Kate Chopin Research Paper

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Kate Chopin: The Taboos of Society Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho states, "I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfill our destiny, but our fate is sealed." As a female living in the South during the early 1900s, Kate Chopin provides in-depth understand of the struggles and feelings of captivity that women felt because of society's oppression. Chopin's female protagonists, such as Edna Pontellier, illustrate the inevitable fate of those who tries to alter their fate upon receiving a glimpse of freedom. Rather than promoting the act of social taboos such as infidelity, Chopin wants people to stop…show more content…
Chopin's protagonist, Calixta , contradicts the devastating consequences associated with infidelity by becoming happy and pleasant to her husband and son after having committed a social taboo. Upon the return of her husband and son, Calixta surprises her husband by "[expressing] nothing but satisfaction at their safe return" , causing joy and relieve for her husband, who has been "composing" various "explanations and apologizes" for his absent (Chopin, "The Storm" 5). Calixta and her husband both enjoy the happiness and animated attitude that Calixta receives from her act of infidelity. Rather than becoming depressed or feeling guilty about her unfaithfulness, Calixta feels carefree and indulgent, feelings that helps to alleviate the feelings of boredom and void that she harbors toward her marriage before the affair. Like individuals who enjoy extreme sports because of the adrenaline rush that they experience when performing an unusual and uncommon act, Chopin's female protagonists' happiness after her sexual experience with another man can come from an internal feeling of liberation. Unlike their husbands and male counterparts, women live a sheltered and often humdrum lifestyle due to society's expectation and belief that women are fragile beings that needs to be protected, even from

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