A Comparative Study of Women Characters in Kate Chopin's Short Stories

This essay analyzes the portrayal of women characters in Kate Chopin's short stories, focusing on the distinction between round and flat characters. The essay examines how Chopin crafts characters like Louise Mallard in "The Story of an Hour" as dynamic, round characters who undergo significant transformations, contrasting them with flat characters such as Josephine, who serve primarily to highlight the development of other characters. The analysis extends to the enigmatic woman in “Her Letters” and other examples, exploring the characteristics of both round characters, marked by complexity and change, and flat characters, lacking depth and development. The essay emphasizes Chopin's skill in using contrasting character types to explore themes of female identity, desire, and societal constraints, showcasing her artistic genius in weaving these characters into compelling narratives. The reference list includes various critical sources that support the analysis of Chopin's works.

Running head: WOMEN CHARACTERS KATE CHOPIN
Women Characters Kate Chopin
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1WOMEN CHARACTERS KATE CHOPIN
Some of the remarkable characters of Kate Chopin can be found set against the
backdrop of America nearing the end of 19th century, who are far away from being confined
to the roles of traditional women. However, some of the characters who deserve high literary
merit can be found in the short stories “A Respectable Woman”, “The Story of an Hour”,
“The Storm” and “Her Letters”. Throughout the works that Chopin has published, many are
held in the light of sheer artistic brilliance and a complete different portrayal of female
characters who were slowly reawakening to their own desires and aspirations. However, not
every character conceived in the tory deserve attention since some are created solely to
epitomize the brilliance of the rest. In this respect some of the characters are well-developed
and round whereas others are flat by being mere reflection of womanish traits. Thesis
Statement: Chopin has made some of his characters flat while a majority of extraordinary
characters are made round or dynamic characters. The essay will explore these flat and round
characters as presented by Chopin by enumerating what flat and round characters denote.
Topic Sentence: A round character should be realistic and dynamic and should
have undergone a remarkable change by the end of the story. In “The Story of an Hour”,
Louis Mallard who is afflicted with serious heart issues, as the story unfolds, Louis comes to
know about the sad demise of her husband which further accentuates her feeling of desolation
and misery. However, the literary merit of the author lies in crafting the character of a woman
in such a manner who as if almost like an epiphany discover her thirst for freedom and
decides to come out unfettered from the chains of marriage and family (Gale). She is a
wonderful example of a round character since she has been manifested with a number of
transformative phases, and the readers come to encounter a radically different Louis Mallard
than he had in the starting of the story. The brilliancy of her character lies in the slow
discovery that she makes about herself, her self-discovery helps the character withstand a

2WOMEN CHARACTERS KATE CHOPIN
major transformation making her of the most riveting round character in the annals of
literature.
Topic Sentence: Round or dynamic characters should bear an air of mystery and
obscurity. Another interesting character to interpret has to be the anonymous woman
portrayed in ‘Her Letters” is a complex character who rekindles love for her past lover and
consequently enters into conflicting relationship with her own self (McConnell). Much of the
logic and answers of the story are kept in the dark and more so after the death of the woman.
One of the interesting aspects of a complex character is enigma and mystery that surround the
character like a hallo. In this regard Chopin’s woman is sheer literary art and exemplary of
round characters. Her enigma lies in her lack of explicitness and number of questions that
surrounds regarding her decisions that twist the story.
Topic Sentence: One of the characteristics of flat character is that they hardly
ingratiate within themselves any substantial growth during the course of the narrative.
Therefore one of the major examples of such an instance has to be Josephine who in The
Story of an Hour who has been sketched in a poor fashion solely for the development of
Mallard. Josephine, the sister of Ms. Mallard is the perfect example of a flat character, even
the readers hardly read her engaging into anything apart from imploring to her sister
(Morgan). Another interesting character study to explore more about flat characters would be
Clarissa who demonstrates one of the essential aspects of flat character, a character who is
not indispensable or essential for the progression or linear development of the story. Clarissa
is indeed quite inconsequential in the story especially when we study her side by side Calixta
and Alce Laballiere (Belzer, Alisa, and Pickard). Chopin has invested little or nothing into
the character that would amount to a significant transformation in her essential elements and
therefore it can be firmly deduced that Clarissa is a flat woman character of Kate Chopin’s
creation.

3WOMEN CHARACTERS KATE CHOPIN
Topic Sentence: According to E.M Foster, a flat character is a uninvolved and
unadorned character bereft of any depth or complexity that would elevate them to a
character of high literary standard. In this respect The Awakening has careful to juxtapose
flat and round women characters like Edna who is the protagonist of the novel a character
replete with complexities and consciousness (Bhatt). In this scenario, Adele Ratignolle who
is the bosom friend of Edna is rather shallow in her representation as she is indeed a
dimwitted character fettered by familial love that is the reason behind many decisions. As a
character she is very little more than her essential self that identifies her as a stereotypical
nineteenth century woman contend with her simpleton manners and life that is restrictive and
conforming. On reading the novel the readers grasp very little about Adele apart from her
childish romantic fantasies that populate her brain. Adele can never be characterized as a
static character for the quite simple reason that Chopin makes her nothing more than her role
to act as a foil for Reisz (George).
Therefore from the above discussion it is apparent that while some of the characters
are dynamic characters some others do not qualify as round characters owing to their
simplicity and mediocrity. One can never anticipate the action of these characters, who are
carefully sketched with artistic precision. Chopin has shown her true artistic genius by
interweaving these characters to knit stories that would be forever etched in readers’ mind.
Since Chopin wanted to produce range of characters to show the free spirit of New Women
in fiction she achieved it with the help of contrasting round and flat characters. In It is
interesting to note that one can find both static and dynamic characters in Kate Chopin
repertoire like Adele and Mallard to help the readers draw pleasure from the sheer
contradiction.

4WOMEN CHARACTERS KATE CHOPIN
Reference List:
Belzer, Alisa, and Amy Pickard. "From heroic victims to competent comrades: Views of
adult literacy learners in the research literature." Adult Education Quarterly 65.3 (2015): 250-
266.
Bhatt, Aparna. "The New Woman and Her Doomed Fate in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the
Obscure and Kate Chopin’s the Awakening." (2018).
De Cima Juárez, Marta. "The New Woman in Kate Chopin’s Short Fiction." (2015).
Fletcher, Marie. "The Southern Woman in the Fiction of Kate Chopin." Louisiana
History (1966): 117-132.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Kate Chopin's" The Storm". Gale, Cengage
Learning, 2016.
George, Sarah Forest. "A Vanishing Act: The Invisible Quadroons of Chopin’s the
Awakening." Ethos Review 2.1 (2015).
McConnell, Mikaela. "A lost sense of self by ignoring other in The Awakening by Kate
Chopin." The Explicator 72.1 (2014): 41-44.
Morgan, Thomas L. "Criticizing Local Color: Innovative Conformity in Kate Chopin's Short
Fiction." Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory 70.1
(2014): 135-171.
O’Donoghue, Kate, and Heather Ostman, eds. Kate Chopin in Context: New Approaches.
Springer, 2016.
Ostman, Heather, and Kate O’Donoghue. "Introduction: Kate Chopin in Context: New
Approaches." Kate Chopin in Context. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015. 1-11.