The Woman behind the Story: Kate Chopin

Katherine "Kate" O'Flaherty, or better known as Kate Chopin, was born in Missouri but claims to be a Louisiana native. To our generation she is known for being a “regionalist and leader in the effort to emancipate woman's voices” and one of the 1st successful women writers (Barney). Kate was born in St. Louis to her Irish father and her French Creole mother. At the age of 5 she lost her father in an accident and she was raised by a wealthy and educated household that included her mother, grandmother and great grandmother. In 1868 she graduated from “the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart in 1868” shortly after she met and married Oscar Chopin (Snodgrass). They moved to Louisiana, where she had 5 sons in 9 years. Kate became incredibly knowledgeable and intrigued with the Creole and Cajun culture. This is reflected in her later works of literature. They were forced to move from Crescent City, Louisiana when Oscar’s family cotton farming business failed. They moved to Natchitoches, Louisiana and ran a local store and shortly after Kate gave birth to a little girl. After her husband died in 1883 from yellow fever, Kate and her 6 children relocated back to St. Louis to live with her mother. While living in St. Louis Kate began writing about her adventures in Louisiana. Her first novel, At Fault, was not a success. It was believed that “her first literary successes were children's stories, published in Youth's Companion and Harper's Young People” (Barney). During Kate’s career as a writer she had many ups and downs; most of her stories are based on her experiences in Louisiana. She had a way of capturing the life of the Creole and Cajun culture, which made her a well-known and talented writer of the realism period in literature. The Awakening, her 2nd novel and what is now her most popular ended her career and stirred up controversy among of critics. At the young age of 54 Kate died due to a hemorrhage in the brain, without seeing the impact and success of all her hard work.



Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "Chopin, Kate." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, May 3, 2010. Inc.http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID
=5&iPin= EAmL0452&SingleRecord=True.


Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "Chopin, Kate." Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. May 1,2010. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID= 5&iPin= EFL099&SingleRecord=True.

Literary Movements that Moved Kate

Realism, Regionalism, and Romanticism are just a few of the literary movements that Kate Chopin is associated with. The one she is most well known for is Realism. Realism is “is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future” (Werlock). Realism writers were very vivid but truthful. Realism in American literature captured the everyday life of every day Americans. Kate Chopin displayed this very well in her 2nd novel The Awakening; this is a very true life and real story. The Awakening has some events and truths from her own personal life that she uses to display the realistic life of others at that time as well. She shows the suffrage and confinement that women of this time were feeling; just not brave enough to do anything about it. Realism writers focused more on characters and their feelings rather than action and setting. It was all about capturing the now, or moment of a situation. Kate’s different works from her short stories to her novels are all stories based on real life adventures and happenings that she experienced and went through during her life. My favorite of course is The Awakening; I just love how she is a feminist of her time. Kate stands up for the suffrage of women and addresses things that actually took place in her life. This along with her way to capture the realistic life style of all the characters in the many different novels made her a great female writer of her time.


Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. May 3, 2010.http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575 &SingleRecord=True.

If Kate could see were women are today

The Awakening by far is my favorite piece from Kate Chopin, as you can see by this blog and the numerous mentions of it. The Awakening is the only book I have read completely but I have looked and skimmed through some of her other works. This book just has so much meaning to it. The lead character Edna is struggling with a few inner and outer demons. She is struggling with her inner battles of wanting to become her own woman and artist but she is also facing the suffering from the confinement of society. Edna is a wife and a mother to a very successful man the story takes place with the family on their summer vacation in Louisiana. During this vacation Edna meets a new love affair named Robert which is a big influence on her inner struggles. Edna begins to become very unhappy and starts to realize her marriage is “increasingly predictable, constraining, and oppressive” (Evans). Edna begins to have an affair with Robert hoping to satisfy her passion not just sexual but mental. She has felt so oppressed by her husband and society that she begins to rebel. She actually moves out of the summer house and starts to stay in a little cottage in town. She differentiates between her own personality and that of the mother-women "who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals" (Evans). This clearly was not a common thing to do during this time period which Chopin shows with that statement. People viewed her as abandoning her husband and children and as someone who was not in right sense. Edna goes through a time of “rebirth” and finding herself by doing this. The love affair with Robert eventually ended due to the fact he knew she would never be able to be his wife. She than had another affair but among her differ trials and attempts at becoming satisfied as an individual they all failed and she ultimately still ended up unhappy. This was a recurring theme not only at this time in Edna’s life but in her early years. Also, she often did things and said things that showed she was unsatisfied with her life. After realizing this and gaining a clear understanding of her own ways, she has an “awaking” moment, which was really the beginning of accepting her unsatisfied ways. She realized that she was unable to love her husband or children unselfishly which led to her death. Whether this death was intentional or accidental still leaves critics wondering. It is viewed as being defeated by society, “stillborn death” or as a “rebirth” as a free soul.



Evans, Robert C. "Renewal and Rebirth in Kate Chopin's The Awakening" In Bloom, Harold, ed. Rebirth and Renewal, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. May 3, 2010. .

"The Awakening" what its really about...

The Awakening by far is my favorite piece from Kate Chopin, as you can see by this blog and the numerous mentions of it. The Awakening is the only book I have read completely but I have looked and skimmed through some of her other works. This book just has so much meaning to it. The lead character Edna is struggling with a few inner and outer demons. She is struggling with her inner battles of wanting to become her own woman and artist but she is also facing the suffering from the confinement of society. Edna is a wife and a mother to a very successful man the story takes place with the family on their summer vacation in Louisiana. During this vacation Edna meets a new love affair named Robert which is a big influence on her inner struggles. Edna begins to become very unhappy and starts to realize her marriage is “increasingly predictable, constraining, and oppressive” (Evans). Edna begins to have an affair with Robert hoping to satisfy her passion not just sexual but mental. She has felt so oppressed by her husband and society that she begins to rebel. She actually moves out of the summer house and starts to stay in a little cottage in town. She differentiates between her own personality and that of the mother-women "who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals" (Evans). This clearly was not a common thing to do during this time period which Chopin shows with that statement. People viewed her as abandoning her husband and children and as someone who was not in right sense. Edna goes through a time of “rebirth” and finding herself by doing this. The love affair with Robert eventually ended due to the fact he knew she would never be able to be his wife. She than had another affair but among her differ trials and attempts at becoming satisfied as an individual they all failed and she ultimately still ended up unhappy. This was a recurring theme not only at this time in Edna’s life but in her early years. Also, she often did things and said things that showed she was unsatisfied with her life. After realizing this and gaining a clear understanding of her own ways, she has an “awaking” moment, which was really the beginning of accepting her unsatisfied ways. She realized that she was unable to love her husband or children unselfishly which led to her death. Whether this death was intentional or accidental still leaves critics wondering. It is viewed as being defeated by society, “stillborn death” or as a “rebirth” as a free soul.



Evans, Robert C. "Renewal and Rebirth in Kate Chopin's The Awakening" In Bloom, Harold, ed. Rebirth and Renewal, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. May 3, 2010.http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID= WE54&SID=5&iPin= BLTRR004&SingleRecord=True.