After Louise Mallard learns that her husband, Brently, was killed in a railroad accident, she weeps until she collapses on the armchair in her bedroom. The story uses a simile here to compare Louise to a child:
She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.
This simile subtly infantilizes Louise and suggests that she’s innocent and emotionally unsophisticated in the same way children are. However, just after this moment, the story reveals that Louise has made a conscious decision to suppress any “intelligent thought” because 19th-century society generally expects women to be weak, passive, and simpleminded. So, the comparison of Louise to a child here doesn’t mean that she’s inherently unintelligent, fragile, or childlike—rather, the expectations and limitations that people place on women have influenced her to put on this persona.
After Louise Mallard finds out that her husband, Brently, has died in an accident, she tries and fails to resist the happiness that gradually overtakes her when she realizes that her life will be freer without him. The story uses a simile to compare Louise’s weak willpower to her hands:
Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.
This simile suggests that Louise is both mentally and physically weak. Women at this time (the late 19th century) were commonly believed to be delicate and passive compared to men, and this stereotype is reflected in the idea that Louise’s will and her body are weak. Her “tumultuous[]” breathing in this passage also reinforces her fragility, as it implies that her excitement is straining her weak heart.
However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Louise is fragile not because of anything inherent to her personality or physicality, but because of societal limitations. She tries to repress any strong emotions because other people tell her that she should protect her heart. In the same way, she represses all “intelligent thought” and rebellious desires because other people (men and women alike) expect her to be an obedient, dutiful housewife. In this way, the comparison of Louise’s weak mental state and her weak hands suggests that her role as a woman prevents her from feeling strong in any capacity, or from controlling her own mind and body.
Louise’s sister Josephine convinces Louise to come out of her bedroom because she’s worried that Louise is making herself sick with grief over her husband, Brently. Then, as the sisters descend the stairs, the story uses a simile to compare Louise to a goddess:
She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister’s waist, and together they descended the stairs.
This comparison suggests that Louise has newfound strength and power now that she’s no longer dependent on her husband. Throughout the story, other characters have been overprotective of Louise. This is largely because she has a heart condition that makes too much excitement dangerous for her, but also because women at this time (the late 19th century) were generally seen as fragile. Josephine breaks the news of Brently’s death “as gently as possible” to protect Louise, and she similarly tries to control and interfere with her sister’s emotions when she insists that Louise come out of the bedroom.
Louise’s confident posture in spite of this treatment suggests that she doesn’t resent the people in her life who try to oppress her—instead, she is determined to privately enjoy her newfound independence without Brently. The simile comparing Louise to a “goddess of Victory” thus suggests that Louise sees herself not as a victim of tragedy, but as a victor, because Brently’s death has freed her from her former confinement in her role as a housewife.
