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In the stories we have read so far, Kate Chopin presents different themes, such as male and female relationships and within that their characterization. Kate in most of her stories uses female characters as main characters, the conflict mostly happens within her environment; different from men who mostly is characterized as the main character's husband. Male's characters personality are often calmed and lovely, nevertheless their personality and their actions through the story are not well described, recognized or not that much important as the ones the main character has. For example in Dessiree's baby Armand is characterized as a cold man, nevertheless he loves Dessiree.

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How does Chopin portray the Old South in her short stories?

Throughout Kate Chopin's short stories read in class, the Old South is portrayed as a conservative, agricultural and racist territory in the United States. Nonetheless, Chopin introduces key progressive figures in this context to contrast with the realistic southern dynamics. Firstly, in "Desiree's Baby" the author describes a type of lifestyle in the Deep South. She portrays Armand as a conservative chauvinistic man who dominates all house affairs, showing male's central role in southern society. Racism is also discussed, especially when Chopin limns the black race as that "cursed with the brand of slavery", clearly expressing black's demise. Finally, the fact the story takes place in a plantation realistically portrays the heavy agricultural southern United States. In the other stories, Kate Chopin describes similar dynamics, though key figures, such as Mrs. Sommers, in "A Pair of Silk Stockings" represent the progressive character developing in the south and the strive for women (and men in general) to change the current ideology. Same is the case of Mrs. Mallard in "Story of an Hour", who claims to be free from the implied husband's oppression, which can be described by the story's tone as something not unusual. Finally in "Beyond the Bayou", the author implements 'La Folle' as a character who can conquest her fears, implying that women, too, could go pass the boundaries imposed by society. Overall, the conservative ideology is ever present in Chopin's stories, which mostly take place in the agricultural south, where racial and sexual discrimination is exposed as common. Furthermore, Chopin most realistically represents the South by using common slangs and abbreviations used in those territories. Like her contemporary, Mark Twain, the use of French words, for instance, mixed with other slangs and behavior, becomes the way in which Kate Chopin most accurately represents the Old American South.

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Main issue in Chopin's stories.

The story of an hour: In this story it can be observed hat MrsMallard is the main female figure. The role she plays makes the reader understand the situation women are living. They have tried to be part of the society which is very hard with the presence of male. Chopin shows the joy  that a married woman felt when he knew her husband was dead. This is because of the oppresion her husband imposed on her. she had Her death  represent that freedom she found for just a minute and then was taken from her.

Desirees baby: Desiree represented a woman who depended completely on her husband. She was proud of her son and was blind on the way she was living with Armand. She was a victim of racism and abuse.

A pair of silk stockings: Mrs. Sommers doesn't have the presence of a male in her life. She lives alone with her children and acts independly. She is a perfect example of how humans are tempted by luxuries. The felt that those fifteen dollars gave her a ferling of importance in society.

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Autonomy and independence in Kate Chpoin's stories

Question 2 Kate Chopin's characters face problems which lead them to gain autonomy and independence in their own life. Firstly, in a Pair of Silk Stockings, Mrs. Sommers acts independently, the only thing that guide her actions is a "mechanical impulse" which freed her of her responsibilities. She takes her own decisions, but Chopin also shows how this sense of independence might be very ephemeral and just a temporary satisfaction. In Beyond the Bayou, La Folle discovers the outside world, which was previously unknown for her, this means an act of autonomy and conquest of previous fears. Also, in The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard, realizes that her life was going to be completely different without her husband, this would gave her a sense of independence and autonomy, she would be free, totally free, in body and soul. She was going to be able to decide by herself, and was going to regain autonomy. To conclude, Chopin's characters gain autonomy and independence by facing intimate problems, which make them realize their personal strength to gain independence.

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Kate Chopin characterizes her love as an oppressing relationship between husband and wife. Although there is love, women depend on men's authority. This is evident in "Desiree's Baby" where Desiree is oppressed by her husband. Armand loves Desiree but he still ignores her when he finds the baby is of mix race and ignores them. Another piece of evidence is "a story of an hour" where MrsMallard is also joyful about MrMallard's death due to the fact that she will finally be free. Her name is mentioned few times and is constantly referenced under her husband's surname. Additionally, she is portrayed inside the house and sees the outside nature as an unknown paradise. This could be a metaphor to represent the oppression of the marriage using the settings of the story. Finally, Chopin does use love and romance in her stories but that love is characterized by oppression, a typical phenomenon of the time she wrote in.

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Autonomy and independence in Kate Chopin

In four of kate Chopin stories we have read, the autonomy and independence are present in all of them, first the women have to faced problems of many kinds and have to lead with the norms, that are impose by society, economy, men or by her own psychology. In the case of "A story of an hour" the women expirience a feeling of freedom against her husband and she realized that she could be autonomous without him. In "A pair of silk stockings" the women is given independence to use her money in the way she decide. In "Desiree's Baby" the women is against society and against racism a very important fact during that time. And in "Beyong the Bayou" she is kind of crazy and need to struggle with a mental disorder. During the time Kate Chopin lived the women have many restrictions and Chopin want to express that women can have autonomy and independence of their own tasks and life.

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How does Chopin explore female sexuality in her stories ? Through the stories that I've read, Chopin shows a physical description of women and their role in society. The standards followed by protagonists seem to be sometimes inmoral issues suggested by the community. During the nineteenTH century, women were not allowed to vote or do tasks CONSIDERED MANLY . Kate Chopin´S stories illustrate the frustrated desire that women haD to obtain the same rights as men, demonstrating THIS THROUGH the lack of autonomy and independence of female characters. In "Désirée's Baby" the protagonist is transformed fROm a subject into an object since she is victim of society´S judgement. ALSO, IN the story " A Pair Of Silk Stockings" the MAIN character decideS to be free and transform her LIFE in order to follow SOCIAL codes. Kate Chopin portrays the way in which society want women to beHAVE and how they are SEEN BY otherS, demoNstrating theIR desire FOR equalITY WITH men.

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Question 7

Given Chopin's focus on the lives of women, how does she characterize the men in her stories?

Kate Chopin is stated to be a feminist, but for the time and context analysed in nowadays maters she was just criticizing inequality, men had far more rights that women, and she thought this was an injustice, this being said in all her stories (the ones we have read) make characters are manly, strong, they lead the house and are the ones who make decisions, but this was the actual role of the man at that given time, they could be suffocating and freedom takers as we saw in "story of an hour", the male reference character was so oppressive than when miss Mallard found out her husband wasn't dead she died along with her long for freedom, the author is merely representing men as they actually where, as she observed them at her time. She also doted how men followed social status too, in the story " beyond the bayou" the young Cheri stopped receiving fiscal affection from La Folle because he was already a "man" at age ten, he already had a fire weapon and could have easily taken another persons live, he was a full responsible adult at age ten, , so the author doesn't criticize men, she describes them as they are and criticizes society as a whole.

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Question 10

The four females in the stories read share a common charactieristic, inner conflicts, the psychology and the mental characteristics are often shown throughout the stories. Kate Chopin wrote her stories after her husband´s death and that might have had an strong influenced and the way she incuded self conflicts on her principal characters. As we can see in "The Story of an Hour" she is fighting against her heart disesase but at the same time she is showing her joy of independance and her revelation shown through nature, on the other hand in "A Pair of Silk Stockings" she is independant, which is also commonly used in her stories, but she is dealing with her financial problem and her conflict of not being part of the "welll-dressed society" that´s why she uses all the money on herself to fullfill the desire of the first time in many years. Also in Desireés baby the main character has a problem, Armand tells her to leave the house because the baby was different, we can see mysogeny and racism. Finally La Folle had a mania, she couldnt pass the Bayou, just at the moment when her little boy was in danger but at the end she gets over it and fights against it. As it can be seen that all are ordinary women and are constantly facing their own inner conflicts. Usually most of this characters reach beyond society and what it dictates, and the conclusion of the story is the understanding of their own personal desires. They end with a king of self-realization and accomplishment of their most deep fears and desires.

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In Kate Chopins short stories, foreshadowing is always a devise that is present and that helps the reader to understand in a better way what is happening and also it kind of annunciates what is going to happen in the climax of the story. As it annunciates what will happen in the climax of the story, she uses the foreshadowing in the inicial parts of her stories, for example in the short story "Beyond the Bayou", the foreshadowing come before the climax when mentioning the "blood and powder" part. Or in "Desiree's Baby", she foreshadows that something bad will happen in Armands house when Chopin states that the house is dark painted. So Chopin uses the foreshadow in order to create an atmosphere full of suspense and that calls and retains the attention of the reader to keep reading.