A Respectable Woman

Though Devotion Versus Desire is among its central themes, “A Respectable Woman” is not primarily a love story, at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, it concerns a woman’s internal battle to understand and accept her authentic self. The central conflict occurs entirely within Mrs. Baroda’s inner world. Her perceptions, though seldom fully revealed through the narration, are the principal organizing force in the narrative.

More than being torn between which man she will choose, Mrs. Baroda is conflicted over who she will become. The dilemma emerges upon her first impulse of passion for Gouvernail, when she longs to touch and speak to him sensually, “as she might have done if she had not been a respectable woman” (Paragraph 26). This reference to the story’s title indicates the main conflict: whether Mrs. Baroda will give into the desire that has been unconsciously building within her, or make the choice of a dutiful wife and “respectable woman.” Judging by her prompt withdrawal from the interaction and her hasty departure for the city, she seems to choose her longstanding idea of respectability—but her disposition is protean throughout the story, and the narrative does not fully disclose her rationale or intentions. This ambiguity culminates in the story’s ending, when Mrs. Baroda proposes reinviting Gouvernail and declares she has “overcome everything.” These are the story’s final lines, but their meaning—and, therefore, the story’s ultimate interpretation—is left up to readers. Mrs. Baroda may mean that she has overcome her feelings for Gouvernail, but she also may mean that she has overcome her deference to society’s expectations for “a respectable woman.” While the former scenario would redound to her commitment and self-control, the latter path could involve her following these puzzling new desires and becoming a new, unknown, independent woman.

Calling upon techniques of both Realism and Romanticism, the narrative utilizes dialogue, symbolism, and juxtaposition to render the three characters and highlight the growing conflict within Mrs. Baroda. The way Gaston talks to his wife is Realistic in its use of dialect. He refers to her by affectionate French expressions, a detail that solidifies the Louisiana plantation setting while also adding to the portrait of a loving marriage. Their conversations’ punctuation by physical interactions also adds to the portrait: While talking, Gaston “takes his wife’s pretty face between his hands” (Paragraph 11), and in their conversation at the end of the story, she “presses a long, tender kiss upon his lips” (Paragraph 33). Such Realism portrays the marriage with a certain warmth and intimacy.

However, Chopin uses symbolism to juxtapose this happy image against the constraints that come with that marriage, particularly for the woman. For example, Mrs. Baroda’s first name is never given; she is known either by her married name or by the affectionate French names her husband gives her. This symbolizes her duty and devotion to her husband, but also the extent to which her identity is tied to being Mr. Baroda’s wife. The white scarf, which Gouvernail presents to Mrs. Baroda at the request of her husband, is also a symbolic reminder of both the warmth and wrappings of her wifely role. This juxtaposition between a happy marriage and the strict confines of wifehood also features in Chopin’s other writings, perhaps most notably in “The Story of the Hour.” In this short story, Louise Mallard tries to reconcile her grief over her husband’s death with a new sense of freedom that comes from no longer being a wife. By highlighting women’s difficulties and constraints within marriage—even a peaceful marriage—Chopin illuminated a hidden struggle for the women of her era. This has contributed to her reputation as an early feminist author.

In stark contrast to the affectionate, grounded Gaston is his puzzling, reflective, poetically inclined friend. While Gaston is characterized by literary Realism, Gouvernail’s characterization is more Romantic. Dialogue draws focus to his Romantic qualities, particularly his introspection and his relationship to nature and the physical world. Gouvernail’s dialogue consistently involves a response to nature. He even quotes two lines from the Romantic poet Walt Whitman’s 1855 poem “Song of Myself,” which is famous for its individualism, sensuality, and celebration of the natural world.

During the climactic scene where Gouvernail is talking into the night and Mrs. Baroda realizes her attraction toward him, the quality of her internal narrative shifts, becoming more physically oriented and full of sensory detail:

Her physical being was for the moment predominant. She was not thinking of his words, only drinking in the tones of his voice. She wanted to reach out her hand to him in the darkness and touch him with the sensitive tips of her fingers upon the lips or the face. She wanted to whisper against his cheek—she did not care what—as she might have done if she was not a respectable woman (Paragraph 25).

This stylistic change expresses individualism, physical desire, and emotion in a way that is unprecedented for Mrs. Baroda. This change is also prompted by Gouvernail and possibly by his Romantic qualities.

As the protagonist increasingly feels drawn by individualism and physical desire, she is confronted by The Allure of the Unknown and the possibility of becoming a different woman. While these themes align with the Romantic sensibility, the execution is different in a significant way: Romanticism typically highlighted the emotions and individuality of men, while treating women as idealized objects of desire. In “A Respectable Woman,” Chopin reinterprets the Romantic vision through a female perspective. Further, she draws upon both Realism and Romanticism to do something atypical of either literary movement: to illustrate the reality of domestic life for women of the time while also suggesting that women might yearn for a different, more independent identity. Chopin’s ability to simultaneously emulate and subvert various literary traditions is one reason she is so celebrated today.