Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin: Seeking Freedom
Who comes to mind when the term “American author” is mentioned? A lot of female authors of today would say Kate Chopin, one of the most independent writers of the nineteenth century. Although Kate Chopin didn’t live to see her work re-published, she is an important author to study because her stories are influential, her ambition arouses her readers, and her point of view supports independent women.
Unlike most of the women during her time period, Chopin didn’t agree on letting the men be in control. After a couple of her stories were published in Vogue Magazine, like “Desiree’s Baby” and “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, people began to start liking Chopin’s short stories (Powell). Vogue had even quoted how they “admired her brains and beauty” (Powell). It wasn’t until Chopin decided to give more of her belief of independence and write her first novel “The Awakening” for people of that time to start disliking her. Publishers cited what they considered “promotion of female self-assertion and sexual liberation” (Chopin, Kate - Introduction). Libraries banned Chopin and her friends shunned her as her reputation started to fall. Kate Chopin may influence women today, but during her social period she wasn’t looked upon by many.
Born into a prominent St. Louis family, Chopin was influenced by her mother and great-grandmother after the death of her father. Her family descended from French-Creole pioneers and that also influenced her to be involved with music, school, and arts (Kate Chopin: The Awakening, The Storm, Stories, Biography). Chopin graduated from a convent school at age seventeen (Kate Chopin). In 1870 she married Oscar Chopin, who was also Creole descent, and they had six children. His death in 1883 was when Kate Chopin decided to become more serious about writing (Kate Chopin). She sold all the land her and her husband owned and moved back to St. Louis with her mother. Family friends who found her letters entertaining
Who comes to mind when the term “American author” is mentioned? A lot of female authors of today would say Kate Chopin, one of the most independent writers of the nineteenth century. Although Kate Chopin didn’t live to see her work re-published, she is an important author to study because her stories are influential, her ambition arouses her readers, and her point of view supports independent women.
Unlike most of the women during her time period, Chopin didn’t agree on letting the men be in control. After a couple of her stories were published in Vogue Magazine, like “Desiree’s Baby” and “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, people began to start liking Chopin’s short stories (Powell). Vogue had even quoted how they “admired her brains and beauty” (Powell). It wasn’t until Chopin decided to give more of her belief of independence and write her first novel “The Awakening” for people of that time to start disliking her. Publishers cited what they considered “promotion of female self-assertion and sexual liberation” (Chopin, Kate - Introduction). Libraries banned Chopin and her friends shunned her as her reputation started to fall. Kate Chopin may influence women today, but during her social period she wasn’t looked upon by many.
Born into a prominent St. Louis family, Chopin was influenced by her mother and great-grandmother after the death of her father. Her family descended from French-Creole pioneers and that also influenced her to be involved with music, school, and arts (Kate Chopin: The Awakening, The Storm, Stories, Biography). Chopin graduated from a convent school at age seventeen (Kate Chopin). In 1870 she married Oscar Chopin, who was also Creole descent, and they had six children. His death in 1883 was when Kate Chopin decided to become more serious about writing (Kate Chopin). She sold all the land her and her husband owned and moved back to St. Louis with her mother. Family friends who found her letters entertaining