Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was a feminist. She was one of the first women in the U.S. to bring up the point of the times are changing and women are no longer what they used to be (Meet). By this, it means that women are becoming independent from men and are able to do things on their own. The time period she was born in influenced her writing. She was born in the late Victorian period (Meet). This was a period when women were thought less of and designated their lives to their children and their husbands (Meet). Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri (Meet). Chopin's father died when she was young (Meet). She was raised by her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother (Meet). This impacted her writings because she was raised by three strong females that could function on their own. she married a man named Oscar and they moved to New Orleans (Meet). Oscar died after awhile and Kate was left with children to raise. She moved back to St. Louis to be close to her family (Meet). Her mother died and Chopin was devastated (Meet). Her doctor recommended that she start to write again and it helped to and she published her first story.
Kate Chopin is and extreme realist writer. Realism is about real parts of life depicted in a story (Werlock). Chopin uses realism in the writing when she talks about the factors of women. She was frowned upon in her writings because they told such truths (Realism). Her story The Awakening is about a woman who leaves her family to identify herself. She says, "Turning, she thrusts her face , steaming and wet, into the bend of her arm, and she went on crying there, not caring any loner to dry her face, her eyes, her arm" (Chopin, Awakening). This shows realism because sehe is describing the story of a woman trying to find herself. For any person, finding your self can be a hard thing to do, especially during that time period with all the pressures of women to be the perfect housewife. The short story called, "A Story of an Hour" is about a woman who has heart disease and her husband dies (Chopin, Story). She is supposed to be in charge of a the family (Chopin, Story). It must be hard to live a life full of sickness and loneliness and heartache to be able to stay strong and take care of a family. Mrs. Mallard is in cahrge of keeping the family running smoothly (Chopin, Story). A example of realism in her writing is, "But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky" (Chopin. Story). It is realism because Kate is talking about the true feelings of Mrs. Mallard while her husband died. Kate Chopin had many challenges in her life to help to her to find a topic that interests her and she she has experience with.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/

Chopin, Kate."from The Awakening" Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 491. Print.

"Realism." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 490. Print.

"Meet Kate Chopin." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 551. Print.

Chopin, Kate "The Story of an Hour." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 554. Print.