What do you think?
Rate this book
Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography
Kate Chopin was a nationally acclaimed short story artist of the local color school when she in 1899 shocked the American reading public with The Awakening , a novel which much resembles Madame Bovary . Though the critics praised the artistic excellence of the book, it was generally condemned for its objective treatment of the sensuous, independent heroine. Deeply hurt by the censure, Mrs. Chopin wrote little more, and she was soon forgotten.
For decades the few critics who remembered her concentrated on the regional aspects of her work. In the Literary History of the United States , where Kate Chopin is highly praised as a local colorist, The Awakening is not even mentioned. In recent years, however, a few critics have given new attention to the novel, emphasizing its courageous realism.
In the present book, Mr. Seyersted carries out an extensive re-examination of both the life and work of the author, basing it on her total oeuvre. Much new Kate Chopin material, such as previously unknown stories, letters, and a diary, has recently come to light. We can now see that she was a much more ambitious and purposeful writer than we have hitherto known. From the beginning, her special theme was female self-assertion. As each new success increased her self-confidence, she grew more and more daring in her descriptions of emancipated woman who wants to dictate her own life.
Mr. Seyersted traces the author’s growth as an artist and as a penetrating interpreter of the female condition, and shows how her career culminated in The Awakening and the unknown story ‘The Storm.’ With these works, which were decades ahead of their time, Kate Chopin takes her place among the important American realist writers of the 1890’s.
For decades the few critics who remembered her concentrated on the regional aspects of her work. In the Literary History of the United States , where Kate Chopin is highly praised as a local colorist, The Awakening is not even mentioned. In recent years, however, a few critics have given new attention to the novel, emphasizing its courageous realism.
In the present book, Mr. Seyersted carries out an extensive re-examination of both the life and work of the author, basing it on her total oeuvre. Much new Kate Chopin material, such as previously unknown stories, letters, and a diary, has recently come to light. We can now see that she was a much more ambitious and purposeful writer than we have hitherto known. From the beginning, her special theme was female self-assertion. As each new success increased her self-confidence, she grew more and more daring in her descriptions of emancipated woman who wants to dictate her own life.
Mr. Seyersted traces the author’s growth as an artist and as a penetrating interpreter of the female condition, and shows how her career culminated in The Awakening and the unknown story ‘The Storm.’ With these works, which were decades ahead of their time, Kate Chopin takes her place among the important American realist writers of the 1890’s.
- GenresBiography
252 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 1980
2 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Per Seyersted
12 booksPer Eynert Seyersted var dr. philos. og professor ved Amerikansk Institutt ved Universitetet i Oslo.
Per Seyersted tilhørte den norske slekta Sejersted som opprinnelig kommer fra gården Seierstad eller Serstad i Østre Toten. Han var bror av juristen Finn Seyersted og tidligere direktør Knut Seyersted (1917–87). Han var gift med professor fil.dr. Brita Seyersted.
Seyersted tok sin master ved Harvard University i 1959, dr.philos i 1969. Han var ansatt ved Universitetet i Oslo og arbeidet ved Amerikansk Institutt som foreleser i amerikansk litteratur fra 1968 til 1991. Han var internasjonalt kjent for sine biografiske verker om den amerikanske 1900-talls forfatterinnen Kate Chopin (Katherine O'Flaherty).
Per Seyersted tilhørte den norske slekta Sejersted som opprinnelig kommer fra gården Seierstad eller Serstad i Østre Toten. Han var bror av juristen Finn Seyersted og tidligere direktør Knut Seyersted (1917–87). Han var gift med professor fil.dr. Brita Seyersted.
Seyersted tok sin master ved Harvard University i 1959, dr.philos i 1969. Han var ansatt ved Universitetet i Oslo og arbeidet ved Amerikansk Institutt som foreleser i amerikansk litteratur fra 1968 til 1991. Han var internasjonalt kjent for sine biografiske verker om den amerikanske 1900-talls forfatterinnen Kate Chopin (Katherine O'Flaherty).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2018
Read this one for research purposes. Thorough, but written in a pedantic style that made for slow going.
Want to read
June 30, 2009Great background intel on a project I'm working on.
May 5, 2012
It was nice book you can learn how to be independent person,
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews