The Writing Style and Beliefs of Kate Chopin Essay example

The Writing Style and Beliefs of Kate Chopin Kate Chopin was an extraordinary writer of the nineteenth century. Despite failure to receive positive critical response, she became one of the most powerful and controversial writers of her time. She dared to write her thoughts on topics considered radical: the institution of marriage and womens desire for social, economic, and political equality. With a focus on the reality of relationships between men and women, she draws stunning and intelligent characters in a rich and bold writing style that was not accepted because it was so far ahead of its time. She risked her reputation by creating female heroines as independent women who wish to receive sexual and emotional fulfillment,†¦show more content†¦It is a conventional story where nothing is said that might offend the general public or be considered a lapse of taste (Arner 2). Conventional thinking is shown when the heroine, a beautiful and voluptuous Spanish girl who represents the bad woman, gives up the idea of marryin g a wealthy rice planter and marries a man she does not really want. Alcà ©e also conforms to this thinking, and instead of marrying the hot, beautiful, full-bodied Calixta he desires, he takes the more conventional wife-figure Clarisse. The sequel to At the Cadian Ball is The Storm, which was written in December of 1898. Because of its controversial message and the attacks by critics of Chopins work, The Storm was not published until 1969. This story portraying infidelity is almost the opposite of At the Cadian Ball because it does not comply with conventional writing of that day; it implies that the sin of adultery can be a good thing. Chopin shows the reader the same characters she presented in the 1892 story, but she dares six years later to bring Calixta and Alcà ©e together once again. Their pent-up desires match the intensity of the storm, and they make love. Not only does Chopin dare to discuss infidelity in marriage, but she also shows that Alcà ©es wife, who is away on a trip, is enjoying the first free breath since her marriage (Chopin 348). The two stories show the daring of Chopins writing. She throws out conventional views, just asShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Kate Chopin s `` Desiree s Baby ``822 Words   |  4 PagesRegionalism reflected in Kate Chopin’s Writings During the latter half of the nineteenth-century, American literature had a renaissance with the development of new writing styles that strived to fully grasp and express the American way of life. Regionalism, which is a writing style that incorporates setting, dialect, and local color of certain regions of the United States was prominent among these new writing styles. Kate Chopin, one of the most prominent feminist writers of the nineteenth-centuryRead MoreThe Storm By Kate Chopin Essay1508 Words   |  7 Pages Kate Chopin was an American author who wrote the short story â€Å"The Storm†. It takes place somewhere down in Louisiana at a general store and at the house of Calixta, Bobinot who is the wife of Calixta, and their son Bibi. The other character in the story is the friend of Calixta, Alcee Laballiere. The story begins with Bobinot and Bibi in the general store to buy a can of shrimp; meanwhile, at home, Calixta is at home doing chores when a storm develops, which makes her worry about Bobinot and BibiRead 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 MoreViews on Sex and Marriage Depicted in Kate Chopins The Storm1321 Words   |  6 Pagesthe sexual passion that is encountered throughout the story. Kate Chopin opens up an interesting view and tentative explanation of human sexuality and the strong point of view of regulations placed on human sexuality as well as the aspect of trying to control a storm. By tying up these two ideas with one word, Kate Chopin was able to provide a view that would symbolize the premise of desires through variations of the storm. Kate Chopin was born on February 8, 1851, into a wealthy Catholic familyRead MoreThe Escape of a Modern Housewife in Kate Chopins The Awakening1335 Words   |  6 PagesThe Escape of a Modern Housewife â€Å"She could only realize that she herself – her present self – was in some way different from the other self† (Chopin 67). The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a compelling story of a woman who is awakened from the miserable duties of a housewife and mother to a woman who falls in love and finds herself. This story is not to judge a woman for having an affair with her husband, but it is to make the reader fall in love with this woman named Edna and go with her on herRead More Kate Chopins Writing Essay2357 Words   |  10 PagesKate Chopins Writing Elizabeth Fox Genovese of Emory University shared in a PBS interview that â€Å"She [Kate Chopin] was very important as one of the earliest examples of modernism in the United States or, if you wish, the cutting edge of modernism in American literature† (PBS – Interviews). Kate Chopin published At Fault, her first novel, in 1890 and The Awakening, her last novel, in 1898 (Guilds 924). During these years Chopin wrote numerous other works and most, like At Fault and The AwakeningRead More The Shocking Ideas of Kate Chopins The Awakening1864 Words   |  8 PagesThe Shocking Ideas of The Awakening Ideas that resist existing social boundaries commonly are rejected at first, because people don’t want to wake up from their reliable lives. Kate Chopin, however, believed that an awakening was in order, and she attempted to open the eyes of society through her novel The Awakening. The public’s reaction to Chopin’s novel was not one of acceptance. Too strong a drink for moral babies, and should be labeled ‘poison,’ was the how the Republic described ChopinsRead MoreEssay about The Awakening1491 Words   |  6 Pages The Awakening nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, was written in the late nineteenth century in St. Louis after her husband Oscar died of a severe illness. Her book appeared in 1899, after she was idolized by many novels written by Darwin and Sarah Orne Jewett. Her first attempts at writing were just brief sketches for a local newspaper that was only short descriptions of her life in Louisiana. However, Chopin’s interests had always run along more risky linesRead MoreThe Awakening By Kate Chopin1611 Words   |  7 PagesWomen who desire the traditional mother-woman lifestyle experience easy societal approval, but other women struggle to find independence and happiness because it goes against societal expectations and can be considered selfish. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses the contrasting views and actions surrounding motherhood of Adele Ratignolle and Edna Pontellier to show that women should have the right to choose their own destiny and lifestyle, not based on what society expects of them, but based on theirRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And Charlotte Perkins Gilman s The Yellow Wallpaper Essay1670 Words   |  7 PagesA Women’s Role in a Patriarchal Society During the 19th Century Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper are two of the first works of feminist literature in the 19th century. They were written at a time when a woman’s lot was characterized by gender inequality, with few legal, social, or political rights. In the 19th century women were constant victims of society’s ideals, defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men. Fathers and husbands