Kate Chopin
(1850-1904)
Katherine O’Flaherty
• February 8, 1850
• St. Louis,
Missouri
• Thomas
O’Flaherty, her
father, was of
Irish descent
• Eliza Faris, her
mother, was of
French descent
Strong Women
• Eliza O’Flaherty – A
member of the FrenchCreole community.
Widowed at age 27,
Kate’s mother never
remarried.
• Her grandmother,
Madame Charleville, and
great-grandmother had
been widowed at an
early age and never
remarried.
• Her great-greatgrandmother and her
husband were the first to
be granted a legal
separation in St. Louis.
Early Education
• Sent to the Academy of
the Sacred Heart at age
5, she left after only 2
months when her father
died.
• Her great-grandmother
taught her music,
history, French, and the
need to “live life clearly
and fearlessly.”
Academy of the Sacred Heart
Grand Coteau, Louisiana
• Two years later, Kate
returned to school.
Kate’s Commonplace Book
• After seeing her
depressed, a nun
encouraged Kate
to begin a
personal journal.
• She wrote in her
journal until the
end of her three
month
honeymoon in
Europe.
Kate: The Woman
• Met Oscar Chopin at
19 and married him
on June 9, 1870.
• Moved to New
Orleans.
• After the failure of
his business, he
moved his family to
Natchitoches Parish.
• Oscar died in 1883
after contracting
swamp fever.
• He left Kate with 6
children.
Kate and Four of Her
Children
Kate: The Writer
I suppose this is what you would call unwomanly; but I have got
into the habit of expressing myself. It doesn't matter to me, and
you may think me unwomanly if you like.
• After having moved
back to St. Louis,
Kate’s mother died.
• Kate started writing
to ease her pain and
to help support her
children.
Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening
• PBS peered into
Kate Chopin’s
world
Click on the hyperlink to view a clip from the PBS documentary on Chopin’s life.
The Awakening
Grand isle, Louisiana
http://www.literarytraveler.com/summer/south/chopin.htm
"Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to
suffer; than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's
life."
The Writing of The Awakening
Cover of The Awakening
http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/library/awakening/
"Having a group of people at my disposal, I thought it might be entertaining
(to myself) to throw them together and see what would happen. I never
dreamed of Mrs. Pontellier making such a mess of things and working out
her own damnation as she did. If I had the slightest intimation of such a
thing, I would have excluded her from the company. But when I found out
what she was up to, the play was half over, and it was then too late."
Scandal
• After The Awakening was
published in 1899, literary critics
condemned her novel for the
sexual promiscuity of the
protagonist.
• After a decade of writing, Kate
Chopin ends her literary career.
• Kate dies on August 20, 1904 of a
cerebral hemorrhage after
attending the St. Louis World’s
Fair.
Works Cited
• “Academy of the Sacred Heart.”
http://www.ashcoteau.org/
• “Classical Archives.”
http://www.classicalarchives.com/
• “Kate Chopin.”
http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/chopin
1.htm
• “Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening.”
http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/program.html
• “Kate Chopin: A Woman Ahead of Her Time.”
http://www.angelfire.com/nv/English243/Chopin.html
Kate Chopin and Vogue!
http://www.katechopin.org/#Vogue
Local Color!!
Now you teach!
• Divide into your assigned groups
and take the topic you have been
given, research it, and create a
brief PowerPoint of about 5 slides
to teach us!
• Include pictures!!!!!
• Samii, Hunter L., Zach L., Troy: Define “Local Color”
and what it means to be a French Creole (include the
structure of the society)
• Brady, Allison, Tom, Hayley: The landscape and
location of the French Creole culture
• Joseph, Summer, Charlene, Hunter J.: Architecture
• Kaleigh, Joe, Joleigh, Janet: Clothing and Food
• Palmer, Davis, Courtney, Ethan: Unique Customs
• Megan, Casey, Brandon, Andrew: Language
• Zoe, Monica, Mindi, Rebekah: Family Structure
• Sarah, Trevor, Saoirse, Jake: Entertainment and
Pastimes
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1992/2/92.02.02.x.htm
l#j
Realism in The Awakening
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/a
mlit/realism.htm
• Renders reality closely and in
comprehensive detail. Selective
presentation of reality with an
emphasis on verisimilitude, even
at the expense of a well-made
plot.
– Verisimilitude: depicting the truth
• Character is more important than
action and plot; complex ethical
choices are often the subject.
• Characters appear in their real
complexity of temperament and
motive; they are in explicable
relation to nature, to each other,
to their social class, to their own
past.
• Class is important; the novel has
traditionally served the interests and
aspirations of an insurgent middle
class.
• Events will usually be plausible.
Realistic novels avoid the sensational,
dramatic elements of naturalistic
novels and romances.
• Diction is natural vernacular, not
heightened or poetic; tone may be
comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact.
Realism
•
Renders reality closely and in comprehensive detail.
Selective presentation of reality with an emphasis on
verisimilitude, even at the expense of a well-made plot
• Character is more important than action and plot; complex
ethical choices are often the subject.
• Characters appear in their real complexity of temperament
and motive; they are in explicable relation to nature, to each
other, to their social class, to their own past.
• Class is important; the novel has traditionally served the
interests and aspirations of an insurgent middle class.
• Events will usually be plausible. Realistic novels avoid the
sensational, dramatic elements of naturalistic novels and
romances.
• Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic; tone
may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact.
• Objectivity in presentation becomes increasingly important:
overt authorial comments or intrusions diminish as the
century progresses.