Kate Chopin

"Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to

suffer; than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's

life.”

Kate Chopin

The Awakening

Kate Chopin

•American author Kate Chopin (1850–1904) wrote two published novels and about a hundred short stories in the 1890s. Most of her fiction is set in Louisiana.

•Published by some of America's most prestigious magazines, including Vogue and the Atlantic Monthly.

•Her stories appeared in anthologies from the 1920s.

Katherine O’Flaherty• Born February 8, 1850

• St. Louis, Missouri

• Thomas O’Flaherty, her father, was of Irish descent

• Eliza Faris, her mother, was of French descent

Strong Women• Eliza O’Flaherty – A member

of the French-Creole community. Widowed at age 27, Kate’s mother never remarried.

• Her grandmother, Madame Charleville, and great-grandmother had been widowed at an early age and never remarried.

• Her great-great-grandmother and her husband were the first to be granted a legal separation in St. Louis.

Early Education• Sent to the Academy of the

Sacred Heart at age 5, she left after only 2 months when her father died.

• Her great-grandmother taught her music, history, French, and the need to “live life clearly and fearlessly.”

• Two years later, Kate returned to school.

Kate’s Commonplace Book• After seeing her depressed, a

nun encouraged Kate to begin a personal journal.

• She wrote in her journal until the end of her three month honeymoon in Europe.

Kate: The Woman• Met Oscar Chopin at 19 and

married him on June 9, 1870.

• Moved to New Orleans.

• After the failure of his business, he moved his family to Natchitoches Parish.

• Oscar died in 1883 after contracting swamp fever.

• He left Kate with 6 children.

Kate: The Writer• After having moved back to

St. Louis, Kate’s mother died.

• Kate started writing to ease her pain and to help support her children.

Some Of Her Works: S t o r i e s•Bayou Folk

•A Night In Acadie•The Storm

•The Story of an Hour •Désirée's Baby

•A Pair of Silk Stockings

•Athenaise •Beyond the Bayou

•Beauty of The Baby

N o v e l s •At Fault

•The Awakening

•Today Kate Chopin is best known for her sensitive treatment of women's lives.

• But in the 1890s she was praised mostly for her "local color," her pictures of Louisiana Creoles and Acadians.

•All topics part of her Naturalism view.

Kate Chopin

"Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to

suffer; than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's

life.”

Kate Chopin

The Awakening

The Awakening- Key Facts

•GENRE: Novella, Bildungsroman (novel of intellectual, spiritual or moral evolution)

•TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN  · Written between 1897 and 1899 while Chopin was living in St. Louis.

•DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION  · 1899.

The Awakening- Key Facts

•NARRATOR  · Anonymous; seems to align with Chopin herself

•POINT OF VIEW · An objective third person narrates the story of Edna Pontellier and her search for self in The Awakening. The narrator does not criticize or applaud characters for their traits or their actions. Most importantly, the narrator withholds judgment of Edna and the choices she makes.

•TONE  · For the most part, the tone is objective, although it occasionally reveals support for the female independence and sexual and emotional awareness symbolized in Edna’s awakening.

The Awakening- Key Facts

•TENSE  · Immediate past; that is, real-time narration.

SETTING (TIME)  · The novel is set in 1899, at a time when the Industrial Revolution and the feminist movement were beginning to emerge yet were still overshadowed by the prevailing attitudes of the nineteenth century.

SETTING (PLACE)  · The novel opens on Grand Isle, a popular summer vacation spot for wealthy Creoles from New Orleans. The second half of the novel is set in New Orleans, mainly in the Quartier Français, or French Quarter.

The Awakening- Key Facts

PROTAGONIST  · Edna Pontellier

MAJOR CONFLICT  · Once Edna embarks upon her quest for independence and self-fulfillment, she finds herself at odds with the expectations and conventions of society, which requires a married woman to subvert her own needs to those of her husband and children.

Historical Context•Maintained cultural traditions passed down from their French and Spanish ancestors.

•Enjoyed gambling, entertainment, and social gatherings and spent a great deal of time in these activities.

•Creoles seldom accepted outsiders to their social circles and felt that newcomers should live by their rules.

•Men dominated the households and expected their women to provide them with well-kept homes and many children to carry on the family name.

•Women responded by bearing children and refining their social talents.

•While the Creole men caroused, their women kept well-run houses and perfected their accomplishments in music, art, and conversation.

•Such refined women enhanced their husbands' social status.

Creole Society

Historical Context•The 1800s- change in the status of women.

•More to life than living in her husband's shadow and stifling her own desires and dreams.•1848- women gathered to begin addressing issues of equality.

•Women's groups organized to educate women about social and political issues and to allow a forum for women's discussions.

•While women did not gain the right to vote until 1920, these pioneering efforts gained a voice in society that would not be quieted.

•Edna's actions in The Awakening reflect the times and the emotions felt by the many women who sought personal freedom.

The Beginnings of the Women's Movement

Critical Response (1899)

•“Trite and sordid”

•“Essentially vulgar”

•“Unhealthily introspective and morbid in feeling”

•“. . .its disagreeable glimpses of sensuality are repellent" (from The Outlook,1899)

Scandal• After The Awakening was

published in 1899, literary critics condemned her novel for the sexual promiscuity of the protagonist.

• After a decade of writing, Kate Chopin ends her literary career.

• Kate dies on August 20, 1904 of a cerebral hemorrhage after attending the St. Louis World’s Fair.

The End

A Graphic Short Story Based on "The Story of an Hour"

"Free, free, free!" Later, when she discovers that her husband is alive, she dies out of grief. The doctors believe that she died from the joy of seeing her husband.