The Story of an Hour Notes

 Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble  Her husband has died and her sister, Josephine tells her. She tries to break the news to her as gently as possible because of her heart trouble  Her husband has died in a “railroad disaster”

 Mrs. Mallard immediately begins to weep  After crying she goes to her room, insisting that she be alone  She sits in an armchair and stares out the window, almost in shock

 A feeling that she can’t describe begins to come over her and she begins to repeat the word “free”  Although she is saddened at her husband’s death because he did love her, she begins to think that she is free and that the years to come “belong to her absolutely”  She begins to feel much better at the thought of freedom

 She leaves the bedroom, thrilled at the thought of her new freedom  As she walks down the stairs, her husband, who was far away from the accident comes home  Mrs. Mallard screams and dies—of “heart disease.