- Catherine (Kate) O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850 to an Irish father and French mother. She was bilingual and educated at Sacred Heart Academy. - In 1870 she married Oscar Chopin and had six children, but her husband died of malaria in 1882. Her mother and grandmother also passed away, leaving her widowed at age 35. - She was encouraged by her friend and doctor to take up writing as a way to heal from her losses. She wrote several short stories exploring women's desires and autonomy, though her 1899 novel The Awakening was controversial at the time for its themes. Kate Chopin died in 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair

2. •Catherine (Kate) O’Flaherty was born in St.
Louis, Missouri
•Second child of Thomas O’Flaherty of County
Galway and Eliza Faris of St. Louis
•Kate was French and English, she was bilingual
and bicultural
•From 1855-1868 she attended St. Louis
Academy of the Sacred Heart
•In 1855 her father was killed in a railroad
accident
•In 1863 her beloved French-speaking great
grandmother died
•In 1870 Kate married Oscar Chopin of
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
•Between 1871 and 1879 Kate gave birth to five
sons and a daughter
•In 1882 her husband died of malaria

3. The Chopins’ home in
Cloutierville Kate Chopin’s home at
McPherson Ave in St. Louis as
it looks today

4. •At age 35 (1885) her mother died
•She was encouraged by her obstetrician and family
friend, Dr. Frederick Kolbenheyer to take up writing as a
therapeutic source of healing
•In August 22 1904 she dies from a cerebral hemorrhage
after collapsing at the St. Louis World’s Fair two days
before

5. (1899) A few critics praised the novel’s
artistry, but most were very negative,
calling the book “morbid”
“unpleasant” “unhealthy” “sordid”
“poison”

6. “A Pair of Silk Stockings
“The Story of an Hour”
“The Storm”
“At the ‘Cadian Ball”
“Desiree’s Baby”
“A Respectable Woman”
“Athenaise”

7. Kate Chopin’s Writing Style
Kate Chipton’s writing style was straightforward,
modern, and insightful. She claimed she
wasn’t a feminist and wrote about woman’s
issues she saw during her lifetime.

8. Sources
• http://www.katechopin.org/biography.shtml
• http://college.cengage.com/english/heath/syll
abuild/iguide/chopin.html
• http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/
katebio.html