The Kate Chopin house burned yesterday. Every time Steve and I make one of our day-trips, I think about going to see this house, but I kept putting it off; now there is nothing to see.
Kate Chopin was one of my favorite southern women writers. I loved The Awakening.
The house was 200 years old. As a testimony to its construction, The Times reports that "the double brick walls of the first floor and the bousillage walls that made up the second floor" were still standing after the fire. There was no description in the article about the contents of the 
house but I can only imagine what was lost. It was the home of the Bayou Folk museum; tours were given as recently as a week ago.
house but I can only imagine what was lost. It was the home of the Bayou Folk museum; tours were given as recently as a week ago.Such a sad loss!
(Image credits: TheTownTalk.com)
What a loss not only for the historical and cultural aspect, just the beauty of the house alone.
ReplyDeleteI was one of those people who was forced to study literature, unlike Pat who loves it, but I love history and understand the importance of literature. Without it, the study of history would be a lot harder. You can't separate the two.
I guess what I am saying is, since literature was never really my thing, I never really thought much about Kate Chopin, until she was mentioned in one of my college English classes taught by Mr. Beard.
Mr. Beard saved my bacon in class one day. In haste I forgot to print a works cited page and place it with a research paper I wrote. He saw it in my rough draft and knew I had it, but didn't print it. He gave me a B and told me he knew I had it, he saw it in my rough draft and something must have happened, and even if I had included it in my paper, it wouldn't have changed the grade. YES SIR MR. BEARD, YOU'RE TOPS IN MY BOOK.
Anyway, Mr. Beard (I've since lost touch with him), lets say was a little on the animate side, and he was talking about Kate Chopin, and how "she drove everyone nuts, because back in the Vitorian Days, women just didn't wear pants and straddled horses, they were dainty, wore dresses, and rode side-saddle."
Thank you Mr. Beard for opening my eyes a little bit. And I am sorry I didn't take Pat to see the Chopin house and to visit the past.
That sucks! Something to make it that long and then be destroyed by fire - that is really heart breaking!
ReplyDeleteThat sucks! Something to make it that long and then be destroyed by fire - that is really heart breaking!
ReplyDelete