The Kiss: Kate Chopin

 

Story: The Kiss by Kate Chopin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRqt825Ugck

About Story Writer

      Kate Chopin was an American author born on February 8, 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri. She is best known for her novel "The Awakening," which explores the struggles of a woman seeking independence in the late 19th century. Chopin's writing often focused on themes of women's rights, gender roles, and the complexities of human relationships. Despite facing criticism for her frank portrayal of female sexuality, Chopin's work has since been celebrated for its insightful depiction of the human experience. She passed away on August 22, 1904, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Characters in the Story

a.      Mr. Brantain- not a good-looking person but a wealthy man,

b.     Nathalie – a young beautiful but greedy girl, plans to marry a wealthy man, has an affair with Mr. Harvy and Mr. Brantain

c.      Mr. Harvy – a handsome man, an intimate friend of Nathalie

d.     Nathalie’s Brother

The setting of the Story

The narrative takes place in the home of Nathalie and her brother, at another unspecified place, and at the location of Brantain and Nathalie's wedding. The social setting of the narrative looks at the condition of women during the 19^th century and explores Nathalie’s characters in the light of the feminist movement.

Themes of the Story

The major themes such as the role of money over love, exploitation, and acceptance. These themes have been applied in the story to present the fact that one can’t always achieve two things at once.

The Central Idea of the story

In Kate Chopin's short story "The Kiss," the central idea revolves around the theme of desire and its consequences. The story follows Nathalie, a young woman engaged to be married, who becomes infatuated with a married man named Brantain. Despite her engagement, Nathalie engages in a flirtatious relationship with Brantain, culminating in a kiss. However, the kiss does not bring her the satisfaction she expects, and instead, she feels guilt and remorse for her actions. Chopin explores the complexities of desire, highlighting how it can lead to disillusionment and regret.

Summary of the Story

In the story, in a dim room of a restaurant, an elderly man, Brantain sits in a shadow. He braves himself to stare at the handsome girl, Nathalie (in the story, a girl, Nathalie is said to be handsome) who sits in front of the light. The girl calmly hits her cat and occasionally stares slowly toward Brantain with small talk. She knows that Brantain loves her. She is waiting for Brantain confidently to declare his love and she will certainly accept it. Brantain is enormously rich although he is unattractive, Nathalie loves his wealth. 

When they paused their talk, a young man, Harvy entered there and gave a passionate kiss to Nathalie. The girl turned to him and before she warned him of Brantain's presence, he gave her a passionate kiss. Brantain feels that he is cheated by Nathalie. Then, Brantain stood up and left the restaurant saying "goodbye". Nathalie showed her anger to Harvy for not knocking on the door but Harvy provided a reasonable excuse. He said that he and her brother had come to search for her in the restaurant. Her brother went upstairs and he came there hoping to find her there. After this incident, she started searching Brantain. As she met him, she made him trust her explanation about Harvy and her relationship. She said that Harvy and her brother were friends, so she considered Harvy as her brother. Now, Brantain believed her words and they decided to get married.

At their wedding, Brantain even allowed Harvy to kiss his bride because he did not want to interrupt Harvy and Nathalie's relationship. Harvy went to visit Nathalie and said that Brantain had sent him to kiss her. Knowing about that thing, Nathalie was glad. Her lips looked hungry for the kiss. At this time, Nathalie is like a chess player who has arranged all him so that she is about to win. It means that she has arranged in one place to Brantain, and she handles successfully to her boyfriend in another. Accidentally, Harvy changed his mood and did not want to kiss Nathalie. He did not want to come in the middle of Nathalie and Bratain. He told her that he had stopped kissing any women and kissing women. However, she was happy getting a wealthy husband, Brantain.

Possible Questions from the Story

a.      Who are the characters in "The Kiss" by Kate Chopin and what are their characteristics?

The three characters in Kate Chopin’s short story “The Kiss” are Nathalie, Brantain, and Harvy. As with much of Kate Chopin’s work, this story sheds light on women’s lives and their place in society. Here, the story’s focus is on Nathalie’s efforts to ensure she marries Brantain, a rich man, despite her apparent attachment to Harvy.

The characters are seen to some extent through the eyes of the other characters so our knowledge of their characteristics is affected by this. Brantain, for example, is described as being “rather insignificant and unattractive” as well as “enormously rich." These characteristics are seen at least in part through the point of view of Nathalie. Likewise, Nathalie is described at first through the eyes of Brantain; she is apparently “very handsome” and also “composed."

Brantain is described as "a frank, blustering fellow without guile enough to conceal his feelings, and no desire to do so." He comes across as a well-meaning, jovial, kind man, somebody who Nathalie is easily able to manipulate. Meanwhile, Harvy is seen purely through his actions and conversation with Nathalie. He comes across as confident and self-assured. Unwilling to be manipulated by Nathalie, he refuses to enter into her games and does not simply do as she hopes.

Nathalie is shown throughout the story to be manipulative and calculating in the pursuit of her plan. Consider, for example, how she describes her relationship with Harvy to Brantain, saying exactly what is needed to reassure him and make sure he is still interested in her. Without this intervention, Brantain would simply have backed off, as he does in the scene where Harvy kisses Nathalie. She hopes to marry well, and also maintain a romantic attachment with Harvy, and it looks, until the end. like she might succeed: “She felt like a chess player who, by the clever handling of his pieces, sees the game taking the course intended.”

We learn much about each character and their emotions and values by observing their reactions and responses. It is helpful to think, for example, about what we learn about their attitudes to money, love, pride, friendship, honesty, and communication through the events of the story. At the same time, it is useful to add the context of the social setting to their values and consider how this impacts their behavior.

b.     Who are the protagonists and antagonists in "The Kiss" by Kate Chopin?

The protagonist is the character who is trying to achieve something and the antagonist is the character who is trying to stop them. If you side most with Nathalie, you would therefore say that she is the protagonist and the antagonist, the person who is stopping her from achieving her dreams and goal, is the rather foolish and ignorant Brantain who sees her with Harry and then threatens to break off their relationship.

However, if you see things the other way around, you could argue that the rather naive Brantain is the protagonist and that Nathalie is the antagonist. She is a calculating individual who has no love for Brantain at all and only wants the wealth and prestige that marriage to him would give her. If we take this view of the story, then Brantain is the poor man who cannot be saved from the rather sinister designs placed on him by Nathalie, and Brantain is therefore the protagonist with Nathalie being his beautiful opponent.

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