The Feminist Irony Of Kate Chopin

7 Pages 1663 Words

Kate Chopin wove tales which intrigue and inform the reader of today as much as they entertained and scandalized the 19th Century audience for whom they were written. She describes life in the American South and in the countryside of France with deft strokes, never lingering too long or belaboring a point. Irony peppers every story leaving the reader almost breathless at the ‘twist in the tale’ so adroitly fashioned by this writer. Through her writing, Kate Chopin has told stories of women’s rights, something she was very passionate about. She was bold and courageous in her writing never shying away from subjects such as the sexuality of and independence for women. Publishers, who believed she wrote too explicitly about sex and love, often rejected her work. One such rejection was “The Story of an Hour” which went on to be anthologized more than any of other stories.
Her short stories are powerful examples of the genre, compact pieces full of rich details and characters which make an impact on the reader. These characters are usually flawed in some way and the resolution to the story is never quite what one expects. This contrivance is used with great effect in the stories discussed here. Not all of them have overt feminist messages but subtle hints of the inequities of women’s lives are apparent in all of them. All the stories discussed have an unexpected ending either for the reader or the characters themselves. In these tales loves are lost and found, hearts are broken and mended, people leave homes and return to them and many other events occur which make up the minutiae of daily life as relevant today as in the Victorian era. The author draws the reader into these worlds and we rarely leave with a happy ending.
“The Story of an Hour” is such a story, it relates the emotions of a woman who has just been told that her husband has died tragically. She is unexpectedly relieved and in fact overjoyed tha...