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Kate Chopin Cult Of Domesticity

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Jameson Dolphy Hensch Honors Communications 10 17 January 2023 Kate Chopin Essay A group of beliefs known as the cult of domesticity was made by Barbara Welter, describing how women lived in the 1800s. The cult of domesticity defined two spheres in life; a public sphere, where the work occurs and only men belong, and a private sphere, where household duties occur and only women can survive. The cult of domesticity also described four traits that all women were expected to have in their lives; piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Finally, the cult of domesticity stated that women were physically and mentally lesser than their male counterparts. Kate Chopin wrote many stories during the 19th century. Kate Chopin wrote about the struggles …show more content…

Submissiveness, an aspect of the cult of domesticity, is present in Kate Chopin’s personal life and writing. Kate Chopin’s personal life supported the idea of women being submissive described in the cult of domesticity. When Kate Chopin was 32, her husband died and left her with his business. When Kate Chopin attempted to run the business, she failed and had to sell the business. Kate Chopin’s failure to run her late husband’s business supported that women are only capable of being submissive, and fail when they attempt to enter a competitive and difficult area where dominance is needed. In addition to Kate Chopin’s inability to run a business, Kate Chopin further proved the idea of submissiveness with her behavior while attempting to run the business. While Kate Chopin attempted to …show more content…

Following the failure of her husband’s business, Kate Chopin spent her time attempting to flirt with various men. Kate Chopin’s numerous attempts to get another man to replace her husband proves that women of the time were submissive, because as soon as her man was gone she desperately attempted to get another rather than continue on alone. The submissive attitude described in the cult of domesticity was overwhelmingly present in Kate Chopin’s writing as well as in her life. In Kate Chopin’s short story “Story of an Hour”, the main character Louise Mallard is never referred to by others as her own personal title, instead always mentioned under her husband’s name. Louise Mallard is clearly submissive throughout the story since she has no identity separate from her husband, even being put under her husband’s name after his death. Kate Chopin’s personal life and short story “Story of an Hour” both contain numerous examples of how women in the time lived according to the cult of

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