A Pair of Silk Stockings

by Kate Chopin

2 Installments—Entirely free

(Preview)

Members' Rating: from 9 Ratings and 1 Review

Tags: Classics, Short Stories, Women

ISBN:1588276627

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About the Author

Born in St. Louis to a comfortable family, Kate Chopin (1851-1904) grew up a voracious reader. After her education, she was married at the early age of twenty. By age twenty-eight, she had borne six children. Although Chopin and her husband settled in New Orleans originally, strained finances forced their family to relocate to rural Louisiana. Here, Chopin began to make observations into human nature and society that would fuel the striking characters and settings of her later writings. Chopin's husband died suddenly, and she moved her family back to St. Louis, where she was further shattered by the subsequent death of her mother. When her family doctor suggested writing as a way to draw herself out of depression, Chopin found her calling. She enjoyed success through stories published in literary magazines, but when her novel The Awakening debuted, she found that she had pushed the boundaries of convention and propriety too far for the American public. Chopin's striking depiction of a married woman who forsakes her husband, children, and home for the love of another man was simply too much for contemporary readers. Chopin, crushed by this negative response, retreated from the spotlight. Though her works were not published for many years following her death, they are now considered to be valuable and provocative expressions of the unvoiced passions, thoughts, and ambitions of women constrained by the rules of an earlier age.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

Little Mrs. Sommers one day found herself the unexpected possessor of fifteen dollars. It seemed to her a very large amount of money, and the way in which it stuffed and bulged her worn old porte-monnaie gave her a feeling of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years.
The question of ...

Member review

5/5

Reviewed by clducasse on Mar 31, 2009

An enjoyable short story

Sweet story of a woman and her spending away from reality. I completely related to the woman and understand how a few small niceties can change your day/year/life.

Ratings for 'A Pair of Silk Stockings' by Chopin, Kate

babblative		2009-03-23
BabsG		2008-12-07
bekha16		2009-05-12
clducasse	Read review	2009-03-31
deannathegreat		2009-01-30
lizkies		2008-10-30
MonicaR		2009-09-04
starrberry		2009-06-25
themoonglow		2009-05-28