Kate Chopin and Toni Cade Bambara: Author Biographies

Kate Chopin: Life and Literary Career

Kate Chopin was born Kate O'Flaherty in 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri (Clarke 1). Her mother was of French extraction, and the young Kate grew up in a bilingual household. Chopin's upbringing was also bicultural, encompassing the cultures of both the North and the South: supporters of slavery and anti-slavery advocates alike lived in Missouri, Chopin's family kept slaves, and her half-brother fought on the Confederate side during the Civil War (Clarke 1). Kate's father was killed in a railroad accident when she was young — a biographical detail Chopin later deployed in "The Story of an Hour," in which the heroine, Mrs. Mallard, falsely — and with surprising joy — believes that her husband has been killed in a train wreck (Clarke 1).

Chopin married Oscar Chopin when she was twenty. After a tour of Europe, the couple settled in Louisiana, where Oscar dealt in cotton, corn, sugar, and molasses. The city was bitterly divided along racial lines in the years following the Civil War, during Reconstruction. Oscar was a Democrat and became a member of the White League (Clarke 1). Chopin later drew upon these experiences in her novel The Awakening, which is also set in Louisiana and features a woman named Edna Pontellier who is finally awakened to the passion that has been lacking in her marriage.

The Chopin family later relocated to Cloutierville. In 1882, Oscar succumbed to malaria, leaving Kate with the responsibility of raising the couple's six children (Clarke 1). Kate returned to her family home in St. Louis and began writing her first novel, At Fault, as well as short fiction (Clarke 1). Her early works reflected her preoccupations with racially divided New Orleans and the proper role of women in society.

From 1889 onward, Chopin enjoyed some of her most productive literary years, and her stories began to appear in the most widely read magazines in America. In 1891, she wrote one of her most-anthologized stories, "Désirée's Baby," along with many others. In 1894, "The Story of an Hour" and "A Respectable Woman" were featured in Vogue, and her first short story collection, Bayou Folk, was published (Clarke 1). In 1899, her mature novel The Awakening was published. While a few critics praised the novel's artistry, most were very negative, calling the book "morbid," "unpleasant," "unhealthy," "sordid," and "poison" (Clarke 1).

Chopin's Themes: Marriage, Gender, and Controversy

Critics took particular umbrage at the fact that the adulterous heroine of The Awakening was not trapped in an abusive marriage — merely a sexually unfulfilling one — and that she withdrew from her motherly duties as a result of her dissatisfaction. To nineteenth-century critics, the idea that women had sexual desires and might place those desires above their maternal responsibilities was abhorrent and unnatural. Feminists, however, later celebrated the novel as revolutionary.

Before the publication of The Awakening, Chopin was largely regarded as a popular author of short stories depicting an unusual corner of American culture. Yet readers of works like "The Story of an Hour" should not have been surprised by her portrayal of marriage as a less-than-satisfying state. The novel remains controversial: "Is she [Edna] a fallen woman, a bad mother, a selfish human being? Why does the character still, in an era where sexual openness is not totally condemned, point us toward a discussion of what makes a woman bad?" ("Kate Chopin," Women Writers). Chopin's belief in a woman's right to her own pleasure remains radical in many eyes, even today.

Works Cited

Clarke, Pamela. "Kate Chopin Biography." Kate Chopin International Society. [7 Mar. 2014] http://www.katechopin.org/biography

"Kate Chopin." Women Writers. 2003. [7 Mar. 2014]