Kate Chopin was an American author of short stories and novels, publishing the majority of her work in the 1890s (think the Gilded age) and setting most of it in Lousiana, where she spent a majority of her life (mothering 5 children). Chopin’s short stories were very well received and were published in many prestigious magazines such as Vogue and The Atlantic Monthly. She wrote two novels, At Fault (1890) and The Awakening (1899). The first was little noticed, but the second was widely criticized for its morbidity. In fact, Chopin was widely forgotten until later in the 20th century, when she was rediscovered and her work recognized as a precursor to that of modern feminist authors.
In a 1969 biography, Per Seyersted summarizes Kate Chopin’s achievements, writing that she "broke new ground in American literature...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; with a daring which we can hardy fathom today; with an uncompromising honesty and no trace of sensationalism, she undertook to give the unsparing truth about woman’s submerged life. She was something of a pioneer in the amoral treatment of sexuality, of divorce, and of woman’s urge for an existential authenticity. She is in many respects a modern writer, particularly in her awareness of the complexities of truth and the complications of freedom."1
Chopin’s Work:
Chopin is well-known for many short-stories; these may be included on the GRE subject test in literature, but it is more likely that you will be asked to identify/analyze a passage from The Awakening (exception: “Desiree’s Baby” is so famous that you can expect the GRE subect test writers to think literary people should know it). If you have time to make Chopin a part of your reading list, I would honestly recommend choosing an excerpt (or the entire) novel, as this will familiarize you with her writing style, the plot, and the names of the major characters. However, if you prefer short-stories, these might be included, and will at least help you get to know her style. I repeat, however: THE GRE LIKES CHOPIN AND THEY WILL PROBABLY ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AWAKENING, NOT HER SHORT STORIES! If nothing else, you should at least know the names of the main characters in the novel: Edna Pontellier and Robert Lebrun. (And by the way, names are your biggest ally on the test; whenever you see a name in a question, do a quick brainscan to see if it lights any bulbs.)
Short stories to read, if you choose:
“Desiree’s Baby” (extremely famous), “The Storm.”
Summary of The Awakening:
Edna Pontellier is a 28 year old married woman with 2 children, spending the summer with her husband, Leonce, on the Gulf of Mexico. While there, Edna meets and falls deeply in love with young Robet Lebrun, a gentleman who treats Edna with enough respect to escape the danger of their increasing intimacy by leaving. This point in the novel, presumably, is Edna’s figurative awakening: she begins to realize that never before in her life has she truly been in love or been happy. She understands that she has been wanting something but has been playing a role, acting out the game of wife and mother while quelling her true desires.
Simultaneous to these troubled thoughts, she strikes up a friendship with Mademoiselle Reisz, an incredible pianist who is only welcome to society for her musical talent, due to her strangeness as a person. Reisz and Edna seem to understand each other through music and their mutual dissatisfaction with society; additionally, Reisz receives letters from Robert, filled with passionate claims of love for Edna, which Reisz surreptitiously allows Edna to read.
As these changes take place, Edna begins to emulate Reisz’s lifestyle, alienating herself from the high society her beauty once made her queen of. Her husband is troubled (and angry at her for damaging his business prospects by refusing to play the role of a proper wife), but he takes a doctor’s advice and lets her alone, going on a business trip to New York.
This is the point at which things really go downhill for Edna, who moves out of her house into an adjoining bungalow and begins to have an affair with Alcee Arobin, a notorious player for whom Edna cares little. At around this time, Robert Lebrun returns to New Orleans (where Edna and her husband reinstalled themselves at the end of summer) and eventually declares his love for Edna in a tumultuous scene interrupted by the paturition of Edna’s best friend, Adele. Edna is forced to leave, and Robert flees, thinking that he is saving Edna from a ruined marriage and the shame of society. When Edna returns, she finds only a note saying he will never return.
The novel ends with a scene in which Edna returns to a spot where she was taught to swim by Robert. She dons bathing clothes and swims out and out and out, until her strength fails her and she has nowhere to go but down.
Thoughts:
I just read this novel for the first time, and I was repelled, troubled, and irritated by Enda Pontellier. Firstly, I related to her, but I also disliked her odd lack of backbone. I really wanted her to communicate, to say “Hell no!” to Alcee, and to tell Robert that he wasn’t destroying her, she was already nigh destroyed. But, of course, that is why the novel is important: because Edna was a woman who could not do those things. Perhaps that sounds ridiculous (and maybe those reading this would disagree with me and say that I have a false perception of society at that time), but it seems to me that what Kate Chopin was trying to relate was that Edna’s awakening was bleary-eyed and befuddled. She felt herself to have been in a sort of false reality, but knew nothing about how to behave or succeed in the new one. Without he who awakened her, she could do nothing but put herself back into eternal sleep... and so we find the tale of Sleeping Beauty revisited.
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