Doctor Chevalier's Lie: Kate Chopin's Brilliant Story
Kate Chopin is a famous American writer, mostly known for her strong female characters. Her work is considered as a breakthrough.
Kate Chopin is a writer with two novels and over 100 short stories. She wrote stories about strong women, passion, and sexuality. This caused her to be one of the pioneers of feminist literature. Her stories received harsh criticism when they were first published since she was seen as a deviant because of the topics she covered. Still, her work was published in magazines like the Atlantic Monthly, the Century, and Vogue. Doctor Chevalier's Lie is one of her stories that was published on Vogue, in 1893.
Summary
Doctor Chevalier's Lie starts with a death, a death of a woman at midnight. Deaths like this were frequent events and the doctor is called to check the body that was shot in the temple. However, this death was different than the others, the doctor actually knew the woman. She was a member of the family that welcomed the doctor and his friend while they were on a hunting trip more than a year ago. The girl was smart and moved to the city to seek her fortune. The doctor stated he knew the girl and would cover the expenses of the girl's funeral. The next day, he wrote a letter to the girl's family, saying she got sick and died. People whispered about the doctor's relationship with the girl that had a bad reputation. Yet, society never cut ties with the doctor.
Analysis
The last part of the story talking about the girl's reputation and the deaths being frequent points to the fact that the woman was a prostitute. She had dreams and was young, yet she couldn't reach her dreams in the city and become a prostitute instead. That made the girl depressive and she shot herself in the head. This is the reason there were rumors about the doctor and the girl. They couldn't believe a doctor, who had prestige because of his profession, had ties with a prostitute. This is also the reason the doctor lied to the girl's family. He didn't want them to find out the girl's living standards when they believed being in the city would do her good. Another possibility is that the girl came to the city with the doctor after his hunting trip. In that case, he might have lied because her well-being was entrusted to the doctor and he let the family down. Society's behavior shows the double standard between men and women. The girl was criticized harshly for being a prostitute but the doctor didn't lose his prestige even if his possible relationship with the girl was frowned upon. It should also be stated that the story is 383 words long, which shows Chopin's creative genius. She criticized the gender roles within these words and showed only half of the story just by telling, the other half was hidden between the lines. By looking at this story, it can be understood why society found Chopin deviant. Back then, in the 1890s, Chopin was able to write about a sex worker's death in a sad way. This isn't her only story about gender roles but, for me, it is one of the most tragic and interesting ones.
The story also inspired a short film. The film is loosely based on the story and was released in 2017. This shows how impactful the story is, even after over 100 years.
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Photo by Alexa Portoraro on Unsplash