Short Stories
Kate Chopin (born Katherine O’Flaherty on February 8, 1850) was an American author of short stories and novels, based in Louisiana. She is now considered a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Irish-Catholic family, Chopin was the third of five children. In 1870, at the age of 20, she married Oscar Chopin, a French Creole cotton trader, and moved with him to New Orleans. The couple had six children together. In 1882, Oscar died of malaria, leaving Kate a widow at 32. After Oscar’s death, Chopin managed the family’s plantations in Louisiana and began writing to support herself and her children.
Chopin’s writing career began in the 1890s. She was first published in local newspapers and magazines, and her first novel, “At Fault,” was published in 1890. Her most famous work, “The Awakening,” was published in 1899. The novel, which portrayed a woman’s emotional and sexual awakening, was highly controversial and widely criticized at the time for its frank depiction of female sexuality and marital infidelity.
In addition to “The Awakening,” Chopin wrote numerous short stories, many of which were collected in the volumes “Bayou Folk” (1894) and “A Night in Acadie” (1897). Her stories often featured strong, independent women challenging the social norms and expectations of the time.
Despite the negative reception of “The Awakening,” Chopin continued to write until her death on August 22, 1904, at the age of 54. After her death, her work was largely forgotten until the 1950s and 1960s, when a revival of interest in her writing began. Today, she is recognized as an important figure in American literature and a trailblazer for later feminist writers.
A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin Little Mrs. Sommers one day found herself the unexpected possessor of fifteen dollars. It seemed to her a very large amount of money, and the way in which it stuffed and bulged her worn old porte-monnaie gave her a feeling of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years.
Beyond the Bayou by Kate Chopin The bayou curved like a crescent around the point of land on which La Folle’s cabin stood. Between the stream and the hut lay a big abandoned field, where cattle were pastured when the bayou supplied them with water enough. Through the woods that spread back into unknown regions…
DESIREE’S BABY by Kate Chopin As the day was pleasant, Madame Valmonde drove over to L’Abri to see Desiree and the baby. It made her laugh to think of Desiree with a baby. Why, it seemed but yesterday that Desiree was little more than a baby herself; when Monsieur in riding through the gateway of…
A RESPECTABLE WOMAN by Kate Chopin Mrs. Baroda was a little provoked to learn that her husband expected his friend, Gouvernail, up to spend a week or two on the plantation. They had entertained a good deal during the winter; much of the time had also been passed in New Orleans in various forms of…