into a room by her self, limiting the

husband?s ability to see her, as well as her sons. With the women from both

stories still locked away in their rooms the time passes. As Mrs. Mallard is

sitting in her chair whispering over and over ?Free body and Sole free? her

sister Josephine comes to the door and urges her to come out, so she finally

does so and ?carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory? (14).

She then clasped to her sister?s waist causing them both to descend down the

stair with Richards waiting at the bottom. At that same moment in time the front

door opens and Brently Mallard walks through the door with his gripsack and

umbrella. He was no where near the accident and at that same moment Mrs. Mallard

died with what the doctor called a heart disease. And as for the other distant

wife on her last day of living she withdrew from what had became her domain for

one last noble accomplishment. She had cooked supper to last many weeks, two

weeks of fresh-laundered sheets, 5 loafs of bread, and had hand-knitted two

matching sweaters. The man and child ran to the little room, could not contain

themselves to knock flung back the door and there lie his wife/mother restless

without the slightest movement and last deed; her freshly-washed hair. In

relationships people must work together as a family in order to survive and

remain a hole. It is apparent in both The Story of an Hour and A Sorrowful Woman

the families did not work together as one unit. It appeared both wives was so

submerged in there own sorrow and grief that no matter how hard they could have

tried they would have never nor ever wanted to see it through to have what once

may have been and could have been a very beautiful relationship.