Analysis of Regret by Kate Chopin - Essay Example

 Kate Chopin, the author of the acclaimed novel “The Awakening” and a short story writer, lived during the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century. Her works are imbued with the notions of freedom and emancipation for women that was sweeping through the country and she was renowned for her individuality and strength, quite rare in upper middle-class women of her time. Kate Chopin wrote a large number of short stories which are mandatory reading for students of American Feminist literature. Her stories often deal with the theme of marriage, although Chopin treats it in an unconventional way. Most of her stories are about confrontations between individuals and society’s expectations from them, where her unconventional heroines more often than not, choose the road less traveled. Chopin’s feminist writings were frowned upon in the period when they were written, because they were considered to be “the psychological, physical, social and sexual emancipation” (Toth, 242) of her works that appealed to the readers of the 1950’s, who identified with a woman’s need for freedom. “Regret” is the story of Mamzelle Aurelie, a strong-willed, independent woman who shunned the comfortable trap of matrimony and instead chose to live all by herself on a farm, surrounded by her animals, happy with the choice of life she had deliberately made for herself. Aurelie strutted about her farm in a man’s hat and overcoat and boots, overseeing the running of her small homestead and farm. But things took a sudden change for the carefree woman when Odile, her neighbor left her four children in Aurelie’s care for two weeks, as she had to go and see her mother who was in the last stages of her life. The thought of caring for the children was most unnerving for Aurelie, who, until now had looked after only animals and plants. With a little help from her cook Aunt Ruby, and helpful insights from the children themselves, Aurelie, in a few days learnt how to take care of the tots. Her well ordered home and life were disheveled by the little ones, but soon they became a welcome distraction from the tedium of her daily existence. Just as Aurelie had grown accustomed to this new life, Odile returned as abruptly as she had departed. Odile’s face was beaming at the thought of seeing her children once again, but Aurelie became restless at the thought of sending away the children, who had filled her life and heart with love and laughter. When the children and Odile left, Aurelie was once again engulfed by her loneliness. For the first time, she regretted her decision not to marry and Chopin ends the story with Aurelie sobbing loudly. “Regret” brings out the theme of motherhood and the latent maternal instinct that is a part of each woman. Linda J.Byrd, in her study titled “Maternal Influence and Children in Kate Chopin’s Short Fiction” uses the story to show Chopin’s attitude towards motherhood and children in general. Byrd reveals that Kate Chopin was an indulgent mother, who loved her own children wholly and never turned them away, however busy she may have been. According to her biographer Peter Seyersted, the reason for Chopin’s love for her children was their directness, their lack of sophistication, and their unconcern for status and wealth (Byrd, pg.1) much like her portrayal of Odile’s children. In “Regret”, Kate Chopin reveals the joys and caring that motherhood brings to an individual has no comparison. Kate Chopin explores the richness of motherhood, and the reward it brings through the story of Aurelie who soon realizes what is amiss in her life because of her decision not to marry (Byrd, pg.10). Aurelie is happy with her life as a spinster and the moment of regret in her awakens, when she is able to indulge her maternal instincts while taking care of Odile’s children, and for two weeks she basks in the glow of this love. When Aurelie sees the children coming to her, it looked to her that they “might have fallen from the clouds, so unexpected and bewildering was their coming, and so unwelcome”. The use of the words “fallen from the clouds” alludes to the fact that children are angelic (pg.11), in keeping with Chopin’s attitude towards them. Mamzelle Aurelie reluctantly agrees to look after the children and her “critical eye” goes out to the four tots, each in varying stages of infancy. Her lack of experience with children makes the first few days a harrowing experience because she soon realizes that however dirty and unkempt children maybe, they are “not little pigs.” She soon learns that each child is different from the other with all their idiosyncrasies and that “they require and demand attentions…which she was ill-prepared to give.” Linda J. Byrd highlights Aurelie’s inadequacies in dealing with children, when in a moment of sheer exasperation, Aurelie tells Aunt Ruby that she would “rather manage a dozen plantation’ than fo’ chil’ren.” The plantations would be easier to look after since “there is not so much personal investment.”(Byrd, 11) Aurelie soon begins to enjoy “Ti Nomme’s sticky fingers” as well as his “moist kisses” and most of all she revels in the ‘laughing, the crying, and the chattering that echoes through the house and around it all day long.” Chopin conveys the “warm feelings experienced by Aurelie” (Byrd, 11), which are soon to be lost to her forever, because of Odile’s sudden return. The “unwelcome” children had become an integral part of her life in the two weeks that they spent with her, that the thought of them going away causes in her “a flutter… almost agitation.” With the departure of the children, who had brought such warmth and happiness in her life, she is left to set her house in order for “the children …left a sad disorder behind them.” Aurelie is forced back into the lonely tedium of her daily life and when this realization dawns on her she breaks down crying “with sobs that seemed to tear her very soul.” Byrd says that when her maternal instincts are brought to the fore, does this strong independent woman become weak, for through the interaction with the children she is brought face to face with ‘the tragedy of an unlived life.” (Byrd, 12) Byrd reinforces what Chopin’s biographers had been saying about her maternal feelings, which although stifling at times, fulfill a basic need in women. Jennifer M Wilhite, writing about Kate Chopin’s “Regret” places emphasis on the masculinity displayed by Aurelie that comes undone when her latent maternal feelings are allowed to surface during the children’s stay with her. Wilhite sees Mamzelle Aurelie as a “strong, independent woman” who lives life on her own terms, unmarried and unregretful of her decision. She exhibits characteristics that are both feminine and masculine. Her manner of dressing is masculine. She wears a "man's hat about the farm, and an old blue army overcoat when it was cold, and sometimes top-boots." This type of dressing was unconventional for the age and also quite masculine. Her interest in life was not to have a husband and a family. She was an independent woman who had never been in love. On the other hand she was a successful farmer who had a shrewd business sense. For her times it was considered avant-garde to be a female land owner and a successful farmer. These qualities were considered masculine as it was the duty of the man to provide for the family. Aurelie isn’t the epitome of feminism and she had let her male characteristics eclipse her femininity. She did not seem to possess maternal instincts and was not very forthcoming when she had to care of her neighbor’s children. She did not believe, like other women her age, that children were a blessing from God. Instead she considered them as "to all intents and purposes, [the children] might have fallen from the clouds, so unexpected and bewildering was their coming, and so unwelcome”. Aurelie is given the glimpse of the life she had willfully disregarded. The children do kindle some maternal instincts in her. An immense sense of regret consumes Aurelie as she had willingly forsaken a family life. She had thought nothing of refusing a proposal of marriage that she received at the age of twenty. She had built a life for herself and was content to be alone and lead a stable life. After the departure of the children she found her surroundings eerily silent. She missed the children and the disorder that they had created. She does indulge in crying for a while but is quick to revert to her old mannerisms. . "She cried like a man, with sobs that seemed to tear her very soul." Her feminine ways departed with the children and she did not hold on to the feelings that bonded her with the children. Kate Chopin’s work reflects upon her life and her stories are an extension of her own experiences and the desires that arose, for freedom, due to the events that shaped her life. Toth, believes that Kate’s feminist tendencies were shaped because she did not grow up in a “typical nineteenth century patriarchal household, in which a powerful husband ruled the roost…” (Toth, “Unveiling Kate” 11) Seyersted, her biographer believed that she enjoyed the luxuries which being alone brought with it (Hicks) But Kate Chopin did not wholly agree with women’s liberation, as can be seen here also, since she ends the story by showing that lack of children in a woman’s life prevent her from feeling completely fulfilled. ‘Regret’ may be read as a story about women’s independence, but the denouement clearly reveals that Chopin was not wholly wedded to the ideal of women’s independence. In her life too, she had enjoyed marital bliss but the death of her husband at an early age freed her from the traditional role of a wife as a man’s mate, while leaving her with the gift of children, who were her treasured assets. In ‘Regret’ we thus have Chopin idealizing children as those who affect “the lives of adults in many ways: they may pacify, heal, enlighten, comfort and love” (Skaggs 27). Regret is another fine example of the genre of short story, in which Chopin had great mastery and as seen in this piece, she could convey such a profound idea in the space of a few pages. It is this which has made Kate Chopin a star in the pantheon of American writers. References Toth, Emily. "Kate Chopin's The Awakening as Feminist Criticism." Louisiana Studies 15 (Fall 1976), 241-251. Per Seyersted, Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969). Skaggs, Peggy. Kate Chopin. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985. Linda J. Byrd, Ph.D. Maternal Influence and Children in Kate Chopin’s Short Fiction 1999 Davis, Sara deSaussure. “Kate Chopin.” Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 12: American Realists and Naturalists (1982): 59-71. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Pace Univ., Mortola Library. 3 Mar. 2008 Author evaluations: Kate Chopin: A positive influence for http://www.helium.com/items/805678-author-evaluations-kate-chopin-a-positive-influence-for-feminists?page=2 By accessing and printing out this paper, you agree to be http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/pdf/Byrd.pdf Kate Chopin’s Life and Personal Influence http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=research_awards Kate Chopin's "Regret": A Brief Summary and analysis: Awakening http://americanfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/kate_chopins_regret VALE - Union County College http://faculty.ucc.edu/english-chewning/chopin%20davis.htm Read More