" Biography of Kate Chopin"

Temmi Adeyeni
AP English 3
M.Brown

Biography vs. Fiction

Often times, authors of literary works reveal their inner thoughts and true feelings through their pieces. These viewpoints can be shown in the events that occur in the text, the characters, the setting, the scenery and the themes in the pieces. Writers that have been known to implement their inner selves in their work include: John Steinbeck and Kate Chopin. Steinbeck, in both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, includes Salinas Valley. Salinas Valley is a perfect example of this, because it was a place of peace in both novels. The characters were able to go there and feel safe and secure; Salinas Valley was also a place where John Steinbeck, in his childhood, could go to have peace and serenity. In her literary works, on the other hand, Kate Chopin transforms the role of women in her life and communicates it through her writing. In her biography, one can conclude that she felt that women did not get enough credit for what they did in their family life as well as in their society. She does this in such works as Desiree's Baby and The Story of an Hour.


As seen in her biography, Chopin had been around women for most of her life. She saw what they had to go through while being thought of as inferior to men. This makes her more sensitive to this topic and therefore,wants it to be known. She felt that women did not get any credit for what they have accomplished in their society as well as in their family life. In her biography, the women were smarter, independent and stronger than the men. Though there were male influences around the women, the men did not really do much to support the ones "under" them. They were being lazy and just hung around like accesories. Chopin's great-great-grandmother raised five children while divorced. She also had a shipping business that prospered. Chopin's husband was not an able businessman and after he died, she had to take control of his business ventures while also raising five children on her own. There was a role reversal. The women became the ones that acted upon things instead of just talking about them. The women were smart, independent,strong and groundbreaking. Not to mention they were single women; proving that women did not really need any male influences to reach their goals and more. For example: Kate Chopin's writing career. She started her career while she was a widow and she ended up being very succesful. Despite all the hands that tried to pull her off her pedestal, she did not need any man to be there to validate her works. It can also be concluded in Kate Chopin's biography that women and men relied on different things to get what they wanted. Men relied more so on the physical aspects and women relied more on the mental aspects of things. For example: her biography did not really mention anything about men going to college and accomplishing anything academically. The men thought that they could and would bamboosle the women into being submissive by showing their muscles and using their voices to scare them. This did not work, because even if the women surrendered to the men, they were never quite submissive. They still had their strength and knowledge and with knowledge you can go anywhere and suceed.


In conclusion, Kate Chopin is reavealing what everyone else was trying to conceal in that moment in time. She wants these truths to be known, because she thought that women should get what is rightfully theirs, respect. This relates to "the cult of true womanhood",because Chopin is arguing that a woman should not be denied of her womanhood,because of the mistakes she had made in the past. She feels that the overall accomplishments of her should not be looked over, because of one mishap. She believes that everyone female is entitled to their sense of womanhood.