Illustrated Response
Kate Chopin was a writer in the literary period known as Realism. Her worked delved into the inner workings of the household and featured displays of women serving their husbands and families and staying within the home. Some of Chopin’s common themes are motherhood and women’s roles in the household. This pictures gives a very accurate depiction of a Nineteenth century house wife (mother) tending to her primary responsibilities, such as caring for her child at all times. The woman in the picture is watching over her, possibly sick, child. Also, one can notice that she is sewing while patiently waiting at her child’s bedside. Much of Chopin’s work portrays the nineteenth century woman’s role as a dutiful mother and diligent housewife. Many of her stories show how the women do not complain and simply go about their lives day in and day out. Her work shows how different women’s roles were in the 1800’s compared to now. Women of the Nineteenth Century were still viewed as subservient to men and were generally expected to tend to house chores and children doing things such as laundry, cleaning, cooking, and caring for their families. A very common theme in Chopin’s work was pregnancy and child rearing. It seemed that Chopin had a very keen motherly sense and reflected this in her work. Often people take for granted their freedoms, and literary works from other periods provide very accurate historical lessons showing us how life used to be for those less free and less fortunate than ourselves.
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