A Respectable Woman Summary
In the opening scene of the story, Mrs. Baroda is having a good time and winter romance in New Orleans with her husband, Mr. Gatson Baroda. However, Mrs. Baroda becomes unhappy when her husband informs her that his friend Gouvernail, who works as a journalist, was coming to stay on their farm for a week or two.
Mrs. Baroda has had heard much about Gouvernail from her husband since he was her husband’s best friend in college. And, that made her form a mental image of Gouvernail – a tall, slim, cynical, with eyeglasses and his hands in pockets and she didn’t like his personality earlier. But, when Gouvernail made a visit, she found that though he was slim enough, he wasn’t very tall nor very cynical, neither he did wear eyeglasses nor carry his hands in his pockets. And she rather liked him when he first presented himself.
Mrs. Baroda finds herself uncomfortable with the shy and reserved personality of Gouvernail makes complain to her husband that she doesn’t like Gouvernail’s shy and reserved character. However, Gouvernail appears to be an obedient fellow and accepts the society imposed by Mrs. Baroda. Gouvernail accompanies well with Mr. Gatson and states that life working on a sugarcane farm is much better. Mr. Baroda liked to fish and was eager of hunting grosbecs – a type of bird. In contrary to this, Gouvernail did not like fishing and hunting birds.
Mrs. Baroda gradually starts to like Gouvernail as he appeared to be a lovable and inoffensive fellow in front of Baroda. She even starts giving him her company during his free time. She often tries to penetrate his reserve personality trying to change her solitary habits.
One night, Mrs. Baroda goes and sits alone upon a bench beneath an oak tree. Gouvernail goes there and hands over a scarf to Mrs. Baroda as ordered by Gatson. This event leads them to have some free conversation and this provides an indication to Mrs. Baroda regarding the character of Mr. Gouvernail. She finds that Mr. Gouvernail in fact wasn’t a reserved and shy man, he was so only because of the result of his moods. The presence of Mr. Gouvernail, in fact, sexually arouses Mrs. Baroda, however, she suppresses her feeling supposing herself as a respectful woman. In fact, Mrs. Baroda at night wants to share this with her husband, who was her friend too, however, she restrains doing so and regards that there are some battles in life which one should fight alone.
The next day, when Mr. Gatson wakes up, he comes to know that his wife, Mrs. Baroda has taken a morning train to the city. She returns home only after Gouvernail has gone away. Upon returning, Mrs. Baroda tells her husband to invite his friend, Gouvernail in the summer and she promises to be nice to Gouvernail this time. Mr. Gatson feels happy when he hears of this since his wife’s dislike over Gouvernail has finally gone.
Understanding the Text
Answer the following questions.
a. Why was Mrs. Baroda unhappy with the information about Gouvernail’s visit to their farm?
Ans.: Mrs. Baroda was having a good time during the winter in New Orleans with her husband. She was really enjoying her time with her husband and she wanted to spend more time with her husband. However, her husband informed her that his friend Gouvernail was coming to stay on their farm for a week or two. This made Mrs. Baroda unhappy.
b.How was Gouvernail different from Mrs. Baroda’s expectation?
Ans.: Mrs. Baroda had heard much about Gouvernail from her husband since he was her husband’s best friend in college. And, that made her form a mental image of Gouvernail – a tall, slim, cynical, with eyeglasses and his hands in pockets and she didn’t like his personality until she saw her. But, when Gouvernail made a visit, she found that though he was slim enough, but he wasn’t very tall nor very cynical, neither he did wear eyeglasses nor carry his hands in his pockets. And she rather liked him when he first presented himself. In this way, Gouvernail was different from Mrs. Baroda’s expectations.
c.How does Mrs. Baroda compare Gouvernail with her husband?
Ans.: In the earlier part of the story, Gouvernail has been presented as a reserved and shy character. Mrs. Baroda is trying very hard to understand the character of Gouvernail. She finds that the character of Gouvernail is different from her husband. Mrs. Baroda’s husband liked to fish and was eager of hunting grosbecs Gouvernail did not like fishing and hunting birds. Thus, Mrs. Baroda compares her husband – a type of bird. In contrary to this, and Gouvernail where she finds them not having similar characters.
d.Why and how did Mrs. Baroda try to change Gouvernail’s solitary habits?
Ans.: Gouvernail was an obedient and reserved fellow. Though Mrs. Baroda was puzzled by the character of Gouvernail, she was attracted to him. To understand more about his character, she imposed her society upon him but he accepted them. In addition to this, she her company during his free time. She often tried to penetrate his reserve personality. Hence, Mrs. Barods tried to change Gouvernail’s solitary habits in order to better understand gave him.
e.How does Gaston disagree with his wife on Gouvernail’s character?
Ans: Mrs. Baroda tells her husband Gatson that his friend, Gouvernail tires her frightfully. But Gatson seems to be puzzled since he doesn’t find Gouvernail giving any trouble to his wife and says the same to his wife. However, the wife states that she would feel better if Gouvernail would give her trouble or demand something, which Gouvernail doesn’t do. This shows that Mrs. Baroda is, in fact, irritated or tired with the reserved personality of Mr. Gouvernail.
f.Why is Gaston surprised with his wife’s expression towards the end of the story?
As: Earlier when the wife of Gatson had left the house and had taken an early morning train to the city and when she did not return till Gouvernail was gone, Gatson had thought that his wife had done so because she was displeased and got irritated by his friend, Gouvernail. But, later when his wife herself proposed to her husband to invite Gouvernail, Gatson got surprised with his wife’s expression towards the end of the story.
Reference to the context
What is the cause of conflict in Mrs. Baroda’s mind? What role does Mrs. Baroda “being a respectable woman’ play in the story ?
Ans: Mrs. Baroda is the most important character of the story ‘A Respectable Woman’ by Kate Chopin. Mrs. Baroda from the outside seems to be a very respectable, happy, true, noble and fulfilled lady who spends a happy married life with Gatson Baroda. But, her characters from inner perspectives appear to be different. Upon the close analysis, Mrs. Baroda from inside seems to be a shallow, disappointed, unsatisfied and incomplete lady who is not happy with her husband and her present married life.
In the story, everything seems to be normal in the case of Mrs. Baroda until her husband’s friend, Gouvernail comes there. Earlier, when Mrs. Baroda heard about Gouvernail from her husband, she has made a mental image about Gouvernail where she regards Gouvernail as a cynical and bad fellow. Later, when she meets Gouvernail, her perception of him changes. She later is even attracted by the personality of Gouvernail and wants to make love (sexual relationship) with him.
Hence, the main cause of conflict in Mrs. Baroda’s mind is her desire of making love with Gouvernail. And, Mrs. Baroda ‘being a respectable woman’ suppresses her desire of making love with Gouvernail.
b.Sketch the character of Gouvernail and contrast it with Gaston.
Ans: Gouvernail is another important character in the story. He is a friend of Gatson from his college days and he currently works as a journalist. When Mrs. Baroda first meets with Gouvernail, she finds him slim but not very tall and neither cynical nor he was wearing eyeglasses and keeping his hands on pockets, which is quite different from the prior mental image that she had made of him. Gouvernail appears to be quiet and courteous in response to Mrs. Baroda. In fact, Mrs. Baroda from inner heart likes the presence of Gouvernail though she seems to dislike her presence from outside. However, he makes no particular attempt to impress Mrs. Baroda and he enjoys the company of Mr. Gatson. Unlike Gatson, he is neither interested in fishing nor hunting the birds. Though Gouvernail seems to be a quiet, timid and reserve character from the outside, he in fact is not so and this is proved by his behaviours when he appears to be speaking quite a lot when he finds Mrs. Baroda alone one evening.
In comparison to Gouvernail, Mr. Gatson though appears to be a major character of the story, his role in the story is minor and straightforward. Mr. Gatson is a rich and prosperous sugar planter. He is a loving and caring husband and tries to make his wife happy with all his might. He is not as cynical and clever as Gouvernail. He is a simple and ordinary character and he himself portrays as being an ordinary and simple person. He maintains a good relationship with his friend Gouvernail too. Unlike Gouvernail, Mr. Gatson likes fishing and hunting birds.
c.Why does Mrs. Baroda not disclose her feelings towards Gouvernail to her husband?
Ans.: In the story, Mrs. Baroda from outside seems to be a very happy, true, noble and fulfilled lady who is living a happy married life with Gatson Baroda. But, her characters from inner perspectives appear to be different. And, this appears to be verified when Gouvernail, her husband’s friend comes to visit their farm. Though Mrs. Baroda dislikes Gouvernail’s visit to her farm; her perception of Gouvernail changes when she actually meets him. She finds Gouvernail as a shy, reserve, obedient and reserve fellow. She later is even attracted by the personality of Gouvernail and wants to make love (sexual relationship) with him. However, as Mrs. Baroda appears to be a respectable woman in the story, she suppresses her desire of doing so and does not disclose her feelings towards Gouvernail to her husband.
d.The last three sentences of the story bring a kind of twist. After reading these three sentences, how do you analyze Mrs. Baroda’s attitude towards Gouvernail?
Ans.: In fact, the last three sentences of the story “I have overcome everything! You will see. This time I shall be very nice to him.” actually portray the true nature of Mrs. Baroda, the major character of the story. Not only this, these lines also carry the essence of the whole story. In the story, Mrs. Baroda is attracted very much towards her husband’s friend Gouvernail and she even wants to make love (sexual relationship) with Gouvernail. But, she finds herself being portrayed as a ‘respectable woman’ and because of this, she is compelled to suppress her all desires and feelings towards Gouvernail.
In the story too, at first, she appears to dislike Gouvernail in front of her husband Gatson and she even makes complain of Gouvernail to her husband, but at the end of the story, she promises her husband Gatson to be nice in front of his friend, Gouvernail. In fact, her promise of being nice to Gouvernail in front of her husband even seems to be of her dualistic nature: one, making her husband happy and another, overcoming her suppressed desires if time favours her.
But as of now, she seems to be overcoming all her incompleteness and promises her husband to be nice to Gouvernail. However, Mrs. Baroda’s actual intention of being nice to her husband’s friend relies on overcoming her suppressed desire in the presence of Gouvernail if time and situation favour her in the future.
Reference beyond the text
a. The entry of an outsider into a family has been a recurring subject in both literature and films. Narrate a story real or imaginative where an outsider’s arrival destroys the intimate relationship between the husband and the wife and causes break up in marital relationship without direct fault of anyone. Anton’s Chekhov’s story ‘About Love’ is a story on this subject.
Ans: The entry of an outsider into a family has been a recurring subject in both literature and
films. One of such stories I have been through is ‘The Interpreter of Maladies’ by Jhumpa Lahiri. In the story, Mrs. Das initially had been a happily married woman to Mr. Das and they lived in the US. One day, one of Mr. Das’ friends visits their house.
As she was lonely throughout the days in the house as a housewife, she gets attracted to her husband’s friend and even has illicit sexual relationships with him. Eventually, she even gives birth to a child, Mr. Bobby because of this illicit sexual relationship. Later, the friend of her husband leaves the house and she is highly disturbed by this. She even doesn’t love her husband and has no good feelings towards her children. However, nobody knows this secret, not even her husband until later when she discloses this to Mr. Kapasi, her tour guide in India. The story has been summarized as:
The Das family is in India on vacation, and the family consists of Mr. Das, Mrs. Das (Mina), their two sons: Ronny and Bobby and one daughter: Tina. Mr. Das has hired Mr. Kapasi to drive them to visit the Sun Temple. Mr. Das tells Mr. Kapasi that both he and his wife were born and raised in the United States. Mr. Das also reveals that their parents now live in India and that the Das family visits them every few years. Mr. Kapasi reveals that he has been a tour guide for five years. Along the road, they see monkeys, which Mr. Kapasi says are common in the area. Mr. and Mrs. Das quarrel because Mr. Das has not gotten them a tour guide whose car has air-conditioning.
Mr. Kapasi tells them about his other job as an interpreter in a doctor’s office. Mrs. Das remarks that his job is romantic and asks him to tell her about some of his patients. However, Mr. Kapasi views his job as a failure. He took the interpreting job as a way to pay the medical bills when his eldest son contracted typhoid and died at age seven. He kept the job because the pay was better than his previous teaching job, but it reminds his wife of their son’s death. Mr. Kapasi’s marriage was arranged by his parents, and he and his wife have nothing in common. When Mrs. Das states that Mr. Kapasi’s job is romantic, he begins fantasizing about Mrs. Das.
When they stop for lunch, Mrs. Das insists that Mr. Kapasi sit with them. He does, and Mr. Das takes their picture together. Mrs. Das asks Mr. Kapasi to write his address on paper so that she can send him a copy of the picture. Mr. Kapasi begins to daydream about how they will have a great correspondence. He imagines the witty things he will write to her and how she will reveal the unhappiness of her marriage. In fact, Mr. Kapasi seems to be fallen in love with Mrs. Das and he starts daydreaming of exchanging the letter with Mrs. Das. When Mr. Das visits the temple with the children, Mrs. Das stays in the car because she is tired. Mr. Kapasi accompanies her. Then, Mrs. Das confesses to him that her younger son, Bobby, is the product of an affair she had eight years ago.
She had an illegitimate sexual relation with a friend of Mr. Das’s who came to visit while she was a lonely housewife, and she has never told anyone about it. She tells Mr. Kapasi because he is an interpreter of maladies and she believes he can help her. Mr. Kapasi’s desire for Mrs. Das begins to evaporate. Mrs. Das reveals that she no longer loves her husband, whom she has known since she was a young child, and that she has destructive impulses toward her children and life. She asks Mr. Kapasi to suggest some remedy for her pain. Mr. Kapasi, insulted, asks her whether it isn’t really just guilt she feels. Mrs. Das gets out of the car and joins her family.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Das joins the children and Mr. Das, who were playing with the monkeys. Soon they find that Bobby is in danger since he is surrounded by monkeys and is being attacked. Mrs. Das screams for Mr. Kapasi to do something. Mr. Kapasi chases off the monkeys and carries Bobby back to his family. Mrs. Das puts a bandage on Bobby’s knee.
Then she reaches into her handbag to get a hairbrush to straighten his hair, and thepaper with Mr. Kapasi’s address on it flutters away.
b.Mrs. Baroda makes an expectation about Gouvernail even before meeting him. Suppose you are a mature girl/boy and your family members are giving you pressure for getting married. Write in about 200 words describing what qualities you would like to get in your future husband / wife.
Ans.: Making expectations, assumptions or a mental image of a person whom we haven’t met but have heard quite often is a common thing. Every person does this. This has happened to me too time and often. However, I’m now under great pressure since I am a twenty-four years old girl and my parents are worried about my married life. They are have even shown me some of the men with whom I can get married but no man as based upon my expectation has approached me so far.
In fact, I am not insisting that the man who marries me must possess heroic qualities. The man I shall marry must appear strong and handsome. I don’t care about his complexion: both fair and black work well to me. He must be taller, I mean just taller than me but no way shorter than me. I don’t prefer the person wearing spectacles. Moreover, the person I am going to marry must be simple, modest, gentle, kind and polite. I don’t like the person who appears to be over smart and self-asserted. The person whom I am going to marry must respect others’ feelings including mine too.
The man must be independent and making his own living. I would appreciate him much more if he would also allow me to make some living for the family. The man should treat me as a friend more than as a wife. He should share with me all his happiness and his pain too. He must be loving and caring and should guide me through all my ignorance. I would feel myself much lucky if the guy takes me to a cinema and dinner outside every weekend. This is my all imagination about the person whom I’m going to marry. Hope I will find a person with such qualities soon who visits my house with a marriage proposal.