Free Kate Chopin Review Essay Sample
Kate Chopin short stories are written by Kate Chopin herself. It is a collection of several stories including the Story of an hour, the Kiss among others. The story evolves between Mrs. Baroda, Gaston Baroda and Gouvernail who is Gaston’s friend and who pays him a visit. As reflected in the theme, the story illustrates how a respectful woman opted to go against the custom and have an affair outside her matrimonial wedding and home.
It is indeed true that Mrs. Baroda will be unfaithful to her husband when Gouvernail returns. In the beginning we witness the visit by Gouvernail at Gaston plantation as irritating Mrs. Baroda. The presence of Gouvernail at the plantation makes Mrs. Baroda feel unsecure at the initial stages but this will later turn out towards the end of the story. As noted earlier, it is a clear indication that Mrs. Baroda begins developing a loving attitude towards Gouvernail though she does not want this to be known in the public domain and to Gouvernail himself.
Though the title brands her a respectable woman, we cannot compare her as such due to her lack of strength. Mrs. Baroda had a vision of his husbands friend long before the visit and while they finally meet, Chopin illustrates how she actually likes him. This is the first indication that her liking of Gouvernail is yet to be revealed. The liking of Gouvernail cannot be described fully by Mrs. Baroda who fails to find reasons as to why she loves the man. Furthermore, this relationship is later strengthened when she starts accompanying Gouvernail on the walks with an attempt to overcome the reticence.
Towards the end of the story, it is evident that Mrs. Baroda went against the sexual and emotional bonds of marriage so as to experience a different type of relationship as compared to her husband whom she is used to. Mrs. Baroda is described as being respectable, a trait that is later inconsequential. For instance, she is yearning to find the missing link that has not been present in her life. This can be termed as being in an affair with Gouvernail. There is a relationship that Chopin tries to communicate to the reader and which had existed between Gouvernail and Mrs. Baroda. This is seen when Gouvernail gives her the scarf and speaks about the old days. How can we describe the old days? It is possible to state that there was something that took place between the two people sometime back.
On the other hand, it is a clear indication that Mrs. Baroda is not a strong woman. Instead of staying on and facing her husband with the truth, she decides to flee and reconcile with her feelings far from her matrimonial home. This can be termed as being a coward. Instead of facing the truth and revealing what is happening to her husband, she flees in the guise of running away from Gouvernail. People of character are born with an attitude to stand up and be counted even when the circumstances are harsh. In refusing to tell her husband about the behavior of Gouvernail, Mrs. Baroda was only allowing the relationship to go an inch deeper.
Gouvernail is a chauvinist. Instead of staying with his guest male in the house, he chooses to sit outside and share the olden memories with her guest female. Gouvernail even goes to an extent of seating close to Mrs. Baroda, something that is not typical in many traditions. It is wrong to have such a close contact if you have not been friends before.