Amariz Antillon
Professor Evans
En-123 Composition & Literature
7 April 2015
Let the Love Pour In
The short story, “Regret,” by Kate Chopin portrays a woman struggling to accept her loneliness and regret of never having children. In this story, Chopin is saying that in order to experience life fully, a woman needs a child or children to love and care for, and, if the woman is not a part of mother hood, she will live to regret it. Chopin begins the story with mentioning how independent the main character, Mamzelle Aurlie, is and then, after watching four children, Chopin ends the story with how alone and full of regret the character is (Chopin). Although modern views of the definition of a woman may seem to be in complete contrast to what is being portrayed in “Regret,” there are also many ways in which “Regret,” reflects and has influenced the modern look at womanhood. Mamzelle Aurlie’s independence, her conflict of having to suddenly watch four children, and, in the end, her regret, develop the idea of womanhood and happiness being incomplete without a child or children in Kate Chopin’s story “Regret.”
This story shows two different sides of a woman, an independent side and a dependent side. Chopin starts the story off with mentioning how independent the character, Mamzelle Aurlie, is by saying, “Mamzelle Aurlie had never thought of marrying. She had never been in love. At the age of twenty she had received a proposal, which she had promptly declined, and at the age of fifty she had not yet lived to regret it” (Chopin). Her independence is what defines Mamzelle Aurlie, she lives on a farm alone with her dog and she feels content with her life. For her, life is not about depending on other people, but about being strong and independent enough to take care of herself. Chopin is portraying, at the beginning, Mamzelle Aurlie as a strong woman who does not