The Kiss and Other Stories

by Kate Chopin

Five daring tales of passion, decadence, and betrayal

The sensuality that suffuses the work of Kate Chopin (1851-1904) startles us with its modernity. Whether evoking the complex world of Creole New Orleans, where racial boundaries are burst by erotic gestures, often with tragic results, or recounting the simple sacrifices made in the name of love, she makes human emotions come instantly, dramatically alive. Her classic novel of sexual and spiritual rebirth, The awakening, is collected with her best stories in Penguin Classics.
--back cover

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, American

57 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1897

About the author

Kate Chopin was an American author whose fiction grew out of the complex cultures and contradictions of Louisiana life, and she gradually became one of the most distinctive voices in nineteenth century literature. Raised in a household shaped by strong women of French and Irish heritage, she developed an early love for books and storytelling, and that immersion in language later shaped the quiet precision of her prose. After marrying and moving to New Orleans, then later to the small community of Cloutierville, she absorbed the rhythms, customs, and tensions of Creole and Cajun society, finding in its people the material that would feed both her sympathy and her sharp observational eye. When personal loss left her searching for direction, she began writing with the encouragement of a family friend, discovering not only a therapeutic outlet but a genuine vocation. Within a few years, her stories appeared in major magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and The Century, where readers encountered her local-color sketches, her portrayals of women navigating desire and constraint, and her nuanced depictions of life in the American South. She published two story collections, Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie, introducing characters whose emotional lives were depicted with unusual honesty. Her short fiction often explored subjects others avoided, including interracial relationships, female autonomy, and the quiet but powerful inner conflicts of everyday people. That same unflinching quality shaped The Awakening, the novel that would later become her most celebrated work. At the time of its publication, however, its frank treatment of a married woman’s emotional and sensual awakening unsettled many critics, who judged it harshly, yet Chopin continued to write stories that revealed her commitment to portraying women as fully human, with desires and ambitions that stretched beyond the confines of convention. She admired the psychological clarity of Guy de Maupassant, but she pushed beyond his influence to craft a voice that was unmistakably her own, direct yet lyrical, and deeply attuned to the inner lives of her characters. Though some of her contemporaries viewed her themes as daring or even improper, others recognized her narrative skill, and within a decade of her passing she was already being described as a writer of remarkable talent. Her rediscovery in the twentieth century led readers to appreciate how modern her concerns truly were: the struggle for selfhood, the tension between social expectations and private longing, and the resilience of women seeking lives that felt authentically theirs. Today, her stories and novels are widely read, admired for their clarity, emotional intelligence, and the boldness with which they illuminate the complexities of human experience.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Five daring tales of passion, decadence, and betrayal...
For me, five pointless tales of zero interest, which seemingly went nowhere!

Some time ago I picked up the Penguin 60s Classics box set for a bargain price, and enjoyed a good number of the books which interested me. Under obligation to finish these off, I pick one up every now and then to make progress, but I hold little hope of gaining much from the ones I have left. I live in hope though.

The high point of these stories were the ridiculous names of the characters, making me glad times have moved on so far - Tante Elodie, Fifine Delonse, Brently Mallard, good grief.

My stars are simply a reflection of my enjoyment of the book.

[mariam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Five stories that lead to nowhere. It would’ve been better to expand on maybe The Story of an Hour cause it would’ve been interesting to see how this woman would be able to finally live after the death of her husband in a patriarchal society, but I was graaavely dissapointed.

Desiree’s Baby was just plain ridiculous. Not ignoring the racism and n-word dropping, the whole thing was just ridiculous from beginning to end.

The kiss was confusing, the Unexpected was just…horrible? What was the takeaway? Stop loving your partner after they become sick? What???

The godmother was alright but a bit hard to read for no reason

[mellow · Rating 1 out of 5]

???????? Who published this

[Sonia socool · Rating 3 out of 5]

DIDNT enjoy it that much. It was tiny which was convenient when I needed to read performatively at a bar but I took a long time to get to the end. Some stories were cute tho ig

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Awakening in HS (many years ago) so I decided to read another book by Chopin.

This short story, The Kiss, by Chopin was published in 1894 and later in Vogue in 1895. "Clearly Vogue, like Chopin, was interested in representing women as sexual beings," writes Bonnie James Shaker. "Chopin had . . . learned that [Vogue] was the showcase in which she could count on placing her 'experimental' feminist fiction. Between 1892 and 1895 [Vogue] was either Chopin's first- or second-choice periodical for publishing much of her fiction, indicating the author was both tracking and targeting the markets in which she would be most successful.

The Kiss takes place in the home of Nathalie, and her brother, at unspecified place, and at the location of Brantain and Nathalie's wedding. Nathalie is ruthless, like Lily Bart in Wharton's novel The House of Mirth. The story is about Natalie, a young, beautiful woman who finds a man of high status in society with enormous wealth, which she very much "liked and required the entourage which his wealth could give her." Brantain finds Nathalie cheating with another man, whom she had more emotion and affection for – one might say he was her "true love". Brantain's forgiving nature prevented him from foreseeing her deception, and they end up getting married, despite her secret affair with the other man.

Nathalie understands that she cannot "combine independence and sensual satisfaction." The story underscores a subtle ambivalence about female roles, as well as touches of wry humor. Her characters are either sometimes disillusioned or else they see all too clearly the blindnesses of others and connive around them. This was how Chopin continued to shape her work. Her last sentence ends with a moral message, "A person can't have everything in this world; and it was a little unreasonable of her to expect it."

[heresy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a collection of odd stories, all vaguely feminist and most featuring the antebellum south depicted in a weird way that seems anti-slavery but also not? found the godmother a bit uncomfortable in that respect, but i thought desiree’s baby was really clever. all but the godmother are EXTREMELY short, and pack a lot in 5 or 6 pages - i enjoyed that aspect a lot. all in all, i didn’t love any of the stories in this collection but i enjoyed most of them.


favourite

desiree’s baby
the kiss
the story of an hour (the story of a dream)
the godmother
the unexpected

least favourite

[Emily Foligni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Chopin’s style of writing, but these stories were too short for me to fully enjoy.

Anyways here are my individual thoughts:

- [ ] the kiss - too short.
- [ ] Desiree’s baby -probably my favourite of the lot but still not anything amazing. The plot had more substance than other stories and I had more of a reaction to the twist. Semi heart wrenching, semi forgettable.
- [ ] the story of an hour - hated this one, so cheesy. I can see how this has an underlying feminist message though also not at all.
- [ ] the unexpected- couldn’t tell you what happens here except that a woman runs from her marriage. forgettable.
- [ ] the godmother - the build up was so good in this story but so dissapointing.

[Raf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal ranking:
1. The Story of an Hour
2. Désirée's Baby
3. The Unexpected
4. The Godmother
5. The Kiss

I will make this as short as the stories included: Kate Chopin's writing felt very modern and didn't come off as a difficult read. The twists weren't what I expected at all - that's a great thing!

The Story of an Hour (the third) quite puzzles me: did Chopin's character despise the chains of marriage or was it the burden of responsibilities she hated? Nevertheless, I love how her stories empower women in some way.

Three stars because The Godmother had great build-up but didn't have an impact on me.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

S Kate Chopin som sa prvýkrát stretla na hodine americkej literatúry. Hneď na to som sa pustila do jej jedinej novely The Awakening, ktorá sa stále radí medzi moje obľúbené knihy. Vidno však, že umenie poviedok jej ide asi najlepšie zo všetkého. Snúbi sa v nich americko-francúzska kultúra oblasti New Orleans, feminizmus v podobe ženských myšlienok z 19. storočia, ktoré boli považované za nevhodné vrátane opisu sexuality či ženského pohľadu na manželstvo, a priamočiarosť a jednoduchosť jej písania, ktoré je však plné emócií a zvratov.

PS: Tieto malilinké penguinovské klasiky zo 60. rokov minulého storočia nie sú len prekrásne, ale aj praktické na výlety či cestovanie električkou.

[Sophia Rainville · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had already read The Story of an Hour, and it still stands as my personal favorite of Kate Chopin's stories. That being said, there were so many interesting and surprisingly radical stories in this collection. Two of my newer favorites are Désirée's Baby and The Godmother. The latter is a story of covering up a murder as an act of love, and destruction and impact such an act has on a person's conscience. Chopin's Creolian and French Canadian influence were evident in a lot of her stories.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such marvellous tales in so short a form is no doubt only for masters. And Chopin certainly is a short story master, putting women (flawed, funny, sensitive) front and center of the story. I wished there was more of New Orleans in the tales, and certainly peaked my interest enough to look again. Full disclosure: there is mention of segregation and the n-word, not as a derrogatory term but as part of the full time the author lived in; something to reflect upon.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

what I find most engaging about these short stories is I think the immediacy of the emotions. They are living and palpable and varied and the main character of these stories.

[Ruby malik · Rating 5 out of 5]

can’t think of any faults, chopin has a gorgeous and eloquent writing style

[Chiefdonkey Bradey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Icy creole noir

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way this says so much with so little is excellent

[George Gonzaga Deoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kiss - 5 stars
Desiree's Baby- 4 stars
The Story of an Hour - 4 stars
The Unexpected - 4 stars
The Godmother - 4 stars

[nisha luther · Rating 4 out of 5]

the sorrow i feel for tante elodie

[Louise Cashman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories end abruptly and aren’t particularly profound but a modestly interesting short story collection.

[Bookarireads · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh, this book was so short but so full of 19th century racism that it took me ages to motivate me to finish this. Seriously, you can read the n-word on every 2 pages. Yes, I know it was the mentality of the time and considered normal to use that word to refer to black people buteven with "historical context", it's still super racist and was incredibly unconfortable to go thourgh, plus the stories weren't interesting enough to make it ""bareable""". So this was a big no for me, and I don't plan to ever read any Kate chopin's work again.

[EC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet collection of bite-sized Gothica that you can fit in your pocket. There's something very charming about Chopin's macabre twists, and the underlying morality that she offers is often startlingly modern. There are some great examples here of how to weave story together with subtle ideology in a very short space of time, which make 'The Kiss' a useful study for aspiring short fiction writers.

[Tineke Dijkstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good quick read. Well written, surprising stories. Very modern. 4/5 stars because unfortunately the last story couldn't keep me awake. Luckily the other stories made up for it. I am keeping my eyes open for more by Kate's hand - I like her style, both form and content. There's something about the atmosphere that she creates, the ability to even surprise you with a little plot twist in a short story of less than ten pages long, that I feel suits my needs as a reader.

[Angie Haney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Kate Chopin's short stories, surprisingly more than The Awakening. Each story is so different, it's difficult to review all of them here. But they all are detailed and compelling. I don't agree with everything the main characters do, but I love how raw and real the writing is.

[Kucing · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kiss ***
Desiree's Baby *****

[Sharon Omangi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant storytelling