She did not hear the story as many women 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 away to her room alone. she would have no one follow her.

there stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.
in this passage from “the story of an hour” by kate chopin, mrs. mallard reacts to the news of her husband’s death. what does the open window symbolize?

a. happy memories

b. thoughts of suicide

c. unspoken grief

d. new beginnings