Kate Chopin and the Cult of True Womanhood. Brief essay in response to "What does Kate Chopin's 'The Storm' tell us about gender roles in the late 19th century?

While Kate Chopin's The Storm serves to juxtapose commonly herald viewpoints of 19th century gender roles, the story's themes and characters offer supposition regarding the true nature of sexual repression. During the time of this story's conception, the campaign of female inferiority held its greatest audience in what was commonly referred to as the Cult of True Womanhood. In The Storm, as well as in many other short stories, Chopin used the literary medium to …

…foster accurate sexual freedom. Work Sited Chopin, Kate. The Storm. 1898. Short Story Classics. Feb 2004. 28 March 2004 http://www.geocities.com/short_stories_page/chopinstorm.html Female Sexuality in Depicted Short Stories by Kate Chopin. Katrin Meyer. 2000. WWU Münster Institution. 28 March 2004 http://www.hausarbeiten.de/rd/faecher/hausarbeit/aml/21443.html The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood. Catherine Lavender, PhD. 1998. College of Staten Island. 28 March 2004 http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/truewoman.html