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"Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death."
Mentioned in the first line of the story, Louise’s heart condition is one of her defining characteristics and shapes the way in which other characters treat her throughout the story. Beyond the literal implications of her condition, her “heart trouble” foreshadows and serves as a symbol for the internal conflict she faces as she grapples with the moral dilemma of feeling joy as a result of her husband’s death. Choosing a word like “trouble” that has a negative connotation speaks to the seriousness of the problem she will ultimately need to solve.
"There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory."
This line describes the way Louise feels after she appeases Josephine and finally exits her room. Chopin’s allusion to an immortal Greek goddess works to show just how empowered Louise is in the aftermath of Brently’s death. She believes that she is in full control of her destiny and claims victory in her pursuit of self-determination. This heightened sense of success, however, serves as the set-up for the story’s ironic ending in which her triumph is clearly not permanent.
