A Respectable Woman

"A Respectable Woman"

Mrs. Baroda is somewhat disappointed to learn that her husband's friend Gouvernail is planning to spend a week or two at their plantation, since they had been busy all winter, and she had planned a period of rest and conversation with her husband Gaston Baroda. She has never met Gouvernail, although she knows that he and her husband had been friends in college and that he is now a journalist. She pictures him as a tall, slim, cynical man and did not like the mental image, but when she meets the slim but neither tall nor cynical Gouvernail, she finds that she actually likes him.

Mrs. Baroda cannot discern why she likes Gouvernail, since she does not see all of the positive traits described by Gaston. He does not seem brilliant, but he does seem quiet and courteous in response to her eagerness to welcome him and her husband's hospitality. He makes no particular attempt to impress her otherwise, and he enjoys sitting on the portico and listening to Gaston describe sugar planting, although he does not like to fish or hunt.

Although Gouvernail puzzles Mrs. Baroda, he is lovable and inoffensive. She leaves him alone with her husband at first but soon begins to accompany him on walks as she attempts to overcome his reticence. Her husband tells her that he will stay for another week and asks why she does not wish him to stay. She responds that she would prefer him to be more demanding, which amuses Gaston.

Gaston tells Mrs. Baroda that Gouvernail does not expect a commotion over his presence and that he simply wishes for a break from his busy life, although she declares that she expected him to be more interesting. Later that night, she sits by herself on a bench, feeling confused and wanting to leave the plantation for a while, having told her husband that she might go to the city in the morning and stay with her aunt. While she sits, Gouvernail sees her and sits next to her, not knowing her displeasure at his presence.

Gouvernail hands her a scarf on Gaston's behalf and murmurs about the night, and his silence disappears as he becomes talkative for the first time. He speaks to her of the old days and of his desire for a peaceful existence. She does not listen to his words so much as his voice, and she thinks of drawing him closer, although she resists because she is "a respectable woman." Eventually, she leaves, and Gouvernail remains behind, finishing his address to the night.

Mrs. Baroda wants to tell Gaston of her strange folly, but she realizes sensibly that she must handle this feeling by herself. The next morning, she leaves for the city and does not return until Gouvernail departs. Gaston wants Gouvernail to return the next summer, but she refuses. She later changes her mind, delighting her husband, who tells her that Gouvernail did not deserve her dislike. She kisses her husband and tells him that she has "overcome everything" and that she will now treat him more nicely.

Analysis

In "A Respectable Woman," Kate Chopin delves into the psychology of Mrs. Baroda, a wealthy woman with a loving husband who faces temptation in the person of Gouvernail, a polite, unassuming visitor to the Baroda plantation. Like the heroine of "A Pair of Silk Stockings," Mrs. Baroda is enticed early in the story with the prospect of a change from a quieter, more ordinary life, but whereas Mrs. Sommers gives in to her desires with relative ease and begins spending her extra money after limited deliberation, Mrs. Baroda does not instantly recognize what she really wants and eventually struggles with the self-imposed limitations of her identity as "a respectable woman."

Nevertheless, just as the narrative implies that she has found the strength to triumph over her emotions, Mrs. Baroda approaches her husband and offers a sweetly ambiguous statement that reopens the question of her intent to act upon her emotions. She tells him, "I have overcome everything! You will see. This time I shall be very nice to him." At first glance, this statement seems to suggest that Mrs. Baroda has regained