THE STORY OF THE HOUR - MY THOUGHTS
My first instinct reading this story was this is sad. You have a woman, Mrs. Mallard, who is struggling with living under oppressive circumstances. She is faced with knowing that she will never have free will to do what she pleases and then suddenly, she has become liberated by the death of her husband.
On another note, you have unrequited love from a friend of the family, Richards. Richards is aware of the oppression Mrs. Mallard is going through. He is protective of her and seeks to be sure of the demise of her husband by double-checking before revealing the news. What is even more revealing is how he tries to shield the wife from seeing her husband’s return. It seems he is very aware of how she responded to his death as well as the joy she felt of being liberated from the oppression of men's bigotry.
By shielding her, he hoped to keep her from being shocked, knowing that her heart could not bear the excitement after experiencing the excitement of being released from male subjugation. This author gave you something to think about and made you question the thinking of women during this era.
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Also note that, interestingly, M Mallard is not consciously aware how she was oppressed until the event (her husbands death) offers an "opening" for those thoughts to form...note also how the story's ambiguities, conflicts and struggles, are expressed first through imagery, before they become conscious, and continue to be reflected in imagery throughout the story (consider the multiple implications of an early observation, such as patches of blue sky (i.e., patches through what, literally and figuratively?)