Regret

The Theme of ‘Regret’ in Kate Chopin’s “Regret”

Kate Chopin’s “Regret” tells the story about fifty-year-old Mamzelle Aurelie who
was unmarried and lived alone. One day, her nearest neighbour, Odile, brought her four
children to her house and left them in Mamzelle Aurelie’s care while she had to leave to
see her ailing mother. For the next two weeks, Mamzelle Aurelie had to learn to care for
the children and be accustomed to their presence and noises. At the end of the two weeks,
Odile came back and released Mamzelle Aurelie from her responsibility, but Mamzelle
Aurelie felt the loneliness in the absence of the four children, and she cried “like a man,”
not even noticing her dog licking her hand.

The title of the story aptly summarises the theme of the story. At the beginning of
the story, Mamzelle Aurelie, who had rejected a proposal early in her life, “had not yet
lived to regret” the choice of not marrying. But at the end of the story, after the four
children had left with Odile, Mamzelle Aurelie cried hard, giving us a glimpse of her
feelings of regret, for she only experienced the love and joy of motherhood when she has
reached middle age.

Kate Chopin may be giving us the message that marriage is not just about the
love and bond between a husband and wife, but, for the woman especially, it is also about
the bond with children and joy that comes with motherhood. But this leads to the
question: Should women get married regardless of whether they are in love with the
partner or not? And here it touches the strings of essentialist mode of feminism. However,
the author did not specify Mamzelle Aurelie’s sexual orientation, but if she were a lesbian,
it would explain why she had never been in love, as she would have to suppress her
inclination which goes against social convention. If that were the case, what should she
have done? This is an issue that Chopin did not address in the story.

The author of the story used several symbolisms in “Regret”. One of them is the
white apron that Mamzelle Aurelie had to ‘unearth’ while taking care of Ti Nomme. The
white apron symbolizes her femininity which had been long buried inside her, and was
only ‘unearthed’ when she had to care for the children. Another symbol used in the story
is the sewing basket that Mamzelle Aurelie took down from the top shelf of the armoire.
The taking down of the sewing basket represents the lowering down of her pride and the
humbling of self to serve the children. This contrasts her normal way of handling matters.

Chopin also made use of the time of the day to symbolise the impact of the children’s
arrival on Mamzelle Aurelie’s life. In the beginning, it was during morning time that
Mamzelle Aurelie saw the four children coming up to her house. At the end of the story, it
was evening time that the children left her. The time of the day represents the beginning
of Mamzelle Aurelie’s life with the children as well as the end of her time with them.

The sunset also represents the ‘sunset’ of Mamzelle Aurelie’s life, which is slowly
reaching its end. After Odile and the children left her place, Mamzelle Aurelie could not
see the cart going away because of the mist created by the sunset and the twilight. Her
own sunset and twilight is drawing near, denying her the chance to be married and have
children on account of her late age. This further reinforces the theme of the story which is
about regret.

In the final paragraph, Mamzelle Aurelie entered into her house. This act
symbolises her entering into her own heart. The “evening shadows were creeping and
deepening around her solitary figure”, signifying that she was nearing the late part of her
life and she was all alone.

Chopin presented the two women, Mamzelle Aurelie and Odile, in contrast with
each other. When Odile first arrived with the children, her face was “red and disfigured
from tears and excitement” while Mamzelle Aurelie was contemplative and calm. Two
weeks later, when Odile came to take her children home, she was alert and her face was
beaming and happy, but Mamzelle Aurelie was in a flutter and agitated. These two women,
although different in their situations in life, were portrayed to react negatively when
parted with the children and to react positively when brought together with the children.
The author may be pointing out to us that it is within a woman’s nature to love and want
to be with children and it is difficult to part with them.

In the story, the children were several times compared and contrasted with
animals. When Mamzelle Aurelie thought that her responsibility was just to feed the
children, she found out that “little children are not little pigs” and needed attention from
her unlike pigs do. At nighttime, Mamzelle Aurelie sent the children to bed “as she would
have shooed the chickens into the hen-house,” but things did not work that way. This
shows how her life had revolved mainly with animals, influencing the way she treated the
children. But the children brought the human touch into her life. At the end, she did not
notice her dog licking her hand, as it was probably Ti Nomme’s moist kisses that remained
in her mind.

The story “Regret” is a thought-provoking story that can be read in today’s

modern times and still have its readers relate to it. The theme and message as well as the
issues raised in the story are still very relevant today in addressing the matters of
marriage, family life, and motherhood.

Mamzelle Aurelie: A Sketch of Her Character

Kate Chopin's story, "Regret," is about an unmarried, middle-aged woman who is

suddenly given the responsibility of caring for a neighbor's small children. In the story,
Chopin shows us a strong and independent person whose rough, masculine exterior hides
a lonely and tender-hearted woman.
Chopin begins the story with a portrait of Mamzelle Aurelie. We know that she is at
least middle-aged because she has "hair that was changing from brown to gray". And she
has a rugged, masculine appearance. She wears a man's hat and overcoat and even
topboots on occasion.
She not only looks strong but is strong and capable in her every day life. She has a
"determined eye"; she lives "quite alone" except for her dog, Ponto"; she runs a farm and
supervises her workers, and she had a gun "with which she shot chicken- hawks"
However, the arrival of the neighbors children bring out a different aspect of her
character. At first she tries to deal with the children almost as if they were another variety
of farm animal. Thus, when they arrive, she determined "a line of action which should be
identical with a line of duty," which from her point of view means feeding them. But she
soon discovers that "little children are not little pigs". Caring for the children requires that
she awaken the feminine and maternal aspects of her nature that had been dormant.
Therefore she brings out her white aprons and "got down her sewing-basket" to mend the
children's clothes. She washes their feet before bed, tells them stories and even lets the
youngest sleep with her.
At the end of the story, when the neighbor reappears and takes the children home,
Mamzelle Aurelie is crushed. Alone again in the house which is deathly quiet, she cries and
is not even able to receive comfort from her dog who licks her hand. Thus the strong,
independent, and hardened woman depicted at the beginning of the story is shown to be
soft-hearted and lonely at the end.