A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin Analytical Essay Example

Kate Chopin's short story A Pair of Silk Stockings is about economic struggles, consumerism, class inequalities, and more. The author is well remembered for her feminist short stories and novels, which depict the lives of sensitive and courageous women and her short stories and novel The Awakening are her most well-known works. This short story introduces readers to a very impoverished woman and her out-of-control spending with a one-time fortune. She, at first, intended to invest the large sum of money and then came to the conclusion that it would be more valuable to spend it on practical goods that would provide comfort to her children. She meticulously plans out the luxuries she intends to purchase; however, following the trigger incident of the purchase of an expensive pair of silk stockings, she begins to spend the money impulsively on herself. She forgets about all the other things she intended to spend it on after buying the stockings.I have decided to analyse the short story using Marxist theory due to the text’s themes of consumerism and greed. Marxist theory is a theory developed by Karl Marx and is defined as a "social, political, and economic theory, which focuses on the struggle between capitalists and the working class.”(Investopedia). Sommers also symbolises the lower class, nevertheless when she earns more money, she attempts to move up the socioeconomic ladder. Mrs Sommers gets greedy and self-centered as she obtains more money and she cannot stop herself from buying more and more. Also, she values herself more when she receives the fifteen dollars and with the valuable items she bought with it. The author examines the desire of the lower class to climb to the upper class, as well as the idea that as people get more wealthy, they become more self-centered and have a higher self-esteem themselves.

Chopin represents Mrs Sommers as the lower class and their attempts to move up the socioeconomic ladder. Mrs Sommers, the protagonist of this story, is a timid middle-aged mother who lives in a little village in the early 1900s. She engages in all the pleasures that she is usually deprived of due to her status and wealth, such as shopping and going to the theatre, in a single day. She begins to imitate the life of the upper class by doing these things. These pricey goods were described to have provided her a "feeling of assurance, a sense of belonging to the well-dressed multitude"(2). At times, it appears as if she has failed to remember her past, her role as a mother and the continuous sacrifices she made for the wellbeing of her children.Mrs. Sommers has become a different person in this short amount of time, living a carefree and luxurious life. Everything she possesses has suddenly become insufficient, and she is in desperate need of more. At times it even appears like she is spending money to the point of spending it “She smoothed it down over the wrist and buttoned it neatly, and both lost themselves for a second or two in admiring contemplation of the little symmetrical gloved hand. But there were other places where money might be spent” (2). She even replaced her old gloves with new more expensive ones, which she got fitted for her. The more expensive gloves which creates a visible difference between when before and after she has the large sum of money mimics the difference in social class between the high and lower classes in society. 

Poor little Mrs Sommers spends this huge amount of money in a dream-like blur almost as if she could not control herself. It states that “She was not going through any acute mental process or reasoning with herself, nor was she striving to explain to her satisfaction the motive of  her action. She was not thinking at all”(2). Mrs Sommers may be able to purchase and attend events for the higher class, though she will never be able to fit into society, as proven when at the end of the story when the man stares at her. “It puzzled him to decipher what he saw there. In truth, he saw nothing..’ (3). This story is a wonderful example of man vs society since it depicts her desire to fit into a class that would ultimately reject her and how material goods control her in certain ways. A Pair of Silk Stockings illustrates how the lower class envies the higher class and, if given the opportunity, will want to become upper class.

When Mrs. Sommers acquires more money, she becomes greedy and self-centered. What appears to be her excitement at the prospect of more expensive items, since she lives in poverty, rapidly turns into a disoriented state as she spends the entire enormous sum of money in one day. She buys everything she wants and does what she wants without regard for the repercussions of her actions. Her first intention was to use the money to invest and then decided to use the large amount of money to support her children. The fifteen dollar equivalent to around four hundred and eighty dollars today. The price is adjusted due to infaltion, which happens as, “Prices tend to go up when the demand for goods and services is more than the economy supplies.” ( Bank of Canada). She intended to spend the money on children, more specifically, new shoes for Janie, as well as yards of percale for the boys' shirt waists. Also, a new gown for Mag, two pairs of beautiful stockings, caps for her sons and a sailor-hat for her daughter. Instead, she spent her money on stockings, gloves, two magazines, a gourmet lunch, and a trip to the theatre all for herself. When she begins to purchase expensive things, the items she currently own become insufficient. Nothing is too expensive for her now, and she wants to do everything she could not do before such as expensive magazines. The author investigates the concept that if someone is given more money, they would grow hungry and want to spend it all on themselves, without regard for their loved ones or the future, in return for a brief sense of pleasure or enjoyment.

Mrs Sommers begins to value herself when she has the slightest temporary economical gain. Comparing how Mrs Sommers valued herself before and after the gain of the fifteen dollars, it is evident that she puts in more effort in personal care and her desires afterwards.  At the beginning of the story, she has a poorer sense of self-worth, whereas with the fifteen dollars and luxury items, she begins to naturally increase her sense of self-worth. Kate Chopin shows the theme of consumerism as Mrs Sommers desire for these luxury ideas. Consumerism is defined as “the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable” (Merriam -Webster). It seems that the more she buys the more she wants to buy. She also does things she would not normally do after buying silk stockings, such as not even checking the discount counter. She is also said to know how to get a bargain; however, when she starts spending money on these very expensive items she does not even try to get one. She becomes so confident in her new found wealth that she does not care to consider these things as she once did. These goods and money in a way control her as she is described to not be in a clear headspace as she is on this shopping spree. It is described that after she purchases goods that she would not normally purchase, such as silk stockings "..gave her a feeling of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years' ' (1) . Mrs Sommers truly believed that she was more valuable with money than she is without it.

Kate Chopin's piece A Pair of Silk Stockings discusses the desire of the lower class to rise to the upper class. This short story also explores the theory that when people have more money in their possession, they become more self-centered and have a better self esteem.Mrs Sommers demonstrates the theory by putting her children as her first priority and knowing how to get a bargain. Then showing her change as a person through her lack of care about money or the price of the valuables, purchasing the item without hesitation. Describing the pleasurable and freeing feeling Mrs Sommers experiences after buying these items. The mother decides to temporarily abandon her responsibilities in order to live a more carefree, luxurious life, which, in the end, did not improve her life. People become more greedy as they receive more money, also gaining the false ideology that the individual is able to live a carefree life even with the slightest gain of money. Demonstrated through the identical financial status Mrs Sommers experiences at the end of the story despite her newly acquired wealth, money, especially if spent recklessly, does not resolve one’s problems.