Kate Chopin (1850-1904). Meet Kate Chopin First female writer in the United States to portray frankly the passions and discontents of women confined to.

Kate Chopin(1850-1904)

Meet Kate Chopin

• First female writer in the United States to portray frankly the passions and discontents of women confined to traditional roles as wives and mothers.

• For this she was roundly condemned in her time and is widely praised today.

Katherine O’Flaherty

• Born on February 8, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri

• Thomas O’Flaherty, her father, was of Irish descent

• Eliza Faris, her mother, was of French descent

Strong Women• Eliza O’Flaherty – A

member of the French-Creole community. Widowed at age 27, Kate’s mother never remarried.

• Her grandmother, Madame Charleville, and great-grandmother had been widowed at an early age and never remarried.

• Her great-great-grandmother and her great-great grandfather were the first couple to be granted a legal separation in St. Louis.

Early Education

• Sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart at age 5, she left after only 2 months when her father died.

• Her great-grandmother taught her music, history, French, and the need to “live life clearly and fearlessly.”

• Two years later, Kate returned to school.Academy of the Sacred Heart

Grand Coteau, Louisiana

Kate: The Woman• Met Oscar Chopin at

19 and married him on June 9, 1870.

• Moved to New Orleans. The cosmopolitan city suited her.

• After the failure of his business, he moved his family to Natchitoches Parish.

• Oscar died in 1883 after contracting swamp fever.

• He left Kate with 6 children.

Kate and Four of Her Children

Kate: The Writer

• After having moved back to St. Louis, Kate’s mother died.

• Kate started writing to ease her pain and to help support her children.

I suppose this is what you would call unwomanly; but I have got into the habit of expressing myself. It doesn't matter to me, and you may think me unwomanly if you like.

Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening

• PBS peered into Kate Chopin’s world

Click on the hyperlink to view a clip from the PBS documentary on Chopin’s life.

Death• Kate dies on August 20, 1904 of a

cerebral hemorrhage after attending the St. Louis World’s Fair.

The Story of an Hour

• Published in Vogue magazine– Provided an audience when book

publishing houses were unwilling to do so.

• Written during the 1890s, a period of social tension.

• Organizations were pushing women’s suffrage.

The Story of an Hour

• Many women, however, especially in the south, were being raised with a special sense of “a woman’s place” at home.

• Women had few legal rights.• Chopin criticized the institution of

marriage and wrote about women who struggled against social convention to be individuals.