Mrs. Mallard, who says her husband was loving and kind, still feels a sense of joy and freedom when she thinks he is dead. Louise feeling this way suggests that all marriages are oppressive in some way and take away the independence of those in them. Louise is introduced as “Mrs. Mallard” at the beginning of the story and called “she” until she becomes “free” after her husband's death. This lasts until the reader discovers that Brently is not dead and her status as a wife is restored. The last sentence of the book, “When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease, of joy that kills” (Chopin 301). The fact that the doctors, who happened to be men, had the final say on Mrs. Mallard's life is another example of men dictating her way of life. Chopin limits the setting to a hospital room to illustrate the isolation that Mrs. Mallard experiences due to her marriage. She finally escapes from that room at the end of the story, but only for a few seconds before she discovers that her husband is still alive and it destroys everything she was waiting for..