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Kate Chopin Controversy

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Kate Chopin was born Katherine O’Flaherty on February 8, 1851. She was born to Eliza and Thomas O’Flaherty. Unfortunately, her father passed away when she was just five years old. “As a result, Kate Chopin lived her preteen years in a female-centered household. She lived with her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother” (Tolentino 6). Most authors immerse themselves in their books. Whether a planned or subconscious action, they use their own experiences to influence their works. Kate Chopin’s household experiences, as well as, the progression of feminism, society in Louisiana, and Creole standards directly influenced her novel, The Awakening. Kate Chopin lived a bitter-sweet young-adulthood. In addition to the death of her father in a railroad accident, she experienced the losses of her half-brother George O’Flaherty, her grandfather, and her great-grandfather, all within a couple of years. “Their deaths ‘prevented her as she matured from experiencing in her own family the traditional submissiveness of women to men’” (Tolentino 8). She was instructed to be compliant to men; however, she was also taught to …show more content…

She was constantly looking for ways of self-expression. Society’s expectations of her and the other women were similar to those of the New Orleans Creole society. Madame Ratignolle, on the other hand, was the epitome of a “mother-woman.” She fit the mold of a perfect housewife and fulfilled the expectations of society. She performed the household chores and took care of the children. She also seemed very dependent on her husband, Monsieur Ratignolle. When fighting a cold, Madame Ratignolle asked where her husband had gone. She was mentally dependent on him always being there to take care of her. Madame Ratignolle wanted the comfort of him next to her bed, like a child wants a parent present when they close their eyes to go to

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After her father’s death, Kate was raised by her mother, grandmother, and her great grandmother in St. Louis (“Kate Chopin). Which led to her feminist in her writings that was not approved of at the time. She had her education at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Louis, She was exposed to Catholic teachings and the French who stressed upon the intellectual discipline. Kate was interested in writing, reading, and music. She graduated in 1868 then she got married two years later.

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