Complete stylistic analysis
The story under analysis "A Pair of Silk
Stockings"is written by a famous American author of short stories and
novels Kate Chopin. She lived and created her works in the 20-th century.
Chopin is considered one of the first feminist authors of her time. Slavery and
women's rights were realities that she incorporated in many of her stories and
sketches, portraying women in a less than conventional manner, with individual
wants and needs. Perhaps in many ways autobiographical, her exploration of
women's independence was not celebrated until many years later. Chopin was in
many ways, a woman before her time. Among her major works are two significant
short story collections :"Bayou Folk", "A Night in Acadie", and short stories :"At the Cadian Ball
", "The Story of an Hour", "The Storm", "A Pair
of Silk Stockings”, where she depicted a real life of women of that time.
The story portrays
a woman, Mrs. Sommers, who caught between different roles. She struggles with
herself with what to do with 1500 dollars that she finds herself in possession
of. Mrs. Sommers decides to buy a pair
of silk stockings. Sommers spends all the money on herself and wishes that she
didn’t have to return to her real life.
The main theme
of the story is that people who are oppressed will do strange and unexpected
things to gain personal freedom.
The events in
the analysed text happen in 1890s in a city large enough to have a department
store, a restaurant, a theatre, and cable cars. The setting is important
because it was a time of oppression for women. During this period of time
social class was also significant.
From the point
of view of presentation the text is the 3rd person narrative.
The main character
we meet in the text under analyses is Mrs. Sommers. She
is a wife and mother. Her family
is very poor, and she is trying to pick up a few items of clothing for her
children. She is an expert at finding bargains and saving money, always looking
for a good sale. She is very caring as she kept on planning late night about
the use of money for her children. But she finds a pair of silk stockings that
she desires for herself. After buying Mrs.Sommers becomes self-centered as Kate
Chopin writes “She wanted an excellent and stylish fit, she told the young
fellow who served her, and she did not mind the difference of a dollar or two
more in the price as long as she got what she desired”. She forgets about the
family needs and spends money for her own.
The types of
speech employed by the author of the analysed short story are narration and
description. "A Pair of Silk Stockings" is rather narration than a
description.
In order to
portray the characters, to describe the setting and to reveal the main idea of
the story the author resorts to some devices.
Kate Chopin
describes Mrs. Sommers’ concerns about her cheerless life using simile: “a
vision of the future like dim, gaunt monster sometimes appalled her”; “she
smiled just as if she had been asked to inspect a tiara of diamonds” portrays
Mrs.Sommers’s feelings when she is doing shopping; “she felt like lying back in
the cushioned chair”, which describes her impressions from being fitted and
dressed; “it was like a dream ended” shows the end of the best day in
Mrs.Sommers’s life; “and feel them glide serpent-like through her fingers”
describes Mrs.Sommers’s feeling when she holds the stockings.
There are some
cases of hyperboles: “she had no time - no second of time to devote to the past”
and “she was not thinking at all” are used to represent the state of mind of
Mrs.Sommers; “The damask was even more spotless than it had seemed through the
window, and the crystal, more sparkling.” is used to describe the interior in
the restaurant.
Epithets which
are used in the story depict the main character’s seeing of wealthy life: “soft
stepping waiters”, “shining crystal”, “spotless damask ”,“ gaudy woman”.
There are also
cases of personification: “her stockings and boots and well-fitting gloves had
worked marvels” and “the impulse was guiding her” show Mrs.Sommers’s desire to
spend money for her needs; “women who had gone there to kill time” is used to
show the carelessness
of rich people.
The case of
irony represent Mrs.Sommers’ scrupulousness: “She didn't want a profusion, she
craved a nice and tasty bite - a half dozen blue-points, a plumb chop with
cress, a something sweet - a creme-frappe, for instance, a glass of Rhine wine,
and after all a small cup of black coffee.”
Summing up the
analysis of the given story one should say that Kate Chopin brilliantly uses
similes, personification, hyperboles and irony which help indirectly reveal the
main character’s nature.
