FREE ESSAY ON KATE CHOPIN

KATE CHOPIN

Kate Chopin gives a great deal of thought in her literature to issues that she views as
important. She was encouraged not to become a useless wife; she was also involved in the
idea of becoming an independent woman (LeBlanc 1). Kate Chopin is a well-known American
writer.
Kate Chopin was born on February 8, 1851, in St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of 53, on
August 22, 1904, she died due to cerebral hemorrhage (Hoffman 1-2).
Kate is the daughter of Eliza Faris O'Flaherty and Thomas O'Flaherty. Her father was a
well-established merchant, who took part in many business investments. He is one of the
founders of the Pacific Railroad, and was on the train when it crashed into the Gasconade
River, in 1885. Her mother Eliza, was a member of a very elite social group, in their
French-Creole community. After Kate's father passed away, her mother became much more
religious, and develops a closer relationship with Kate. Kate also has an older
half-brother, George O'Flaherty. He was a Confederate solider in the Civil War, and in
1863 was captured by the Union forces, and dies of typhoid fever while in prison. Kate
spent her childhood in St. Louis Missouri (Hoffman 1).
Kate Chopin was only married once, and it was to Oscar Chopin, a prosperous cotton
farmer. The two were married one June 9, 1870, after a yearlong courtship. Kate and Oscar
had six children, five boys and one girl. Jean was born in 1871, Oscar Jr. in 1873,
George in 1874, Frederick in 1876, Felix in 1878 and Lelia in 1879(Hoffman 1-2). When his
cotton business failed they moved to Cloutierville, a small town in Louisiana. They were
married for 12 ? years. In 1882 Oscar died of Malaria, and Kate raised the children on
her own. Two years after Oscar died Kate and her children moved in with her mother. Less
than a year later her mother died and she was on her own again. 
Kate received a formal education at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Louis. She
enjoys music, reading, writing, French and German. She became fluent in both languages.
Later in her life she continues her education by studying biology and anthropology. Kate
Chopin is known to be an extremely smart woman. (Toth 116)
In addition to writing the only other career Kate Chopin has, is being a housewife. She
was very busy taking care of her husband, and their six children.
When Kate's mother died, she became very depressed, and began confiding in her personal
physician, Dr. Frederick Kolbenheyer. 
Dr. Kolbenheyer gave Kate the idea to begin writing. Her first published work is "If It
Might Be", which was published in 1889. 
Kate wrote novels, poetry, and short stories. She wrote a total of twenty-nine pieces of
literature. She wrote twenty pieces of fiction, three short stories, and six novels. Some
of her works are, "If It Might Be" published in 1889, "A Point at Issue" published in
1889, Story of an Hour published in 1894, A Night in Acadie published in 1896, The Storm
published in 1897, The Awakening published in 1897, Young Dr. Grosse published in 1899,
and "The Gentleman from New Orleans" published in 1900 (Louisiana Educational Authority
1-3).
Kate Chopin's "The Storm" is one of Kate Chopin's less famous short stories. Her creative
use of theme and symbolism throughout "The Storm", is what makes it such a descriptive
and detailed short story. She discusses sexuality using the elements of theme and
symbolism. 
In "The Storm," the theme, feminine sexuality and passion is important. Robert W. Wilson,
a critic, says: 
The title of The Storm, with its obvious connotations of sexual energy and passion, is of
course critical to any interpretation of the narrative. Chopin's title refers to nature,
which is symbolically feminine; the storm can therefore be seen as symbolic of feminine
sexuality and passion, and the image of the storm will be returned to again and again
throughout the story. (Wilson 1)
Chopin talks about sex, as if it is enjoyable, which is very inappropriate for this time
period. This quote shows an example of sex being made enjoyable "When he touched her
breasts they gave them selves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a
fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very
borderland of life's mystery" (Chopin 3-4). The affair that takes place during the storm,
between two married people, does not ruin either of their marriages, but instead
strengthens both of them. 
Symbolism is another important element of "The Storm," because it is used many times
throughout the story. Another critic, Bert Bender, says that Calixta does not mean for
this adulterous encounter to occur, and that it is accidental and innocent. In the
stifling heat of the cabin, as the tempo of the storm builds, the love scene occurs
(Bender 1). Alcee tries to calm Calixta down by touching her, when the thunder and
lightening brought on a rise of sexual desire between the two (Bender 1). As usual Kate
Chopin is trying to show that freedom nourishes. 
The importance of nature symbolizing femininity throughout the story is that femininity
is often seen as an analysis about nature. Here is one occurrence, of when nature
symbolizes femininity; "Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed" (Chopin 3).
This quote explains how in "The Storm" nature is used to symbolize femininity, because it
is comparing her lips to a pomegranate, which is a fruit, and fruits are part of nature.
There are many other examples of symbolism throughout the story. 
Kate Chopin is a very well educated and bright woman for her time period. In her
literature she discusses topics that are morally important to her such as, sexuality,
femininity, a woman's right to be independent and make her own choices in life, and many
more. Kate Chopin is a very well known American writer. 
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Storm. Internet.
http://splavc.spjc.cc.fl.us/c2f/stormsty.html (16 Apr. 1999)
Hoffman, Audrey Beth. Kate Chopin. Internet. 
http://www.kutztown.edu/faculty/regan/chopin.html (29 Apr. 1999)
LeBlanc, Jodie. Kate (O'Flaherty) Chopin. Internet. 
http://www.assumption.edu/HTML/aca...omanticism/
Hhchopin/Chopinbio.html (16 Apr. 1999)
Louisiana Educational Authority. Kate Chopin: Chronology. 
http://oscar.lpb.org/programs/katechopin/chronology.html 
(3 May 1999)
Skaggs, Peggy. Kate Chopin. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985.
Toth, Emily. Kate Chopin. New York: William Morrow and Company Inc., 
1990.
Wilson, Robert W. Feminine Sexuality and Passion: Kate Chopin's The Storm. 
22, Oct. 1992. Internet. http://www.interchg.ubc.ca/rw/eng204-1.html 
(20 Apr. 1999)