“a Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin

“A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin

Chopin introduces us to a humble and conservative mother that knows the value of a bargain. However, by the end of this story she finds herself becoming an egocentric woman who spends excessively on unique materials when she unexpectedly possesses a fortune.

Having to support five children, Mrs. Sommers lives a quiet poor life until she runs into brief spell of good luck when she stumbles upon fifteen dollars. One might think that this amount of money may not be very much in our present day, but since Mrs. Sommers was living in the late 1800’s, this money is equivalent to having approximately three hundred dollars in those times. At first, Mrs. Sommers gives us the impression of a conventional and economical sensible woman who unselfishly puts her family first. Sometimes, she "could stand in lines for hours making her way inch by inch toward the desired object that was selling below the cost."(Chopin 30).

She goes shopping, thinking to spend the money on her children. Instead, she finds her hand resting on a pair of silk stockings, on sale at $1.98 down from $2.50. Chopin conjures a resemblance of the Garden of Eden when the serpent enticed Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge described in the book of Genesis: “She went on feeling the soft, sheeny luxurious things - with both hands now, holding them up to see them glisten, and to feel them glide serpent-like through her fingers.”(31). After that, temptation runs away with Mrs. Sommers. She purchases the stockings, and then decides she needs new shoes. At this point we start to see her spiraling into a materialistic mind frame in which she begins to spend freely on the objects that she wants and treats herself nicely for some eventful pleasures she had not enjoyed for a long time.

Mrs. Sommers was no longer that unpretentious and conservative woman. Nothing could stop her from unfolding her desires of achieving such luxuries. Nor did she “mind the difference of a...