26 pages 52 minutes read

Kate Chopin

A Respectable Woman

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1894

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“She rather liked him when he first presented himself. But why she liked him she could not explain satisfactorily to herself when she partly attempted to do so.”


(Paragraphs 3-4)

Mrs. Baroda reconciles Gouvernail’s actual personality—as well as her response to it—with her incorrect, preconceived notions. In addition to Gouvernail’s arrival, Mrs. Baroda’s puzzlement may also be the “inciting incident,” in which she begins to react to the visitor.

Quotation Mark Icon

“‘This is what I call living,’ he would utter with deep satisfaction, as the air that swept across the sugar field caressed him with its warm and scented velvety touch.”


(Paragraph 6)

These lines represent a distinctive shift in the narrative tone toward more sensuality. The figurative use of the vaguely erotic “caress” and “velvety” helps create that tone, but the sensory-rich description also contributes. Gouvernail’s response to nature is also key to his characterization, which is reminiscent of a Romantic poet and thinker.

Quotation Mark Icon

“After a few days, when she could understand him no better than at first, she gave over being puzzled and remained piqued.”


(Paragraph 7)

This passage reflects the story’s growing internal tension. Mrs. Baroda is interested in the new and unfamiliar: a man she cannot understand. As her curiosity begins to trouble her, this marks how much the visitor affects her despite having done nothing to her.

Related Titles

By Kate Chopin

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Kate Chopin
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Kate Chopin
Guide cover image