Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Story of An Hour Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Tenant, Huck Meets The Duke and The King, The Luncheon and The Further Vision so, you can check these posts as well.
The Story of An Hour Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
- Afflicted – to cause pain
- Veiled – disguised
- Elixir – a mythical concoction that can prolong life indefinitely
- Importunities – desire, wish
Question 1: Who are Josephine and Richard? Describe how each of them demonstrates concern for Mrs Mallard?
Answer: Josephine is Mrs Mallard’s sister and Richard is her husband’s friend. They both knew that Mrs Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble so they took care in breaking the news of her husband’s accidental death to her. Mr Richard even went ahead to confirm the correctness of the news by a second telegram and only then went ahead to reveal it.
Question 2: How did Mrs Mallard react to the news of her husband’s death?
Answer: Mrs Mallard did not hear the news as many women would have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went to her room alone.
Question 3: How did Mrs Mallard view her marriage? Justify it with references from the text.
Answer: Mrs Mallard views her marriage as an oppressive one. Although it had signs of kindness it was inherently oppressive. We can say this as she is aware that she would weep at the sight of her husband’s dead body but at the same time she opens her arms to welcome the independence she feels by uttering the words free! free! free!
Question 4: Describe what Mrs Mallard saw and experienced as she sank in the armchair by the open window.
Answer: She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees, all quivering with the new spring life. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. Patches of blue sky showed here and there through the clouds that met and piled one above the other. She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up her throat and shook her. There was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away in the sky. In the bitter moment she could feel a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.
Question 5: She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long—Explain these lines.
Answer: These lines appear close to the end of the story just before Louise could leave her bedroom to go back downstairs. Before Mr Brently’s death Louise viewed her life with nervousness and anxiety trying to recollect the dull years of dependence and oppression. Now however she feels free and independent and that her life is worth living. She once hoped that her married life be short, but now she prays for a long, happy life. Other than showing how Louise feels about her independence, these lines also highlight the unexpectedness of Louise’s reaction. Rather than dread a life to be lived alone without a partner by her side, she rejoices the solitude and anticipates the future eagerly. When he husband Mr. Brently returns, she dies, unable to face the return of the life that she’d dreaded so much.
Question 6: Choose the correct option:
(a) From what ailment does Mrs Mallard suffer?
i. detached retinas
ii. kidney failure
iii. heart trouble
iv. H1N1
(b) What might Mrs Mallard’s ailment symbolize?
i. her unhappiness and troubling emotions.
ii. her inability to see things as they are.
iii. a raging desire for food.
iv. her inability to filter out less important things in life.
(c) Who breaks the news of Mr Mallard’s death?
i. Roberts
ii. Friar John
iii. Richards
iv. Josephine
(d) What is significant about the story’s setting?
i. It takes place in a large house.
ii. The story is set in a time period that afforded women very few rights.
iii. The setting makes no difference.
iv. The story encompasses one hour.
(e) How could we best characterize Brently Mallard
i. He is a typical husband in the late 19th century.
ii. He is a lazy husband.
iii. He likes his job.
iv. He set up the train wreck story.
So, these were The Story of an Hour Questions & Answers.