The story A Pair of Silk Stockings revolves around the character of Mrs. Sommers, the primary character. When she is shocked to find that she has fifteen dollars to spare, she begins interested in spending it. Her ideas go instantly to her children–they ought to have new clothes that may last them some time.
While her plans are wise and selfless, her unconscious has different ideas. Her feet take her to a department store, where she delights over the feel of some silk stockings. She purchases the stockings and continues through the shop, realizing that her new stockings would not look proper along with her old shoes; she must buy some new ones. After shopping for shoes, she buys a pair of new gloves.
After this spontaneous buying spree, she decides she needs to eat lunch. Thinking she’d solely get a small chunk, she finally ends up with a several-course meal, together with dessert, wine, and coffee.
After consuming a tasty meal, Mrs. Sommers feels happy and content, more than she has in a long time. A flyer for a theatre catches her eye, and she decides, with the money she has left, she’s going to take herself to a film, where she shares chocolates with a fellow viewers member. When the movie is over, she will get on the train to go home, wishing it will never stop, not eager to return house and back to the reality of her life.
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Analysis of “A Pair of Silk Stockings”
The character faces a significant Man-vs.-Society conflict. She is an ideal instance of how people are tempted by materials gain, “the life of luxury,” and the vicious way society judges all these.
Chopin mentions that Mrs. Sommers had once experienced more luxurious and luxury before she got married. We get the sense that her family has some financial worries, and, as a mother, she prioritizes the well-being of her four kids over herself. When she has more money, she feels a way of obligation towards her kids. As she shops for herself, she recollects the earlier occasions when her life was more comfortable and when she had an identity independent from her family.
Society views individuals who stay within the lap of luxurious life as “gods”; they’re above those that are usually not so lucky. Anyone can fall prey to this widespread societal downside, even innocent “Little Mrs. Sommers.” This is obvious in the story as;
“It gave her a feeling of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years.”
The moment she buys the silk stockings is the minute she turns into a special Mrs. Sommers. Suddenly, everything she has is not adequate, and she looks at her shopping bag as “shabby” and “old.” Her parcel is “very small.”
Mrs. Sommers’s thoughts are not working as they used to at the beginning. All of a sudden, nothing is too costly; she eats the expensive restaurant, buys shoes, gloves, and magazines “such as she had become accustomed to read in those days.”
These things give Mrs. Sommers a “feeling of assurance, a sense of belonging to the well-dressed multitude.” Now, she is a kind of essential wealthy individual, and everybody is aware of it due to all the material things. This turns into evident when Chopin says, “She was fastidious, and she was not too easily pleased.”
The end of the story signifies the end of Mrs. Sommers’s “luxurious times.” Mrs. Sommers is lost with all the other “gaudy” women when, “like a dream ended,” the play ends, and Mrs. Sommers is struck by reality. The actuality that she shouldn’t be certainly one of them at heart; she is merely Little Mrs. Sommers. To the person on the cable car, Mrs. Sommers appears to be like “another one of those rich women” when internally, there’s a “powerful longing, a poignant wish to go on and on” that goes undetected by the typical individual.
This theme is present in” A Pair of Silk Stockings” in the way in which that Mrs. Sommers first considers her family; however, she then finally treats herself when she finds that she has some more money. Just because society views something as “the right way” or “the best kind,” it doesn’t imply that it’s the right or the most effective kind. Like Mrs. Sommers, people will almost at all times pay for being followers.
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