Biography of Kate Chopin Essay

Kate Chopin was an American author of short stories and novels. Considered as one of the earliest feminist authors of the 20th century, she was one of the near-celebrated female writers of her time. She wrote some(prenominal) short stories including The Story of an Hour (1894), Euphrase (1850), Mrs. Mobrys Reason (1891), A Shameful Affair (1893), and many others. Her literature usually described her own life, reflecting the time she lived in and the life she led. When readers look into her literature, they do non only read what is on the text but also try to understand the context.When you look through her fiction, you qualification notice that the contexts include the life of the author, the time it was written and the social condition during the time it was set, among others. One of her short stories, The Story of an Hour, depicts a womans reactions to the intelligence activity of her husbands death, upon reading which I found connexions between her life and the life of the m ain character of the short story. Background and early life afterwards Kate Chopins father was killed in a train accident, she survived into a household of women in St. Louis.As a girl she was mentored mainly by women her mother, her grandmother, and her abundant grandmother. She also had deep bonds with her family members, the sisters who taught her at school, and with her life-long friend Kitty Garasche. A lot of the fiction Kate wrote was hugely influenced by the women she grew up with, especially regarding her views about feminism, and women. In 1870, at the age of 20, she settled in New Orleans. Oscar, her husband, bought a general store in Cloutierville, but in 1882 he died of malaria and left Kate with $12,000 in debt (approximately $229,360 in 2005 dollars).Kate Chopin was widow at 32. She attempted to run the plantation and store alone but with no success. Two years later, she sold her Louisiana business. Her mother wanted her to move back to St. Louis. The following ye ar, her mother died. After the loss of both her husband and the mother, Kate Chopin found herself drifting into the realms of depression. Her doctor felt that writing would be a good way for her to heal this developing depression. Her doctor understood that writing could serve as a focus for her energy as well as a source of income.She thus indulged herself and became successful, and found many of her work getting published. However, some of her writings were far too ahead of their times and she faced lack of acceptation for almost 12 years. Literary works with examples Kate Chopin commented on the importance of describing human existence in its subtle, complex, true meaning, stripped of the veil with which ethical and conventional standards baffle draped it (1894). An interview on the PBS website for Kate Chopin says, I think she was much more interested in the excitement, the civilization that came in her circle of intellectual friends.That was emancipation, the freedom to exp lore ideas (PBS, 1999). Kate was neither a feminist nor a suffragist, she said so. She was nonetheless a woman who took women extremely seriously. She never doubted the womans ability to be strong. She came from a long line of strong women whom she loved and respected, owing to the affiliation with her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. She had strong intellectual women friends. Her lack of interest in feminism and suffrage did not have anything to do with a lack of confidence in women, nor did it have a lot to do with a lack of desire for freedom.She simply had a different understanding of freedom. She saw freedom as much more a matter of spirit, soul, and character than anything else, of living your life within the constraints that the world makes or your divinity fudge offers you, because all of us do live within constraints. There is no indication that she regretted her marriage, or regretted being a mother (PBS, 1999). Early 1970s was the stream thriving with womens rights movements, and Kate Chopin was one leading contributor to the said phenomenon.She contributed a lot through her writings about women, daytime dramas, the feminine mystique, womens liberation, deflower vs. Venus, self-help and commentary on open marriages. You can see how Kate Chopins life event (train accident, A Widow, and Freedom for Women) influenced her fictions through The Story of an Hour. One of the main events in the story is a mans loss, namely Mrs. mallards husband. Josephine, Mrs. Mallards sister, brought the sad message that there was a rail line possibility and of those listed as killed included Brently Mallard, who was Mrs.Mallards husband. In Kates life, there had been a similar loss. That someone was her father who passed away in a railroad accident in 1855. Furthermore, Mrs. Mallard is in due course assumed to be a widow, but readers will soon find out that Mr. Mallard is alive. In Kates life, her father had widowed her mother. Both had experienced what it s like to be a widow but of course, the response to the loss may entirely be different. In the end, before she learnt of Brentlys return from the accident, Louise died of heart disease of feel that kills.This could suggest that she had a moment of monstrous joy, which consumed her and overwhelmed her to death. Perhaps Chopin would clean let Louise die sort of of seeing Brently again, causing her to remain imprisoned and be confined to her husbands hands. Lastly, in The Story of An Hour, Chopin made no suggestion to the readers that Mrs. Mallard was sorry for her husbands loss. Instead, she uttered under her breath, free, free, and free which suggests how happy Mrs. Mallard was to have lost her husband, because she now has freedom of herself.The joy she feels after regaining her freedom is something which consumes her. In Kates life, a lot of her work mentioned the rise in the rights of women. She experienced a period where there was a decline in those rights and women were dep rived of public needs like education, the right to vote, the right to property and their children. Those events drove her to write the kind of feminist text she did instead of dedicating herself to other themes. As observed, literature can bring us to the world of the author.Literary works reflect the time, state of mind, and the life of the author. By understanding the connection between Kate Chopin and Mrs. Mallard in the short story, The Story of an Hour, it can be confirmed that the novel portrayed a reference to Kate Chopins life since most of the events (train accident, A Widow, and Freedom for Women) in Louises life are similar to, or at least greatly influenced by her own.ReferencesChopin, K. (1894). One Story. PBS (Director). (1999). Kate Chopin A Re-Awakening Motion Picture.