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Born Catherine O'Flaherty on July 12, 1850,
in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1855, her father,
Thomas O'Flaherty died suddenly, and so, at
five years old, Kate was forced to reshape
her concept of herself and her world, which
at that time largely revolved around the
father figure as the center of the
household. After her father's death, Kate's
family included her widowed mother, her
widowed grandmother and her widowed
great-grandmother.
In June, 1870,
Kate married Oscar Chopin of New Orleans, a
Creole cotton broker, and quite soon after
her marriage and subsequent move to New
Orleans, Louisiana, she gave birth to her
first son, Jean, in May, 1871.
During the
1870s, she fulfilled the social
responsibilities and obligations of a
prominent young wife, and bore five more
children. However, Oscar was a very forward
thinking man, who encouraged Kate to write,
and think for herself. By all accounts,
they were very happy together. When he died
suddenly in 1882 Kate was devastated. Two
years after his death, she took her children
and moved back to St. Louis to be near her
mother and relatives. Soon after this move,
though, her mother died, ending their very
close relationship.
Her book The Awakening
was published in 1899 allowing her
to finally come into her own as a novelist.
Ironically, it marked the end of her
literary career. America proved unprepared
for such a book, or for Kate Chopin, who had
the audacity to write about woman's
emotional and sexual needs. Such matters
were not discussed in 1899. She was
criticized and ostracized for her work and
she took the public’s reaction very hard.
She never got over being misunderstood. In
1904, Kate Chopin died in St. Louis.
Read our
book
review
of The Awakening.
For more books by and about Kate Chopin (click here)! |
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