The Life of Kate Chopin - 1083 Words

The life of Kate Chopin Kate Chopin led a fascinating life filled with times of triumph but also times of great loss. Living in the South during the post-Civil War era, the setting and experiences of her life would have a great impact on the subjects of her writing. Chopin began writing as a way to express her frustration with life. This is why her emotions about life are conveyed so strongly in her writing. One of her short stories, Juanita, is an excellent example of how Chopins life affected her writing. The story of Juanita is that of a young woman who, though not incredibly beautiful, had many admirers. The people of her small town gossiped continually about which man she would marry. Would it be the man†¦show more content†¦Juanita, on the other hand, did think of love. When she felt love for the poor one-legged man, she faced an important decision. As with many of Chopins female protagonists, Juanita was strong enough to choose her happiness over the constraints of society. Juanita has turned her broad back upon the whole race of masculine bipeds, and lavishes the wealth of her undivided affections upon the one-legged man. (Chopin 88) Fox-Genovese believes that during this consistent search for a sense of who she was, Kate Chopin developed a certain understanding of the complexities of the human soul. With Chopin the dark crannies of the human soul were part of what it is to be human. It was part of her war against platitudes, it was part of her sense that theres no true beauty without complexity (and) conflict. (Fox-Genovese) Chopin refused to accept the stereotypes of the Hallmark Card view of life. (Fox-Genovese) She believed that life does not exist without friction; it is human nature to cause these clashes. In Juanita, Chopin shows a wicked side of societys soul when the townspeople dismiss the one-legged man and pay no attention to him until Juanita becomes interested in him. Society creates conflict when it sets limitations on individuals, and then the individuals (in this case Juanita and the one-legged man) defy these limitations. To Chopin, the examination of these intricate interactions between peopleShow MoreRelatedThe Life and Works of Kate Chopin1569 Words   |  6 PagesKate wrote two novels and hundreds of short stories. Few of her stories were â€Å"Story of an Hour† and â€Å"The Awakening†. One of Kate Chopins most famous stories is the Story of an Hour. In the story Chopin was brave enough to challenge the society in which she lived because in the first half of the 19th century, women were not allowed the freedoms men enjoyed in the judgments of the law, the church or the government. This famous short story showed the conflict between the social traditio nal requirementsRead MoreKate Chopin s Life And Feminism1281 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopin’s Life and Works- Feminism Kate Chopin, born on February 8th, 1850, was a progressive writer in the midst of a conservative and unequal time. She exposed the unfair undertones of society in such a way that made people outrage and condemn some of her works. However, in the early 1900s, her works were examined again and people started to listen to her ideas. One of these main motifs that Chopin’s works kept bringing up were feminism and equality. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, a radicalRead MoreIn The Life And Writings Of Kate Chopin And Mary E. Freeman,1343 Words   |  6 PagesIn the life and writings of Kate Chopin and Mary E. Freeman, how can you see the obvious cry for women to have an equal status in a man’s world? Chopin and Freeman lived in a time when men dominated women; a woman’s job was to marry, have a home, and raise children. Women were their husband’s property and law did not protect them if they were abused. (Plaza) Owning land, making financial decisions, and voting was among the many things women could not do. Freeman and Chopin both used their literaryRead MoreA life without Freedom in Kate Chopin ´s The Story of an Hour Essay examples849 Words   |  4 Pages Kate Chopin’s short story titled â€Å"The Story of an Hour† shows us in a number ways that life without freedom is no life at all. In the story, a nineteenth century women named Mrs. Mallard finds out about her husband’s death. She has heart disease so Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, tries to break the bad news to her as calmly as possible. After hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard’s unpredictable reaction shocks us the readers as well as the characters in the story. Instead of feeling theRead MoreThe Life of a Woman After Man â€Å"Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering†(705). Kate Chopin1500 Words   |  6 PagesThe Life of a Woman After Man â€Å"Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering†(705). Kate Chopin installs illumination of hope for all women with her short tale of a woman’s realization of life A.H (after husband). In The story of an Hour, shortly after her husband is claimed dead a woman realizes that life without the constraints of marriage and a husband could be liberating. Chopin writes in the 19th century of culminating controversial topics. The Story of an Hour unravels in the time span of anRead MoreKate Chopin s Story Of The Hour Essay982 Words   |  4 PagesKate Chopin was an American author who wrote two novels that got published and at least a hundred short stories. In Kate’s short story The Story of the Hour she uses some of her traumatic event that happened in her lifespan in the short story even though it the story is fictional. A lot of her fictions were set in Louisiana and her best-known works focused on the lives of sensitive intelligent women. One-third of Mrs. Chopin ’s stories are children’s stories. A lot of Mrs. Chopin’s novels were forgottenRead MoreThe Awakening on Kate Chopins The Awakening1745 Words   |  7 Pages The time period of the 1880s that Kate Chopin lived in influenced her to write The Awakening, a very controversial book because of many new depictions of women introduced in the book. The Awakening is a book about a woman, Edna Pontellier. In the beginning, she is a happy woman with her husband and 2 kids vacationing at Grand Isle. While there, Edna realizes she is in love with Robert Lebrun and that she was just forced into an unloving/dissatisfying marriage with Mr. Pontellier. Robert howeverRead MoreThe Unique Style Of Kate Chopin s Writing1603 Words   |  7 PagesThe unique style of Kate Chopin’s writing has influenced and paved the way for many female authors. Although not verbally, Kate Chopin aired political and social issues affecting women and challenging the validity of such restrictions through fiction. Kate Chopin, a feminist in her time, prevailed against the notion that a woman’s purpose was to only be a housewife and nothing more. Kate Chopin fortified the importance of women empowerment, self-expression, self-assertion, and female sexuality throughRead MoreA Brief Note On Kate Chopin s Chopin 1642 Words   |  7 PagesMaddy Mummey Mrs. Corby AP English 12 20 April 2015 Kate Chopin Kate Chopin was a successful author of numerous short stories and novels during her life; many critics refer to her as a forerunner author of the 20th century (Kate). Throughout Chopin s life and the many experiences she endured, she grew a great sense of respect and empowerment towards women. However, she is not categorized as a feminist or a suffragist (Kate). Chopin insistently supported the revolutionary notion that women wereRead MoreThe Storm By Kate Chopin1649 Words   |  7 Pageslike writers in present day, Kate Chopin was a writer who wrote to reflect obstacles and instances occurring within her time period. Writing about personal obstacles, as well as issues occurring in the time period she lived, Chopin proved to be distinctive upon using her virtue. Kate Chopin was a determined individual, with true ambition and ability to produce writings that reflected women on a higher pedestal than they were valued in her time. â€Å"The Storm† by Kate Chopin is a short story written to