Kate Chopin
(1851–1904)

Despite her conservative, aristocratic upbringing, Kate O'Flaherty Chopin became one of the most powerful and controversial writers of her time. In her stories, sketches, and novels, she not only captured the local color of Louisiana but also boldly explored the role of women in society.

Kate O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of a wealthy businessman. When she was 19, she married Oscar Chopin, a Louisiana cotton trader. The couple settled in New Orleans, where they lived for ten years before moving to a plantation in rural northwestern Louisiana. In 1883, Chopin's husband died, leaving her to raise her six children on her own. With her children, she returned to St. Louis and began devoting much of her energy to writing.

Influenced by American Regionalists such as Sarah Orne Jewett, Chopin's fascination of the mixture of cultures in Louisiana shows in her writing. Like most of her other works, her first novel, At Fault (1880), was set in a small Louisiana town inhabited by Creoles, descendants of the original French and Spanish settlers, and Cajuns, descendants of French Canadian settlers. Through her vivid descriptions and use of dialect, Chopin captured the local color of the region. In her stories, published in Bayou Folk (1894) and Acadie (1897), she exhibited her deep understanding of the different attitudes and concerns of the Louisiana natives. Yet her charming portraits of Louisiana life often obscured the fact that she explored the themes considered radical at the time: the nature of marriage, racial prejudice, and women's desire for social, economic, and political equality.

Her finest novel, The Awakening (1899), is a psychological account of a woman's search for independence and fulfillment. The novel explored the issues of infidelity, and therefore aroused a storm of protest. The book was severely attacked by critics and eventually banned, and Chopin's reputation was badly damaged. As a result, Chopin's work was virtually ignored for several decades after her death. Today, however, she is widely respected for her intense understanding of female psychology and her ability to capture local color.

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