Transcript Kate Chopin - Home - Contemporary Literature

WELCOME
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Kate Chopin
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Let’s get to know her better..
About her life:
•Catherine (Kate) O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on
February 8, 1850.
• Her father was Thomas O'Flaherty of County Galway, Ireland.
• Her mother was Eliza Faris of St. Louis. Kate's family on her mother's
side was of French extraction.
• Kate grew up speaking both French and English. She was bilingual
and bicultural.
•1868 Kate attended the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart.
•Mentored by woman--by her mother, her grandmother, great
grandmother, as well as by the Sacred Heart nuns.
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Let’s get to know her better..
About her life:
• On her wedding trip the couple traveled to Cincinnati, Philadelphia,
and New York, and then crossed the Atlantic and toured Germany,
Switzerland, and France.
•Between 1871 and 1879 she gave birth to five sons and a daughter.
•In New Orleans, where she and her husband lived until 1879, Chopin
was at the center of Southern aristocratic social life.
•1882 her husband Oscar died of malaria, in 1885 her mother died too.
•She became active in St. Louis literary and cultural circles,
discussing the works of many writers, including Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel, Émile Zola, and George Sand.
Kate Chopin
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Let’s get to know her better..
About her life:
•American author Kate Chopin (1850–1904) wrote two
published novels and about a hundred short stories in the
1890s. Most of her fiction is set in Louisiana.
•Published by some of America's most prestigious magazines,
including Vogue and the Atlantic Monthly.
•Her stories appeared in anthologies from the 1920s.
•Curiosity: Vogue first issue had come out just a few weeks
before, in December 1892. It cost ten cents (about $2.30 in 2009
American dollars).
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What does she tells us about herself?
Kate Chopin: In Her Own Words
• "Even as a child she had lived her own small life
all within herself. At a very early period she had
apprehended instinctively the dual life—that
outward existence which conforms, the inward
life which questions." Description of Edna
Pontellier in The Awakening.
• "She wanted to reach out her hand in the darkness
and touch him with the sensitive tips of her
fingers upon the face or the lips. She wanted to
draw close to him and whisper against his
cheek—she did not care what—as she might have
done if she had not been a respectable woman."
Description of Mrs. Baroda in A Respectable
Woman.
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What does she tells us about herself?
Kate Chopin: In Her Own Words
• "'It means,' he answered lightly, 'that the child is
not white; it means that you are not white.'"
Armand Aubigny in Désirée's Baby.
• "When the girl looked up into her face, with
murmured thanks, Fedora bent down and pressed
a long, penetrating kiss upon her mouth."
Description of Fedora in Fedora.
• "I would give up the unessential; I would give my
money, I would give my life for my children; but I
wouldn’t give myself." Edna Pontellier in The
Awakening.
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Some Of Her Works:
•Today Kate Chopin is best known for
her sensitive treatment of women's lives.
• But in the 1890s she was praised mostly
for her "local color," her pictures of
Louisiana Creoles and Acadians.
•All topics are part of her Naturalism view.
Stories
•Bayou Folk
•A Night In Acadie
•The Storm
•The Story of an Hour
•Désirée's Baby
•A Pair of Silk Stockings
•Athenaise
•At the Cadian Ball
•Lilacs
•A Respectable Woman
•The Unexpected
•The Kiss
•Beyond the Bayou
•Beauty of The Baby
Novels
•At Fault
•The Awakening
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WELCOME
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The End
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Chopin’s Refusal To Condemn Her Protagonist
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Let’s get to know her better..
About her life:
•Kate spent the Civil War in St. Louis, a city where residents supported both the Union and
the Confederacy.
•She was deeply responsive during the period just prior to her undertaking a literary career
to the major new ideas and fiction of her time, reading fully in Charles Darwin, Herbert
Spencer, and the French naturalists.
•From 1867 to 1870 Kate kept a "commonplace book" in which she recorded diary entries.
Writing for her was a therapy against depression.
•Chopin's seemingly different writing style did in fact emerge from an admiration of Guy
de Maupassant.
“...I read his stories and marveled at them. Here was life, not fiction”
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The Symbolic Use Of The Sea In
“The Awakening”:
It opens on Grand Isle in the Gulf of
Mexico where the Pontelliers are
summering, and it closes there. The very
same sentence, about "the voice of the
sea," occurs twice in the book. The first
time, early in the story, is shortly after the
following passage:
Mrs. Pontellier was
beginning to realize her
position in the universe as a
human being, and to
recognize her relations as
an individual to the world
within and about her …
perhaps more wisdom than
the Holy Ghost is usually
pleased to vouchsafe to any
woman.
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A Graphic Short Story Based
on "The Story of an Hour"
"Free, free, free!" Later, when she
discovers that her husband is alive, she
dies out of grief. The doctors believe
that she died from the joy of seeing her
husband.
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•In 1904 Chopin returned home from a fair, she
was very tired. She died the day after, doctors
thought that she had had a cerebral hemorrhage.
•In his 1969 biography, Per Seyersted summarizes
what Kate Chopin accomplished. She "broke new
ground in American literature," he says. "She was
the first woman writer in her country to accept
passion as a legitimate subject for serious,
outspoken fiction. Revolting against tradition and
authority; She was something of a pioneer in the
amoral treatment of sexuality, of divorce, and of
woman’s urge for an existential authenticity.
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Kate Chopin
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Biographical Information
• On July 12, 1850, Katherine O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her
father was an immigrant Irishman and her mother was a French-American
(Creole).
• She was the youngest of three children.
• When Kate was five years old, her father died. She began to view the
world differently as a father figure was no longer the center of the
household.
• After her father died, the primary adults in her family consisted primarily
of her widowed mother, her widowed grandmother, and her widowed
great-grandmother. (Do you see a trend?)
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Biographical Information (cont.)
•
•
•
•
•
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In June, 1868, Kate graduated from the Academy
of the Sacred Heart in St. Louis.
Entering the Southern debutante scene of St.
Louis, Kate was often considered “the belle of the
ball.”
Her background (strong female role models-mother, nuns) did not necessarily prepare her for a
“domestic life” that was expected of females at
that time.
After visiting New Orleans in 1869, Kate meets and
marries Oscar Chopin on June 9, 1870, in St. Louis.
Between 1871 and 1879, Kate performed expected
domestic duties and bore six children.
Biographical Information (cont.)
• The family faced financial difficulties in 1879, and they moved
to Cloutierville, Louisiana.
• Three years later, in 1882, Oscar died suddenly and
unexpectedly of malaria.
• Like her mother years earlier, Kate was left widowed with
children, having to settle business affairs on her own.
• From 1883-1884, Kate was romantically involved with a
married man named Albert Sampite.
• In mid-1884, Kate returns to St. Louis to be with her family.
Her mother died the following June.
• Kate Chopin began writing for publication in 1888. Her first
poem, ”If It Might Be,” was published in the literary and
political journal America.
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Biographical Information (cont.)
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• She also published several short stories
before privately publishing her first novel At
Fault in 1890.
• 1893 saw the publication of her well-known
short story “Désirée’s Baby” in Vogue
magazine.
• Between 1894 and 1898, Chopin wrote and
published a variety of short stories and
novels.
• Chopin published The Awakening in 1899,
which was met with praise from women
despite its scandalous nature (taboo themes
dealing with the protagonist’s awareness of
her sexuality).
• Kate died of a cerebral hemorrhage one day
after attending the St. Louis World’s Fair
(August 22, 1904).
Historical & Social Context
“A Pair of Silk
Stockings”
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• Women of the time were expected to
give up everything in order to care for
their families.
• Women were not to show
independence or aspirations.
• Women were expected to submit to
the “domestic role.”
• Women were not to be self-indulgent;
if anything, they should place their
own wants and desires aside in order
to better the lives of others in their
families (i.e. husband and children).
Historical & Social Context
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
• Mrs. Sommers found herself with unexpected money and unexpected
desires.
• She dreamed of living one day for herself and spending the money on
herself.
• She portrayed a desire to live for herself which was contrary to the
social norms.
• The ability to self-indulge gave her great pleasure, but also left feelings
of guilt lurking in the corners of her brain.
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Historical & Social Context
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
• New stockings, boots, and gloves made her feel like a new woman.
• She was living a dream.
• The final bit of self-indulgence was attending a play by herself, knowing
that a woman such as herself should not be there enjoying her
surroundings.
• At the end of the day, however, the money was gone and Mrs.
Sommers had to return to her old life.
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Historical & Social Context
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
• The possibility of surviving on her own, however, remained. She had
the strength to be independent and to enjoy her life.
• The women of the time were beginning to realize a desire for
independence.
• Small changes were emerging as women began to be more selfindulgent and to voice their opinions.
• Chopin’s characters explore the possibility of a woman
creating her own destiny.
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Writing Style
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Similes
“A vision of the future like some dim, gaunt monster…”
“he bowed before her as before a princess of royal blood.”
Imagery
“an all-gone limp feeling had come over her”
“to feel them glide serpent-like through her fingers.”
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Writing Style
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Chopin focuses on the events of a single afternoon in a
woman’s life. By doing so, she allows the reader digest not
only the details of the story but also the message behind
the story.
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Writing Style
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
“How good was the touch of raw silk to her flesh! She felt like lying back in
the cushioned chair and reveling for awhile in the luxury of it. She did for
a little while. Then she replaced her shoes, rolled the cotton stockings
together and thrust them into her bag. After doing this, she crossed
straight over to the shoe department to be fitted.
She was fastidious. The clerk could not make her out; he could not reconcile
her shoes with her stockings, and she was not too easily pleased.”
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Writing Style
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Syntax
• Manipulates short and long sentences effectively.
• Offers pauses when needed.
Diction
• Chooses precise words to best express the story.
• Combines formal and informal language of the time.
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TONE
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Reflective
Chopin starts with a darker tone reflecting Mrs. Sommers’s life. Life is
hard; she has much about which to worry; she should not selfindulge.
As Mrs. Sommers begins “to live it up” a bit, the tone becomes lighter
and brighter.
At the end, however, Chopin leaves readers with a sense of hope:
“unless he were wizard enough to detect a poignant wish, a
powerful longing that the cable car would never stop anywhere,
but go on and on with her forever.”
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EVALUATION
• Chopin wished to suggest that women had the
power to determine their own destinies.
• She wrote for women and about women.
• At the time, most men did not understand why
women were not content with their lives.
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EVALUATION
Chopin was considered “cutting edge”; she
defied social norms. For that reason, she
should be applauded for her courage and
bravery. Her ideas and her writing has earned
her a permanent home in the study of
modern American literature.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chopin, Kate. “A Pair of Silk Stockings.” Electronic Text Center: University of Virginia Library. 10 Jan. 2002
<http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ChoSilk.html>.
“Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening--Chronology.” PBS Online. 12 Jan 2003
<http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/chronology.html>.
McGovern, Linda. “Footprints in Clouteirville.” Literary Traveler. 1998. 12 Jan 2003
<www.literarytraveler.com/summer/south/clout.htm>.
Reuben, Paul P. “Chapter 6: Late Nineteenth Century: 1890-1910--Kate Chopin (1851-1904).” PAL:
Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide. 14 Jan 2002
<http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap6/chopin.html>.
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