Kate Chopin's Short Stories

Kate Chopin's Short Stories Character List

Louise Mallard

The protagonist of "The Story of an Hour," she suffers from heart troubles but experiences a new sensation of freedom upon the death of her husband.

Brently Mallard

In "The Story of an Hour," he is a kind husband to Louise and is assumed to die in a train accident.

Josephine

In "The Story of an Hour," she tries to help her sister Mrs. Mallard cope with Brently Mallard's death.

Richards

In "The Story of an Hour," he is Brently Mallard's friend and gently breaks the news of Brently's death to Mrs. Mallard.

La Folle

In "Beyond the Bayou," she is deathly afraid of the world beyond the bayou but is forced beyond in a crisis involving her beloved Chéri.

P'tit Maître

In "Beyond the Bayou," he is the plantation owner and father of Chéri, who in his youth scared the wits out of La Folle after being badly injured in a skirmish.

Ma'ame Pélagie

After the burning of the old mansion at Côte Joyeuse, she retreats to living in the antebellum past and dreaming of the day when the mansion will be restored. She holds iron control over her younger sister and would do anything to save Pauline's life.

Pauline

She is the younger sister of Ma'ame Pélagie and lives under the influence of her sister and the past, but the arrival of her niece La Petite revives her. The potential loss of La Petite drives her to thoughts of dying.

La Petite

The niece of Pauline and Ma'ame Pélagie, she initially resigns herself to living at Côte Joyeuse but soon realizes that she cannot live so disconnected from the present day.

Désirée

In "Désirée's Baby," she is an orphan raised by the Valmondés who has married Armand, the love of her life. Unfortunately, her baby's appearance leads to questions of her ancestry that imperil her marriage and life.

Madame Valmondé

The adoptive mother of Désirée, she does not care about the identity of Désirée's parents and regards her adopted daughter as a gift to be loved.

Armand Aubigny

In "Désirée's Baby," he marries Désirée after falling in love with her, but his bigotry and cold nature cause trouble in their marriage when the birth of their child raises questions about his wife's racial descent.

Mrs. Baroda

In "A Respectable Woman," she is happily married but is somewhat disturbed by the arrival of Gouvernail, to whom she is physically attracted.

Gouvernail

In "A Respectable Woman," he visits the Baroda plantation and becomes an object of interest to Mrs. Baroda.

Gaston Baroda

The husband of Mrs. Baroda in "A Respectable Woman," he regards Gouvernail as a great friend and cannot understand his wife's apparent antipathy.

Nathalie

In "The Kiss," she tries to obtain Brantain's wealth by marrying him while simultaneously keeping Harvy's love in an affair.

Brantain

In "The Kiss," he is an "insignificant and unattractive" man but has enough wealth to attract Nathalie, with whom he is in love.

Harvy

The love interest of Nathalie in "The Kiss," he is passionate and attracted to Nathalie but eventually decides that having an affair with a newlywed is too dangerous.

Mrs. Sommers

In "A Pair of Silk Stockings," she obtains fifteen dollars and, rather than spending it practically, uses it to temporarily experience affluence and the fulfillment of desire for the first time in many years.

Edmond

In "The Locket," he keeps Octavie's locket as a memento as he goes to war, although others joke that it is a voodoo luck charm.

the fourth soldier

In "The Locket," he steals Edmond's locket in case it is actually a luck charm to protect him from death in the Civil War.

the priest

In "The Locket," he administers last rites to dying soldiers and, upon finding Octavie's locket, returns it to her with news of Edmond's death.

Octavie

In "The Locket," she is devastated to hear of Edmond's death, and she decides in spite of the beauty of spring to remain in mourning.

Judge Pillier

The father of Edmond in "The Locket," he encourages Octavie to give up her mourning and find joy in the renewal of spring.