A Woman’s Voice on the South: Kate Chopin

Unlike all of the other readings we have done for class thus far, Kate Chopin’s work provides a unique perspective on the South; a woman’s perspective. Chopin’s work not only emphasizes themes that the men did in a new, distinct way, but she also incorporates fresh themes, seemingly untouched themes by the male writers we have read. That is why I found her work to be so interesting—she had something completely new to say.

Kate Chopin led a very uncommon life for a Southern woman during the 19th century—she was married, but her husband passed away, leaving her to raise six children on her own. Instead of remarrying, Chopin threw herself into a full time relationship with her writing. Here, she explored themes that largely revolved around woman and the way love and passion influenced, or even at times took control of their lives.

In the first works we read by Chopin, "At the’Cadian Ball" and "The Storm," we are introduced to Chopin’s style of writing—local color fiction, in which she uses details of the culture surrounding New Orleans to provide a strong sense of place. Chopin uses even the tiniest details, such as names, types of food, and dress, to clue us into the differences between people; whether they fall into the class of creoles or Cajuns. Chopin also used dialogue to convey a sense of a characters dialect and standing in class. I found this sort of detail to be refreshing. Chopin did not choose to hit you over the head with facts; instead, she expertly weaved a background around her characters in order to give the reader a sense of time and place. And by doing this, she envelops the reader, instead of alienating them.

Another way that Chopin helps the reader to feel at ease reading her works is the way that she does not present a case; she doesn’t present a mission or a cause. Rather, she simply brings the reader into her world, to experience the South as she knows it. She invites the reader to love her world, and yet question it at the same time. But never does Chopin make the reader feel intimidated to have their own thoughts. Chopin simply allows the reader to take it all in and process it as they see things. I appreciated that.

In all three of the works we read by Chopin, "At the ’Cadian Ball," "The Storm," and "Desiree’s Baby" examined the broad themes of love and marriage, class, male and female relationships, and happiness. But each work had a unique twist. Chopin herself was a rather independent woman, so it was interesting to see how she portrays woman from one story to the next. In The Storm we see how Calixta’s character has evolved from "At the ’Cadian Ball." While she was a free spirit in "At the ’Cadian Ball," she still ended up “falling into line,” marrying Bobinot, the man she was supposed to. But in "The Storm," Chopin reveals Calixta’s innermost longings for Alcee and allows them to take control of her. She is no longer a helpless woman, being ruled by a man in a man’s world, she is a free thinking, independent woman, doing what she wants. But then in "Desiree’s Baby," we see the lead female character of Desiree once again dependant on her husband for her happiness and well-being. And when he shuns her, she goes and kills herself. I found this sort of back-pedaling intriguing. Why did Chopin take one step forward for women, and then suddenly take two steps back? It seemed strange to me.

But overall, I found Chopin’s work to be a nice respite from all of the male, ego-driven works we have read so far.