{"product_id":"kate-chopin-a-critical-biography-9780807106785","title":"Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography","description":"\u003cp\u003eKate Chopin was a nationally acclaimed short story artist of the local color school when she in 1899 shocked the American reading public with \u003ci\u003eThe Awakening\u003c\/i\u003e, a novel which much resembles \u003ci\u003eMadame Bovary\u003c\/i\u003e. 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor decades the few critics who remembered her concentrated on the regional aspects of her work. In the \u003ci\u003eLiterary History of the United States\u003c\/i\u003e, where Kate Chopin is highly praised as a local colorist, \u003ci\u003eThe Awakening\u003c\/i\u003e is not even mentioned. In recent years, however, a few critics have given new attention to the novel, emphasizing its courageous realism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMr. 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Awakening\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePer Seyersted (1921-2005) also edited \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Works of Kate Chopin.\u003c\/i\u003e He was a professor of American literature at the University of Oslo.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"LSU Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50845403250962,"sku":"9780807106785","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2b58b0d3-2305-447d-8e9d-dd07972c1556.jpg?v=1737350181","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/kate-chopin-a-critical-biography-9780807106785","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}