Earlier this semester I wrote a paper about a couple of stories by the late 1800’s writer Kate Chopin. I reviewed some of her short stories and came to a conclusion that most of them had some sort of morality error in them. This left me wondering why Chopin liked writing about this subject, and why it happened multiple times during her lifetime. During the research it was discovered that Kate Chopin had a very normal life. No cases of depleted morality, just a normal lady whose husband died and left her with six hungry kids. So this leaves the question, why DID Kate Chopin choose to write in this way? Maybe she was having these thoughts in her head with no way of living them out, which lead to her living out these “fantasies” through her writing.
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Louis, Missouri, on February 8, 1850, Kate’s family on her mother’s side was of French extraction, and Kate grew up speaking both French and English. Being in this bi-cultural environment had influence on her literature, and is quite noticeable throughout her fiction. From 1855 to 1868 Kate attended the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart, with one year at the Academy of the Visitation. Kate’s school experience matched what all the women figures in her life had been preaching to her which was, “it mixed women’s wisdom, rigorous intellectual challenges, homely chores, and the celebration of women” (Toth, “Unveiling Kate” 15). Unfortunately, her early life had a great deal of trauma. In 1855, her father was killed in a railroad accident. Also, in 1863 her great grandmother who she loved dearly died as well. And to top it all off her half-brother enlisted in the Confederate army, and was captured and died of typhoid fever. All of these heartaches at such a young age had to take a toll on Kate, and maybe this is why her literature was so different from any other writer from this time. Her first piece of work was done in 1867 to 1870, it was a commonplace book in which she kept all of her diary entries and copied poems that she liked. She like to write, but really wouldn’t start until a little
Louis, Missouri, on February 8, 1850, Kate’s family on her mother’s side was of French extraction, and Kate grew up speaking both French and English. Being in this bi-cultural environment had influence on her literature, and is quite noticeable throughout her fiction. From 1855 to 1868 Kate attended the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart, with one year at the Academy of the Visitation. Kate’s school experience matched what all the women figures in her life had been preaching to her which was, “it mixed women’s wisdom, rigorous intellectual challenges, homely chores, and the celebration of women” (Toth, “Unveiling Kate” 15). Unfortunately, her early life had a great deal of trauma. In 1855, her father was killed in a railroad accident. Also, in 1863 her great grandmother who she loved dearly died as well. And to top it all off her half-brother enlisted in the Confederate army, and was captured and died of typhoid fever. All of these heartaches at such a young age had to take a toll on Kate, and maybe this is why her literature was so different from any other writer from this time. Her first piece of work was done in 1867 to 1870, it was a commonplace book in which she kept all of her diary entries and copied poems that she liked. She like to write, but really wouldn’t start until a little