A Pair of Silk Stockings

In "A Pair of Silk Stockings," Little Mrs. Sommers faces a minor dilemma that eventually becomes a conscious expression of her desire to return to a past that she can no longer have, reflecting her subconscious craving for the autonomy and independence that she does not have while under the pressures of poverty. The nostalgic desire to reclaim past grandeur recalls the dilemma of Ma'ame Pélagie in Chopin's eponymous short story, although Ma'ame Pélagie lives in the past and sacrifices it for the present whereas Mrs. Sommers lives in the present and temporarily leaves her reality in order to recall her past. Mrs. Sommers does not merely aspire to wealth in the manner of those who have never had money; instead, as Mrs. Sommers's neighbors note, she has in fact seen better days and intuitively equates her youth with simple luxuries such as silk stockings and kid gloves.

Kate Chopin

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