First published in 1916, James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” is his first novel. A Kunstlerroman, or “artist’s novel” it describes the life of Steven Dedalus from childbirth, through his schooling and finally to his full blossoming as an artist. Loosely based on the author’s life and ritten in a mix of third person and indirect speech, the novel served as a basis for Joyce’s more experimental novels “Ulysses” (1922) and Finne ...
Kate Chopin’s “A Reflection” is a reflection on the fortunes of life. It is a meditation on how some people succeed by harnessing their energy effectively while others get left behind. ...
In “The Locket”, a confederate soldier declines his fellow soldiers’ request to reveal the contents of the locket around his neck. The locket, which holds pictures of his fiancee’s parents and the date of their wedding is found on the battlefield after a battle. Later, the soldier’s fiancee visits the battlefield with the soldier’s father, both shaken with grief. The soldier’s father asks his son’s fiancee to remove her veil, as it contrasts too ...
In «A Pair of Silk Stockings», Mrs. Sommers, a once wealthy woman who has fallen on hard times comes into possession of a small fortune of $15. Planning to spend the money on clothing for her children, she becomes sidetracked at a shop counter, entranced by the smoothness of a pair of silk stockings. She goes on to spend the money on the stockings as well as new boots and gloves for herself. In succumbing to “mechanical impulses that direct her ...
In «A Respectable Woman», Mrs. Baroda, the wife of a wealthy sugar plantation owner plays hostess to Mr. Gouvernail, a friend of her husband’s. The reserved Mr. Gouvernail is a puzzle to Mrs. Baroda who is nonetheless intrigued by the man’s retiring nature. When the two speak to each other outside one evening, Mrs. Baroda wants to get closer to her guest but realizes this would be at odds with her position as a “respectable woman”. First publish ...
In “Desiree’s Baby”, the adopted daughter of a wealthy prewar French Creole couple is courted by the son of another wealthy, respected French Creole family. After they marry, their child is born with dark skin and believed to have African ancestry, a problem for a prewar white family. Accused of dishonesty by her husband, the mother, Desiree, and her child walk off into the bayou, never to be seen again. But when the father finds a letter from h ...
In “Ma’ame Pelagie”, two women inhabit the ruins of their coastal Louisiana plantation, hoarding their pennies so they can restore it to its pre-Civil war glory. Ma’am Pelagie and her younger sister, Pauline sip coffee on the veranda and share stories about the house’s glorious past and their own narrow escape from danger during the war. When their niece arrives from the city for a visit, the sisters are compelled to make a hard choice about the ...
In «Beyond the Bayou», La Folle, an ex-slave, lives on an island cut off from the her old home and is afraid to venture back onto the bayou. When a small drought dries up the shallow waters between her home and the bayou, she spends some time with the son of her former master. When the son, whom she calls “Cheri” accidentally shoots himself in the leg, La Folle must overcome her fear of the unknown and go back to the bayou to alert his parents. ...
Unsatisfied with the expectations of Creole society and unhappy with her family life, Edna Pontellier begins to fall in love with the dapper Robert Lebrun. Lebrun's flirtations, along with the lifestyle of renown musician Mademoiselle Reisz, rejuvenates Edna's sense of freedom and independence. However, an affair with the womanizer Alcee Arobin provides Edna with a taste of the danger that comes with living outside of social convention ...
