26 pages • 52 minutes read
A Respectable Woman
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Character Analysis
Mrs. Baroda
Mrs. Baroda is a dynamic protagonist whose character development and internal conflict propel the story. Aside from the inciting incident—Gouvernail’s arrival—the story is entirely driven by Mrs. Baroda’s changing feelings and her growing determination to understand them.
Within the span of a few short pages, Mrs. Baroda changes her mind several times about her husband’s friend and is increasingly puzzled by her internal responses, and the narrative reaches its climax when she realizes her overwhelming physical desire for Gouvernail. The realization reflects the central conflict of the story: She longs for passionate release and individuality, but she must negotiate between this urge and her view of herself as a “respectable woman.” The conflict is only magnified by Mrs. Baroda’s intense self-awareness; her ability to recognize her feelings, and her willingness to dissect them, is critical to the underlying themes of The Search for Female Identity. Her efforts in self-examination reveal that she is conscientious and intelligent, and in addition to thinking of herself as a respectable woman, she considers herself to be “a sensible one” (Paragraph 28).
Mrs. Baroda’s role as a loving wife is also a critical component of her character, and one that is vital to overarching themes of the story. In fact, Mrs. Baroda’s status as Gaston’s wife is so foundational to her character that Chopin never tells readers her first name. Furthermore, Mrs. Baroda’s words and interactions with her husband are consistently tender, personal, and friendly. Though the text is nonspecific about Mrs. Baroda’s appearance, it describes how her husband takes “his wife’s pretty face between his hands” (Paragraph 11). She also believes her husband is “also her friend” (Paragraph 28). These textual clues indicate that her marriage and husband are important to her, which also clarifies that her attraction to Gouvernail is unrelated to marital dissatisfaction. This makes her inner conflict more complex.
Gaston Baroda
Like Chopin’s own husband, Gaston is a planter living in post-Civil War Louisiana. Descriptions of the Barodas’ lifestyle indicate wealth, and while Gaston’s character receives no physical description, the text indicates that he is a social man, a good friend, and a loving husband. He also possesses a “frank and wordy hospitality” (Paragraph 4).
Though Gaston’s character is secondary to Mrs. Baroda’s, they are both clearly defined by their relationship to one another. This is immediately evident from the beginning of the story, which introduces Gaston as Mrs. Baroda’s “husband” several times before using his name. In this way, he is a foil to Mrs. Baroda, emphasizing her identity as a wife.
Gaston is also characterized through dialogue and dialect. This short story is not dialogue-heavy, and the only truly interactional dialogue occurs between Mr. and Mrs. Baroda, which creates a sense of intimacy and partnership between them. He also uses local expressions that demonstrate his French Creole background. For example, he calls his wife “ma belle,” which means “my beauty,” and “chère amie,” which means “dear friend.” This terminology reflects his status as a fixture of his Louisiana home, but it also solidifies the impression that he deeply values his wife, both as a wife and as a friend.
Despite his affection toward Mrs. Baroda, Gaston does not fully understand his wife at times. Furthermore, he seems to accept this lack of understanding with natural ease. When Mrs. Baroda declares that she is tired of Gouvernail and wishes him to leave, Gaston responds, “‘Even I can never count on how you are going to act under given conditions.’ He kissed her and turned to fasten his cravat before the mirror” (Paragraph 12).
Gouvernail
Gouvernail is a secondary character who, though reflective and passive, nevertheless impacts the narrative by his presence on the Baroda plantation. He is described at various points as quiet, calm, and courteous, while at the same time lacking “those brilliant and promising traits” that Gaston initially described to Mrs. Baroda (Paragraph 4).
Less description is given to Gouvernail’s actual physical appearance than to how Mrs. Baroda initially imagines that appearance. She thinks he will be “tall, slim, cynical; with eye-glasses, and his hands in his pockets” (Paragraph 3). However, when he arrives, the only one of these descriptions that matches him is “slim enough.” This lack of physical description, compared to Mrs. Baroda’s more detailed imaginations, matches Gouvernail’s role throughout the rest of the story: Mrs. Baroda’s reactions to the idea of Gouvernail are often more dynamic than her interactions with the character himself.
Gouvernail is also characterized by a unique physicality, as the narrative includes more sensory description and imagery when this character speaks directly. For example, the following comes shortly after his arrival to the plantation: “‘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). This sensuality of this line stands out among the rest of the narrative, which is more internally focused. The only other time that this character speaks directly, he makes an “apostrophe to the night,” in which he quotes two lines by poet Walt Whitman: “Night of south winds—night of the large few stars! Still nodding night—” (Paragraph 21). This scene, presented through Mrs. Baroda’s perspective, is also characterized by more sensory description, which indicates Gouvernail’s influence over her as well as her reaction to him.
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By Kate Chopin
