Kate Chopin - Short Stories by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (i love reading txt) 📖

Author

Kate Chopin was born on February 8, 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri.  She completed her formal education at the Academy of Sacred Heart in St. Louis.  She enjoyed learning music, reading, writing, French and German at school.  Later she studied biology and anthropology. Kate Chopin took to writing to come out of a depression after the death of her husband and her mother.

In her stories, Kate Chopin explored problems and dilemmas that women faced.

Introducing Short Stories by Kate Chopin

In her stories, Kate Chopin portrays women who wish to enjoy spiritual and sexual freedom. Most of the women writers who lived during 19th century were mainly interested in improving the social conditions of women. However, Kate Chopin searched for an understanding of personal freedom that questioned traditional expectations of both men and women.

The characters in her stories are mostly inhabitants of Louisiana.  Many of her stories are set in Natchitoches in north central Louisiana. 

Plot

The Story of an Hour

The Story of An Hour shows the readers a one-hour span of time in the life of Mrs. Millard.  Louise Mallard first hears that her husband is dead, and later she finds out that he is alive.  The shock leaves her dead, which others mistakenly believe to be out of happiness. This story was considered controversial during the 1890s for it portrayed a woman who enjoys the freedom of feeling free with the news of her husband's death.

Desiree's Baby

Desiree's Baby is a story of prejudice, love and rejection. The story reveals the ugly side of human relations. Desiree leaves her husband Armand when he asks about the skin color of her baby.  While Armand burns whatever belonged to Desiree, he tries to burn a bundle of letters also. He accidentally finds a letter written by his mother to his father revealing who is part black.

A Pair of Silk Stockings

A Pair of Silk Stockings portrays the hardship of a woman who searches for a balance between her family life and her personal satisfaction. In this story, Kate Chopin shows readers how Mrs. Sommers, who is a thrifty mother, changes into a selfish woman who spends lavishly on expensive items. The struggle to come out of the stifling, self-sacrificing roles of motherhood and wifehood is shown by Mrs. Sommers.

A Respectable Woman

A Respectable Woman portrays the struggle of a woman against social limitations. The story takes place at Gaston Baroda's sugar plantation in Louisiana in the late 19th century.

In this story, the author introduces Mrs. Baroda as a woman of strong will who overcomes temptation. When Gouvernail visits their plantation, she could not interact with him. To avoid further embarrassment, she leaves for the nearby town and comes back home after he leaves their plantation. Mrs. Baroda faces a conflict within herself: to determine if her identity as an independent woman is more important to her than her social identity as a respectable woman.

Characters

Louise Mallard:  The main character of the story The Story of an Hour. She has problem with her heart but enjoys the feeling of freedom on hearing the news of death of her husband.

Desiree:  The main character of the story Desiree's Baby. She is an orphan who married Armand, her lover. Unfortunately, her baby's looks lead to questions of her ancestory that disrupts her married life.

Mrs. Baroda: The main character of the story A Respectable Woman. She leads a happy married life, but is disturbed by the arrival of Gouvernail, to whom she is physically attracted.

Mrs. Sommers: The main character of the story A Pair of Silk Stockings. She gets fifteen dollars as a surprise. Instead of spending the money reasonably, she spends the money on whatever she likes and feels satisfied and happy for the first time in her life.

 Themes

Freedom, passion, the socially-imposed boundaries of marriage and children versus independence are the themes she uses repeatedly in her stories.

The Story of an Hour: Freedom and confinement

Desiree's Baby: Race and racism

A Pair of Silk Stockings: Freedom

A Respectable Woman: Independence

Settings

The settings used in her stories are places she personally knew.  The settings help the readers to know about people who lived in a different time and place, people who have different social boundaries, people who wanted freedom from social conventions and other limitations that force people to lead a “normal” life.

Publication Date: 04-22-2020

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Dedication:
Short Stories by Kate Chopin