At fault / Kate Chopin ; edited by Suzanne Disheroon Green, David J. Caudle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chopin, Kate, 1850-1904.

Contributor:

Green, Suzanne Disheroon, 1963-

Caudle, David J., 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women plantation owners--Fiction.

Women plantation owners.

Chopin, Kate, 1850-1904. At fault.

Chopin, Kate.

Plantation life--Fiction.

Plantation life.

Young women--Fiction.

Young women.

Louisiana--Fiction.

Louisiana.

Creoles--Fiction.

Creoles.

Widows--Fiction.

Widows.

Genre:

Fiction.

Psychological fiction.

Physical Description:

xxxii, 304 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, [2001]

Summary:

Celebrated for her depictions of life among Louisiana's Creole and Cajun peoples, Kate Chopin (1850-1904) is today seen as a major figure in southern literature. Her short stories and her last novel, The Awakening (1899), are widely read and studied. Unjustly neglected, however, is her first novel, At Fault, which Chopin published in 1890 at her own expense. This edition of At Fault -- the first printing to appear since Chopin's Complete Works was issued in 1969 -- now makes the book available to a wide audience.

The novel centers on Therese Lafirme, a widow who owns and runs a plantation in post-Civil War Louisiana. She encounters David Hosmer, who buys timber rights to her property to secure raw materials for his newly constructed sawmill. When David remarries, a love triangle develops between David, Fanny (his alcoholic wife), and Therese, who tries to balance her strong moral sensibility against her growing love for David. In depicting these relationships, Chopin acutely dramatizes the conflict between growing industrialism and the agrarian traditions of the Old South -- as well as the changes to the land and the society that inevitably resulted from that conflict.

Editors Suzanne Disheroon Green and David J. Caudle provide meticulous annotations to the text of At Fault, facilitating the reader's understanding of the complex and exotic culture and language of nineteenth-century Louisiana. Also included is a substantial body of supporting materials that contextualize the novel, ranging from a summary of critical responses to materials illuminating the economic, social, historical, and religious influences on Chopin's texts.

Contents:

Chapter I. The Mistress of Place-Du-Bois 3

Chapter II. At the Mill 7

Chapter III. In the Pirogue 11

Chapter IV. A Small Interruption 16

Chapter V. In the Pine Woods 19

Chapter VI. Melicent Talks 24

Chapter VII. Painful Disclosures 29

Chapter VIII. Treats of Melicent 35

Chapter IX. Face to Face 40

Chapter X. Fanny's Friends 45

Chapter XI. The Self-Assumed Burden 50

Chapter XII. Severing Old Ties 53

Chapter I. Fanny's First Night at Place-Du-Bois 63

Chapter II. "Neva To See You!" 68

Chapter III. A Talk Under the Cedar Tree 72

Chapter IV. Therese Crosses the River 76

Chapter V. One Afternoon 81

Chapter VI. One Night 89

Chapter VII. Melicent Leaves Place-Du-Bois 95

Chapter VIII. With Loose Rein 100

Chapter IX. The Reason Why 105

Chapter X. Perplexing Things 110

Chapter XI. A Social Evening 114

Chapter XII. Tidings That Sting 121

Chapter XIII. Melicent Hears the News 125

Chapter XIV. A Step Too Far 130

Chapter XV. A Fateful Solution 134

Chapter XVI. To Him Who Waits 142.

Notes:

"A scholarly edition with background readings."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 298-300) and index.

ISBN:

1572331208

1572331216

OCLC:

45064733