feels free from his restraints. She is more worried about her personal gain rather than the death of her husband. In the end her blindness to mortality slaps her in the face. For now she is the one being mourned.The women in these stories have limited freedom. They were married during a time when it was not uncommon for women to raise many children, cook, clean, wash, and work on the farm. Although much is unknown about Calixta’s family life we believe her to be a hard working wife, mother, and woman. We see this in the first few paragraphs; she is busy sewing, getting things ready for dinner, bringing in the clean dry clothes, and shutting up the house before the storm. Any women would need a release from this and Alcee was Calixta’s release. Although if anyone would have found out about her affair or if Bobinot and Bibi had come in Calixta’s fate may have been the same as Mrs. Mallards. Alcee’s wife, Clarisse also longed for her freedom, she was enjoying the liberty of her maiden days and was not ready to see her husband quite yet. “The Storm” replenished Calixta’s relationship with Bobinot and rejuvenated her life with her family much like the storm does with the earth; in fact it made everything happier and stronger. The storm between them gave them new life and satisfaction. Calixta felt like she had been reborn, and could once again appreciate everything she has. Mrs. Mallard’s freedom did not last but a few moments. Her reaction to the news of the death of her husband was not the way most people would have reacted. We do not know much about Mr. And Mrs. Mallards relationship. We gather from the text that her freedom must have been limited in some way for her to be feeling this way. Years ago women were expected to act a certain way and not to deviate from that. Mrs. Mallard could have been very young when she and Brently were marr...
