Kate Chopins Regret :: Chopin Regret Essays

Kate Chopin's Regret The Question: How would you characterize Mamzelle Aurelie based on Chopin's description of her? Make reference to specific details in the story. How does her "inner self" that we see at the end of the story contrast with what we see at the beginning? Kate Chopin's story, "Regret," is about an unmarried, middle-aged woman who is suddenly given the responsibility of caring for a neighbor's small children. In the story, Chopin shows us a strong and independent person whose rough, masculine exterior hides a lonely and tender-hearted woman. Chopin begins the story with a portrait of Mamzelle Aurelie. We know that she is at least middle-aged because she has "hair that was changing from brown to gray" (461). And she has a rugged, masculine appearance. She wears a man's hat and overcoat and even topboots on occasion. She not only looks strong but is strong and capable in her every day life. She has a "determined eye"; she lives "quite alone" except for her dog, Ponto"; she runs a farm and supervises her workers, and she had a gun "with which she shot chicken- hawks" (461). However, the arrival of the neighbors children bring out a different aspect of her character. At first she tries to deal with the children almost as if they were another variety of farm animal. Thus, when they arrive, she determined "a line of action which should be identical with a line of duty," which from her point of view means feeding them. But she soon discovers that "little children are not little pigs" (462). Caring for the children requires that she awaken the feminine and maternal aspects of her nature that had been dormant. Therefore she brings out her white aprons and "got down her sewing-basket" to mend the children's clothes. She washes their feet before bed, tells them stories and even lets the youngest sleep with her.