Showing results by author "Kate Chopin" in All Categories

The titles in this collection include: "The Storm" by Kate Chopin, "Life In the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis, "A Humble Romance", "Two Old Lovers", "On the Walpole Road", "An Honest Soul" and "A Conflict Ended" all by Mary Wilkins Freeman, and "Between Two Shores" by Ellen Glasgow.

Life Is Short - Art Is Shorter is not just the first anthology gathering both mini-essays and short-short stories. Listeners, writers, and teachers will get an anthology; a course’s worth of writing exercises; a rally for compression, concision, and velocity in an increasingly digital post-religious age; and a meditation on the brevity of human existence.

Kate Chopin (1850-1904) was a Louisiana-based author of short stories and novels, and is considered a forerunner of 20th-century feminist authors from the South. In "The Storm", a man seeks shelter at the home of his former lover, a visit which reignites their passion, while "Her Letters" is a story about the husband of a woman who dies before she is able to destroy the letters written to her by a lover. In "Unexpected", Randall and Dorothea fall in and out of love; "The Locket" tells the tale of two young lovers during the American Civil War; and "Kiss" has a humorous twist.

Edna Pontellier has everything that a woman and mother should want - two wonderful sons, a husband, and good financial fortune. But still, she feels like something may be missing. While vacationing with her family, she meets a young man who shows affection and opens her mind to adventure and freedom.

Kate Chopin (1850-1904) was an author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. This story was published in Vogue in 1895. This short story begins with a woman trying to get rid of letters which are the only evidence of her having an affair outside her marriage. Having burned some of them, she cannot proceed with burning the rest because emotions overwhelmed her.

In this story of a woman’s plan to get a wealthy husband, Nathalie’s plans are almost spoiled by the action of a family friend, but she explains the situation on time. In the end, she marries Mr Brantain and his millions.

Randall and Dorothea seem to be very much in love, but Dorothea hesitates, not wishing to lose her independence. She eventually goes to the countryside, as an affirmation of her freedom and refusal top submit to societal control.

"A Respectable Woman", first published in Vogue in 1894, is quintessential Chopin and shows us the full extent of her skill as a short-story writer. The story centers around Mrs. Baroda, who, somewhat reluctantly, is playing the gracious host to her husband’s surprise guest, Gouvernail, an old friend of her husband’s from college. The story delves into Mrs. Baroda’s psychology as she struggles with her desires versus her self-made image and self-opinion.

The short story focuses on two lovers torn apart by the American Civil War and the locket that inexorably binds them together.

Mildred Orme visits the Kraummer farm and becomes infatuated by an attractive young farmhand. She finds him at a fishing pond, and while trying to teach her to fish, they end up kissing passionately. She feels guilty and then receives a letter which reveals the identity of the young man.

"Beyond the Bayou" is about La Folle, an African American woman and former slave, who overcomes her crippling and irrational childhood fear of passing an imaginary territorial line or going beyond the bayou.

An intense story of love, lust, and betrayal set amidst an intense storm in the American South, The Storm is the sequel to At the 'Cadian Ball by American novelist Kate Chopin. Beautifully crafted and a considered a groundbreaking work of fiction when it was published, it candidly discusses sexual passion and extramarital affairs.

One of the earliest feminist works in American literature, "The Awakening" tells the story of Edna Pontellier. Unsatisfied with societal expectations and unhappy with her family life, she begins to fall in love with the dapper Robert Lebrun. Lebrun's flirtations, along with the lifestyle of renown musician Mademoiselle Reisz, rejuvenates Edna's sense of freedom and independence. However, an affair with the womanizer Alcee Arobin provides Edna with a taste of the danger that comes from living outside of social convention.

In The Kiss, a beautiful young woman, Nathalie, has decided to marry the unattractive and uninteresting but very wealthy Mr. Brantain. When an old friend kisses her passionately in front of Mr. Brantain, Nathalie must control the damage done by this kiss in order to reassure Mr. Brantain. This done, the relieved Mr. Brantain proposes to her. At their wedding, her old friend appears and suggests another kiss. Has Nathalie arranged matters perfectly? Or not?

In A Pair of Silk Stockings, Mrs. Sommers, a once wealthy woman who has fallen on hard times comes into possession of a small fortune of $15. Planning to spend the money on clothing for her children, she becomes sidetracked at a shop counter, entranced by the smoothness of a pair of silk stockings. She goes on to spend the money on the stockings as well as new boots and gloves for herself.

In A Respectable Woman, Mrs. Baroda, the wife of a wealthy sugar plantation owner plays hostess to Mr. Gouvernail, a friend of her husband's. The reserved Mr. Gouvernail is a puzzle to Mrs. Baroda who is nonetheless intrigued by the man's retiring nature. When the two speak to each other outside one evening, Mrs. Baroda wants to get closer to her guest but realizes this would be at odds with her position as a respectable woman.

In The Locket, a confederate soldier declines his fellow soldiers’ request to reveal the contents of the locket around his neck. The locket, which holds pictures of his fiancée’s parents and the date of their wedding is found on the battlefield after a battle. Later, the soldier’s fiancée visits the battlefield with the soldier’s father, both shaken with grief. The soldier’s father asks his son’s fiancée to remove her veil, as it contrasts too sharply with the beautiful day and adds that on such a day miracles seem ready to happen.

Kate Chopin’s A Reflection is a reflection on the fortunes of life. It is a meditation on how some people succeed by harnessing their energy effectively while others get left behind.

In Désirée’s Baby, the adopted daughter of a wealthy prewar French Creole couple is courted by the son of another wealthy, respected French Creole family. After they marry, their child is born with dark skin and believed to have African ancestry, a problem for a prewar white family. Accused of dishonesty by her husband, the mother, Désirée, and her child walk off into the bayou, never to be seen again. But when the father finds a letter from his mother to his father which reveals an explosive fact about his own ancestry, he learns a sobering truth.

In Beyond the Bayou, La Folle, an ex-slave, lives on an island cut off from the her old home and is afraid to venture back onto the bayou. When a small drought dries up the shallow waters between her home and the bayou, she spends some time with the son of her former master. When the son, whom she calls “Cheri” accidentally shoots himself in the leg, La Folle must overcome her fear of the unknown and go back to the bayou to alert his parents.