A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin
Today, in this article, I have brought a very interesting short story, number two from class twelve for you.
Today’s interesting story is "A Respectable Woman", about a Respectable woman. Looking at the title, it seems we are somewhat leaning toward a feministic approach. In this feministic approach, we are going to read about a woman throughout the story.
ABOUT THE STORY
This story, "A Respectable Woman", is a short story written by the American writer Kate Chopin. It was written on January 20, 1894. This story is a fictional story; it is not a true story, that's why we call it a fictional story, a story based on imagination.
Talking about Kate Chopin’s specialties, most of her stories have brilliant but ambiguous endings. The endings are unclear. Most of her readers who read her stories are left in a state of confusion at the end because her endings are puzzling and confusing. Especially when we talk about Kate Chopin’s stories, there is always a question mark in the minds of readers. Readers are left confused, wondering what happened, why it happened, or why a character acted in a certain way. This is her skill, her way of writing.
Today’s story, as well as Kate Chopin’s story, "A Respectable Woman" was published in "Vogue" magazine. On February 15, 1894, "Vogue" magazine published this story. During Kate Chopin’s lifetime, "Vogue" magazine published 19 of her stories, and "A Respectable Woman" is one of them. In this story, we encounter traditional story elements. This story has used the elements of a traditional plot. It follows classical patterns: exposition, the initial explanatory method about important information, followed by rising action that creates tension. Then comes the climax, where the story reaches peak tension due to that tension. We don’t find falling action in this story, but in the end, the consequences of the climax lead to the resolution, and the story ends. Thus, this story follows traditional story elements like exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution.
Now let’s talk about the story.
What is this story about?
We’ve already seen the title: "A Respectable Woman". It’s a story about a woman, a married woman, and her name is Mrs. Baroda. This story is about Mrs. Baroda and her internal or mental conflict. It’s a story about her own mental disturbances.
Why does her inner conflict arise?
Her inner conflict arises when her husband’s college friend comes to their house as a guest. Upon seeing that guest, she is strangely attracted to him. Later, observing that person’s behavior, speech, and activities, a kind of conflict arises in her mentality. The story is somehow related to Mrs. Baroda and her inner conflict.
THEMES
Now let’s talk about the main themes. In this story, we can find several themes.
The first theme is the identity of a married woman.
The second theme is the self-dignity of a married woman.
The third theme, which I like and matches this story, is desire versus control.
I’m going to talk a bit about this third theme, which aligns with the story. Humans are called dissatisfied creatures, and people are placed in the category of dissatisfied beings. Throughout their lives, people get stuck in desires. Their entire lives are entangled in wants and desires. These desires can be positive or negative. But humans remain dissatisfied. Even until they die, they complain, saying, “I didn’t get enough, nothing was enough, nothing good happened, I didn’t get to see happiness.” Even if they have positive desires or achieve fulfillment, people don’t enjoy or feel happy about it. They can’t stay content with one desire. If they have one, they search for another; if they have another, they look for yet another. That’s why humans can never remain satisfied.
Speaking of negative desires, most of the time, people’s lives are filled with negative desires. Let’s say someone has a negative desire, and 100% of that negative desire is being fulfilled. They are about to complete or achieve that desire, which is socially unacceptable, something society doesn’t approve of. Yet, even if that person is at the final stage of achieving their negative desire, knowing they are about to fulfill it, and at that final moment, they stand against their negative desires, go against them, and control themselves, then that kind of person, that kind of man, we call a respectable man, or that kind of woman, we call a respectable woman. In this story, too, because our main character shows control against negative desires, we call her a respectable woman.
SETTING
Now let’s talk about the setting. The setting of this story is in America, with cultural, social, and geographical sub-regions. There are seven sub-regions: Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. This is a South American sub-region. So, the setting is in rural Louisiana. Speaking of the time period, it depicts the early 1880s to the early 1890s. The setting is a sugar plantation in a rural area of Louisiana, owned by Mr. Gaston Baroda and his wife, Mrs. Baroda.
MORAL LESSONS
From this text, we can learn a very good moral lesson, which is: We must control our immoral and negative desires.
CHARACTERS
Now let’s talk about the main characters of this interesting story.
Mrs. Baroda:
The main character in this story is Mrs. Gaston Baroda. She is a married woman. Her marriage is to Mr. Gaston Baroda, the owner of a sugar plantation in Louisiana. Mrs. Gaston Baroda is a very frank, carefree, chatty woman who loves to talk. In this story, we find that she becomes a victim of mental conflict. There is turmoil in her mentality, and this turmoil is caused by a character named Gouvernail, who comes to her house as a guest for a week or two. Upon seeing him, Mrs. Gaston Baroda is greatly attracted to him, but later, seeing Gouvernail’s behavior and activities, she starts to dislike him. The story shows that Mrs. Gaston Baroda’s subject of interest is Gouvernail, and as she gets closer to him, she suffers mentally.
Now let’s talk about the second main character in the story.
Gouvernail:
Gouvernail is a person working in the field of journalism; he is a journalist by profession. He works in a crowded town area. Gouvernail is also Mr. Gaston Baroda’s college friend. He is a very peace-loving person. He loves a calm environment, which is why he has come to Mr. Gaston Baroda’s sugar plantation in Louisiana for a week or two to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and find peace. In the story, we find him as someone who speaks very little, lives calmly, and enjoys listening to others. He is Mrs. Baroda’s subject of interest but later becomes a subject of dislike.
Now let’s talk about the third major character, Mr. Gaston Baroda.
Mr. Baroda:
He is the owner of the sugar plantation in Louisiana and the husband of the story’s main character, Mrs. Baroda. He loves his wife dearly and cares for her deeply. He affectionately calls her names like “Mabelly, Chereamie.” He is a frank person, a very chatty individual who enjoys talking and having fun with guests. The second character, Gouvernail, is his college friend, and with his approval, Gouvernail has come to stay at the sugar plantation for a week or two. Speaking of Mr. Gaston Baroda’s hobbies, he is a dog lover and loves fishing and hunting. He is also a good sugar planter, and his business is doing very well. However, the story subtly shows that he is somewhat unable to understand his wife’s desires and feelings.
INTRODUCTION
“This fictional story, "A Respectable Woman", written by American author Kate Chopin in January 1894, is about Mrs. Baroda and her inner conflict, her internal self, and her struggles. Various themes are discussed in this story, such as the identity of a married woman, the self-dignity of a married woman, and, most importantly, desire versus control.”
DETAILED SUMMARY
At the start of the story, we find Mrs. Baroda in an unhappy mood because she has just received information from her husband. The information is that her husband’s college friend, Gouvernail, who currently works as a journalist in the city, is coming to spend a week or two at their sugar plantation in Louisiana. The reason for Mrs. Baroda’s unhappiness is that their winter season was spent very enjoyably. After that, the couple was busy with business in New Orleans, where they experienced a slight separation, with the husband working in one place and the wife in another. In Mrs. Baroda’s mind, she had made a plan: after this break, once they returned to the sugar plantation, she would take an unbroken rest, spend time with her husband at home, have private conversations, and enjoy life. That was her plan. But now, with the information that her husband’s friend is coming to stay, her plan feels somewhat ruined. Once a guest arrives, there’s no question of rest; she’ll have to keep the guest happy and work for them. So, all her plans are shattered when she learns from her husband that his college friend Gouvernail is coming to spend a week or two at their sugar plantation in Louisiana. That’s why we find her unhappy at the start.
The book contains a question: Why was Mrs. Baroda unhappy with the information about Gouvernail’s visit to the plantation?
The answer is very simple: Actually, she had planned something different for herself as well as her husband. They had passed their winter season in entertainment. After that, they were quite busy in New Orleans. During that time, she had planned to take an unbroken rest, to have some private conversation with her husband, and enjoy her family at home. But the information about the guest, Gouvernail, made her feel quite unhappy.* We can write this as our answer. She had many desires about what to do, but this information about a guest coming made her unhappy.
After her husband gives her this information, Mrs. Baroda’s plans are ruined, and she is unhappy. She starts thinking about Gouvernail and, while staying at home, unconsciously forms a picture in her mind about what Gouvernail might be like. She imagines what kind of person he might be. Unconsciously, she forms an image: he might be slim, tall, cynical - a person who only thinks about himself and suspects others. She imagines he might wear glasses, stand with both hands in his pockets, that kind of person. Even thinking about him in this imaginary way, she doesn’t like Gouvernail at all. But on the day Gouvernail arrives at her house, and they, as hosts, welcome him, Mrs. Baroda is completely attracted to him at first sight. The Gouvernail she imagined is not the reality. He is neither very slim, nor very tall, nor does he wear glasses or act cynical. He has a very charming personality. At the first meeting, our Mrs. Baroda is attracted to Gouvernail.
The second question in the book is: How was Gouvernail different from Mrs. Baroda’s expectations?
The answer is: After receiving information about Gouvernail’s visit to the sugar plantation for one or two weeks, she became quite unhappy. Unconsciously, she formed images. She kept thinking about that particular guy, Gouvernail, and imagined that he must be slim, tall, wearing glasses on his eyes, with both hands in his pockets. But at the time when Gouvernail arrived, she was so surprised to see his personality. Whatever she thought in her imagination about his personality, she was quite wrong. She did not find him slim, wearing glasses, or with hands in his pockets. So, at the very moment, she found herself attracted to him. The personality she imagined was completely different from the Gouvernail who turned out to be real. He was not cynical, not wearing glasses, not slim, not tall, nor did he stand with hands in his pockets. She found a very dashing personality, and at the first meeting, she was attracted to him.
After Gouvernail arrives at the house, his behavior, activities, and way of speaking make Mrs. Baroda very attracted to him inwardly. However, she doesn’t like Gouvernail’s activities or his manner of talking. She is not satisfied and doesn’t have an answer for why she is attracted to someone like Gouvernail. She is quite confused, wondering, “What is it about this man that I’m attracted to?” She doesn’t have a satisfactory answer. In the first couple of days, his way of speaking and behavior slightly confuse Mrs. naturales Baroda. She had heard everything about him from her husband. She had never met Gouvernail before in her life. Everything she knew about him was told to her by her husband: that Gouvernail is a brilliant person, a man with promising traits, very clever, full of tricks, and worldly knowledge, a dashing and mentally forward person. These were the things Mr. Gaston Baroda told his wife. But in the first couple of days of his stay, Mrs. Baroda didn’t find any of these qualities - brilliance, cleverness, trickiness - in Gouvernail, and she became very confused.
Now, looking at Gouvernail, he is a very simple person. He loves peace and speaks very little, preferring to listen more. If we, as guests, go to someone’s house, we don’t act like a silent chicken sitting in a corner. We have to talk, joke, and have fun. Otherwise, the hosts won’t like it. If you sit quietly in a corner like a silent chicken, the hosts won’t care much or show interest. As a guest, you need to be a bit fun, talk well, joke, and be frank. That’s the kind of quality a person should have as a guest. But looking at Gouvernail, he is very quiet, almost like a silent chicken. He enjoys listening to others and stays quiet. He doesn’t say things like, “Wow, sister-in-law, you look so beautiful! This food is so delicious!” He doesn’t talk or joke. He just sits quietly, saying things like, “I love peace, I like a calm existence.” That’s all he talks about.
Now let’s hear about Mrs. Baroda. She closely observes this man. Sometimes, when her husband and Gouvernail are sitting on the porch talking, the porch is like a sitting area with couches, sofas, a roof, and pillars. Gouvernail sits in the shade of a pillar, comfortably listening to Mr. Gaston Baroda’s stories. Mr. Gaston Baroda shares his experiences as a sugar planter, and Gouvernail listens calmly. Mr. Gaston has two large dogs, and as Gouvernail sits, the dogs come close, touching his knees and playing with him, and he enjoys it. When he speaks, he talks about the fragrance of the garden, saying, “This is what life is about, living a peaceful life.” His conversations are limited to this. He loves a peaceful environment and smokes cigars lazily. He listens attentively to Mr. Gaston Baroda’s experiences. As for hobbies, he has no interest in hobbies like fishing or hunting, unlike Mr. Gaston Baroda, who is a fun-loving, talkative person, fond of hunting and fishing. But Gouvernail, sitting on the porch every day, is only seeking peace of mind. He talks about needing a joyful environment and living life in such a place.
While staying there, Mr. Gaston Baroda talks to Gouvernail about hunting grass boxers and fishing, but Gouvernail isn’t very interested. He wants to smoke cigars calmly and enjoy the peaceful environment. He is a very peace-loving person.
The third question is: How do Mrs. Baroda, Mr. Gaston Baroda, and Gouvernail compare?
The answer is very clear: Gouvernail is a very quiet kind of person. Mrs. Baroda and Gouvernail have different personalities. Mr. Gaston Baroda is a peace-loving person, but he also likes town life. He is sociable. But Gouvernail loves a peaceful life away from people. He just wants to spend his life in a peaceful way, in search of a peaceful existence. If we talk about the hobbies of both people, we find Mr. Gaston Baroda’s hobbies are hunting and fishing, but Gouvernail doesn’t have such interests. Mr. Gaston Baroda is a chatty, frank, simple person who doesn’t like to talk much with others. He enjoys being receptive and listening more. This is how we can see the differences between the two.
As the days pass, Mrs. Baroda doesn’t notice any change in Gouvernail. His behavior on the first day remains the same; no new behaviors emerge. He remains very courteous, simple, and less talkative. But according to her, Gouvernail is a very lovable and inoffensive person, meaning he is someone you can’t help but love and who doesn’t harm anyone. A guest like this, who doesn’t demand anything or speak much, makes you wonder what he needs. Seeing him, Mrs. Baroda becomes quite confused, her mind disturbed. One morning, out of frustration and feeling bored, Mrs. Baroda leaves the guest in her husband’s care and leaves the house. She returns much later. Why stay in a house where her plans have been ruined? This guest has come, and she thinks she’ll have to serve him, but he’s like a silent chicken. He has caused mental turmoil in Mrs. Baroda’s mind. She is very attracted to him, but he lacks the qualities she expected. He doesn’t talk, so what’s there to like?
One day, fed up, she leaves the guest and walks away. Gouvernail spends the whole day with Mr. Gaston. To see if she can change his reserved nature, Mrs. Baroda takes him for an evening walk. She talks to him all the way, taking him to the mill, along the riverbank, but this silent chicken walks lazily, speaks little, and her efforts to break his reserved nature fail. Frustrated, Mrs. Baroda angrily asks Mr. Gaston Baroda, “When will this man leave? How many days will he stay? When will he go?” Mr. Gaston Baroda responds, “Why, darling? What has he done to you? The poor guy hasn’t even been here a week, and you’re already asking when he’ll leave. Has he caused you any trouble?” Mrs. Baroda replies, “Your guest isn’t like other guests. If he were like other guests, I’d do a lot for his comfort and entertainment.” Hearing this, Mr. Gaston Baroda is surprised, saying, “I’m shocked. What’s wrong with him?” At this moment, Mr. Gaston Baroda lovingly calls her “Mabelly” and tries to explain, “Look, he’s come here to spend a week or two away from the chaos of the city. He’s left his stressful life to find peace. Why are you making a fuss?” Mrs. Baroda retorts, “Fuss? Nonsense! Am I making a fuss? Didn’t you say he’s a clever man, full of tricks, brilliant? And now you’re saying I’m causing a commotion!” Mr. Gaston Baroda says, “The poor guy is overwhelmed by work and the chaos of the city. He’ll stay a week or two and leave.” Mrs. Baroda responds, “You said he’s a man of ideas. Shouldn’t he be interesting? A guest should have some qualities. This man is not interesting at all. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to Aunt Octavie and staying there until he leaves.”
Another question is: Why and how did Mrs. Baroda try to change Gouvernail’s habits?
The answer is simple: She was confused by Gouvernail’s attitude and how he responded. She took him for an evening walk, all the way to the mill by the riverside, talking to him, but he showed his laziness. He didn’t talk much with her. He was not a demanding type of person. To break his reserved nature and solitary habits, she took him for the evening walk, but she found him unchanged. Out of frustration, she says she’ll go to Aunt Octo’s and stay there until Gouvernail leaves.
That same evening, it’s completely dark, stars are shining in the sky, and there’s a bench under a large oak tree. We find Mrs. Gaston Baroda sitting alone on that bench, still feeling very bored. As she sits, there’s a gravel road ahead, and she sees a man approaching with a lit cigar. She looks and sees Gouvernail coming straight toward her. Since her husband doesn’t smoke cigars on the plantation, it’s clearly him. Gouvernail comes very close and hands her a scarf, saying, “Your husband, Gaston, sent this.” She accepts it calmly. Without any permission, he sits right next to her. Mrs. Gaston Baroda doesn’t object or get angry; it’s no big deal that he sat beside her. Once seated, he starts talking to himself. His conversation begins with the southern breeze, the vast sky with a few stars, the enveloping night, and how he feels poetic. He talks about his old days, college days, his life in the town, how he ended up here, and how much he loves a peaceful environment. He rambles on, but Mrs. Baroda hasn’t really listened to a word he’s said. However, his tone, his masculine tone, is attracting her now. At this moment, it’s nighttime, and the man Mrs. Baroda was very attracted to is sitting right next to her. For the first time, he breaks his silence and speaks so frankly. Mrs. Baroda has no idea what he’s saying, but his masculine tone is drawing her in. At this moment, an erotic thought comes to her mind. She thinks to herself, “If I could touch his cheek with my finger, or his lips, or whisper something close to his cheek.” These erotic feelings are running through her mind as he sits beside her. In this situation, Mrs. Baroda could have done something, but suddenly, thoughts of a married woman’s identity, self-dignity, and how a married woman should control herself come to her. She abruptly gets up and walks away, leaving Gouvernail sitting there alone, stunned. A person who can resist and control their negative desires is truly respectable.
The next morning, Mrs. Baroda goes to Aunt Octavie’s, and Gouvernail also leaves. When Mrs. Baroda returns, she talks to her husband, who tells her Gouvernail has left and that he’s invited him back next summer. For a moment, Mrs. Baroda feels angry, but then she calms down. In her mind, she reflects: “I had these feelings, I was attracted to him, and that evening, those thoughts came, but I stopped myself.” As a good wife, she initially wanted to tell Mr. Gaston Baroda everything, but later she changed her mind and didn’t tell her husband. In the final scene, there’s confusion created. Mrs. Baroda says a few lines to her husband. Mr. Gaston Baroda says, “Come on, Gouvernail isn’t that bad. He doesn’t deserve your dislike.” Mrs. Baroda responds, “I have overcome everything. And you, my husband, will see - next summer, if Gouvernail comes to our house, I will be very nice to him.” With that, the story ends. But what she means here leaves a question mark for everyone. Is she saying she’ll abandon her wifely duties, her identity, and her self-dignity? Or is she saying that, as a devoted wife, she’ll control her desires and treat Gouvernail well? There are many questions. Her negative desires were urging her to act, but who knows - next summer, will she fulfill those negative desires, or will she behave positively and treat Gouvernail well? This ending creates confusion for everyone, and Kate Chopin has presented the story’s ending in this way.
A very important question is: Why is Mr. Gaston surprised with the expression of his wife at the end of the story?
At the end of the story, we are all surprised, not just Mr. Gaston, because her statement regarding “I have overcome everything, and now you will see, I will be nice with him in the next summer” creates a kind of confusion among all readers, not only Mr. Gaston. In those lines, she is not very clear about her behavior in the coming future, whether she will choose the positive way or the negative way. There is no certainty in her statement. This is why we find Mr. Gaston confused and surprised.
The main reason behind the mental conflict and inner conflict of Mrs. Gaston Baroda is that the main cause of her mental turmoil was the guest, Gouvernail. She had thought he’d be a certain way and didn’t like him in her imagination, but when they met, she was instantly smitten at first sight. She was attracted to him, but later, when Gouvernail’s activities, lack of interest, and very silent, simple lifestyle came to light, it caused turmoil in Mrs. Baroda’s mentality. A kind of mental conflict emerged in her.
The role Mrs. Baroda plays in being a respectable woman in the story: In this story, as a respectable woman, Mrs. Baroda plays a significant role by going against her negative desires and controlling herself in that situation. This control is why we can call her a respectable woman. The most important thing in her being an admirable woman is that she controlled her negative desires and, as a wise wife, extracted herself from that situation. Therefore, she played a very important role in being a respectable woman by controlling herself.
Another important question is: Why didn’t she disclose her feelings regarding Gouvernail to her husband?
I think initially, she made up her mind to tell her husband everything, to say, “Darling, I had these feelings.” She thought about sharing those things at first, but later, I think she became a bit wiser. She realized that telling her husband everything wouldn’t solve anything, and she decided to resolve it herself in a wise way. That’s why she didn’t share her feelings with her husband.
SHORT SUMMARY
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