Kate Chopin: Documented Essay

Chris Simien

Mr. Paul

English 1002

July 18, 2013

Kate Chopin: Documented Essay

Kate Chopin, originally named Kate O’Flaherty, is one of the most popular writers in American History. She started writing in 1884 as a way to relieve stress and became successful until she released one of most controversial stories, her novel, The Awakening. The Awakening damaged her reputation and helped end her career as a writer. Kate Chopin was rediscovered in the 1960s by feminine activist that admired her work and her common message of women empowerment. Chopin’s stories that featured women empowerment were highly criticized during her career, but are appreciated in today’s society. The characters in her stories now represent the modern day independent, strong women in our society. Although she was highly criticized, the female protagonist characters in Chopin’s literary works represent her own unconventional and controversial views toward family, sexuality, and marriage that were influenced by her family, geography, experiences, and beliefs.

In author Per Seyersted’s biography of Chopin he emphasized that Kate was raised with three women: her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother after her father died in a train accident. These three strong, widowed women played a huge role in Chopin’s life and had a huge impact on the idea she believed in, women empowerment. Seyersted mentioned that Chopin’s great-grandmother was Chopin’s greatest influence as she became a writer that gave bold messages in her stories. As quoted by Seyersted, Chopin’s grandmother “would teach this girl to face life and its problems without a trace of consciousness, hesitation, or embarrassment” (17). This message helped give Chopin her confidence and taught her to not be scared of criticism. This message was displayed in her highly controversial stories on family, sexuality, and marriage. Although she was highly criticized, Chopin was not afraid to write about how she felt and continued writing...