1 Colin Page John Tucker Instructor Composition II October 10, 2012 Kate Chopin Kate Chopin, born Catherine

e O'Flaherty, refused to see marriage from the socially accepted standpoint.

In the Story of an Hour Kate portrays Louise Mallard as a frail woman who was superficially happy with her marriage until she learned that her husband had died in a train accident, much the same as Chopin's own father had died when she was four. After having the news of her husbands demise broken to her, Louise breaks down in sobs immediately. Once that has past, she retires to her room to reflect on life. While in her room, the realization begins to dawn on her of what life lived not for her husband but for herself might mean. Chopin writes She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long. Meaning that yesterday, as a married woman, long life was a bleak and dreaded future; but now, life could be lived for her alone. As this is occurring to her, all she can whipser is Free! Body and soul free! With this realization, she leaves her room only to die at the sight of her dead husband coming home from work. Chopin uses this story to illustrate that she sees marriage as a mutual bondage of two people trying to bend the will of the other to theirs.

In The Storm, Chopin describes an extramarital affair as being one without remorse or negative consequences. During The Storm, Calixta's husband and son take refuge from the physical storm at a local store while Calixta and Alcee are at the Bobinot house diving in to an emotional storm of their own. Calixta and Alcee are not unfamiliar with each other. Chopin mentions Assumption where Alcee had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his senses would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight. But time has past, and Calixta is married. Her virtue is no longer in need of

2 saving. Faced with an opportunity and attraction, the two see no need to restrain themselves from their mutual desires. After the sordid deed, Alcee rides away home while Calixta continues with her household duties. Upon her husband and sons return, Calixta, instead of berating them as they expect, is overjoyed that they are both safe and dry. They had a fine dinner and laughed so much and so loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as [Alcee] Laballiere's. Alcee, after riding home, wrote a letter to his vacationing wife. It was a loving letter, full of tender solicitude. In his letter, he told his wife to enjoy her vacation. While he missed her, it was important for her and the children to have their health and pleasure. Chopin illustrates in this story that she feels infidelity to not always be harmful in a marriage, but that it can helps bring joy and to strengthen feelings of love.

In Desiree's Baby, Chopin paints a picture of marriage as being a matter of convenience that can be dissolved at will, especially by the dominant male. Desiree was an orphan who was taken in by a caring, well to do family. Armand was the son of one of the oldest and proudest families in Louisiana. Chopin writes Armand fell in love with Desiree as if struck by a pistol shot, the way all of his family fell in love. This description lends him an air of impulsiveness, of fluidity. Chopin goes on to write that, as the baby grew, he began to spend more time away from home and to treat their slaves with the very spirit of Satan

3 Works Cited Bibliographic Project Homepage. October 30, 2008. CollabNet, Inc. October 31, 2008. <http://bibliographic.openoffice.org/> Guide to Writing Research Papers: MLA-Style. October 31, 2008. Capital Community College Humanities Department. October 31, 2008. <http://webster.commnet.edu/MLA/format.shtml> GNU General Public License: Version 3. June 29, 2008. Free Software Foundation. October 31, 2008. <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html> MLA Formatting and Style Guide - The OWL at Purdue. October 31, 2008. Purdue University English Department. October 31, 2008. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/>