Previous
Characters
Mrs. Sommers, the protagonist and only major character in the story, is an impoverished, industrious young woman. Although her poor neighbors dwell on the fact that Mrs. Sommers was once richer and more fortunate (before her marriage to Mr. Sommers), she is no snob and is not afraid of hard work. In fact, she is so busy completing her daily household duties that she has no time at all “to devote to the past.” In the story’s opening, dutiful Mrs. Sommers is characterized solely by her identity as a mother and wife, but after gaining a small windfall of fifteen dollars, she begins to make decisions for herself. Escaping from her familial obligations for one afternoon, Chopin’s heroine is able to prioritize her own desires and to pursue her quest for personal fulfillment. Succumbing to the tempting delights of consumerism, Mrs. Sommers indulges in new clothing (including the eponymous pair of silk stockings), an extravagant lunch, and a trip to the theater, activities that give her a feeling of importance and belonging. While Mrs. Sommers’s shopping spree symbolizes a personal triumph over the patriarchal expectations that require her to exhaust herself in order to embody the characteristics of an ideal nineteenth-century woman, it also seems to reveal the futile nature of her rebellion. Mrs. Sommers has experienced a taste of freedom, happiness, and pleasure, but having spent the entirety of the fifteen dollars on herself, she must return home to the drudgery of her mundane domestic routine.
Mrs. Sommers Quotes in A Pair of Silk Stockings
The A Pair of Silk Stockings quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Sommers or refer to Mrs. Sommers . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
A Pair of Silk Stockings Quotes
It seemed to her a very large amount of money, and the way in which it stuffed and bulged her worn old porte-monnaie gave her a feeling of importance such as she had not enjoyed for years.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
At the opening of “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” Mrs. Sommers acquires fifteen dollars. No explanation is given as to how she earned or received the small windfall, but it is apparent that for impoverished Mrs. Sommers, the money is a pleasant surprise. Fifteen dollars was not a huge sum, even in the 1890s, but for humble Mrs. Sommers, it becomes a source of pride and self-worth. The juxtaposition between the fifteen dollars and her shabby coin purse presents the money as a shining treasure, completely out of place in the poor woman’s bag. The fact that Mrs. Sommers had Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque p
For a day or two she walked about apparently in a dreamy state, but really absorbed in speculation and calculation. She did not wish to act hastily, to do anything she might afterward regret.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Upon acquiring the fifteen dollars, Mrs. Sommers is immediately consumed with the task of deciding how to spend the money. Curiously, despite her careful planning, she never reflects on the possibility of saving the money. This quote reveals the extent to which Mrs. Sommers is misunderstood, a notion that is reflected throughout the rest of the story. She appears to walk around in a dream-like state—a romantic and fanciful woman preoccupied with shopping—but in reality, she is deliberate and meticulous. This undermines nineteenth-century gender stereotypes that assumed men were rational and reasonable, while women were silly, frivolous, and emotional. Chopin Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Acc
The neighbors sometimes talked of certain “better days” that little Mrs. Sommers had known before she had ever thought of being Mrs. Sommers. She herself indulged in no such morbid retrospection. She had no time—no second of time to devote to the past.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote, near the beginning of the story, suggests that Mrs. Sommers had experienced wealth and a higher-class status before her marriage, probably in her childhood. Despite her neighbors’ rumoring and gossip, Mrs. Sommers stoically faces her present challenges without dwelling on the past. For Mrs. Sommers, to do so would be to indulge in “morbid retrospection.” That is, to acknowledge the realities of her present situation would be unproductive, but also a dreadful reminder of what she has lost. Mrs. Sommers cannot afford frivolous distractions because is wholly consumed by her domestic duties.
A vision of the future like some dim, gaunt monster sometimes appalled her, but luckily to-morrow never comes.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Following the description of her gossiping neighbors, readers learn briefly of Mrs. Sommers’s innermost fears. Mrs. Sommers’s future is bleak; she is poor, exhausted, and destined for a difficult life serving her family. In this simile, the future takes the form of an appalling and haggard monster, perhaps representing a life of hunger or starvation for her and her destitute family. For this reason, Mrs. Sommers tries to suppress her worries about the future instead focusing her energy on getting through each day. Usually the phrase “to-morrow never comes” conveys a message about harnessing the present, because if tasks are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliqu
She went on feeling the soft, sheeny luxurious things—with both hands now, holding them up to see them glisten, and to feel them glide serpent-like through her fingers.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This moment is the climax of Chopin’s short story; exhausted, hungry and depleted, Mrs. Sommers happens upon an expensive and luxurious par of silk stockings. Unleashing her long-buried desires, the fortuitous encounter is the catalyst for Mrs. Sommers’s afternoon of consumption and indulgence. The imagery here compares the stockings to a serpent. Like Satan in the Bible’s creation story, which too takes the form of a serpent, the stockings represent a sinful temptation placed in Mrs. Sommers’s path in order to test her loyalty and devotion. Rather than betraying God, however, Mrs. Sommers’s disloyalty is to those patriarchal expectations that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti so
She was not thinking at all. She seemed for the time to be taking a rest from that laborious and fatiguing function and to have abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After purchasing the stockings, Mrs. Sommers feels another rush of longing and a desperate need to sustain the feeling of pleasure that she is experiencing. The stockings have not only aroused her desires, but have also awakened the old Mrs. Sommers—an identity that perished with her marriage to Mr. Sommers. The “mechanical impulse” that guides her is presented as a natural process, one that is usually superseded by her meticulous reasoning faculties but is now able to function freely. This places Mrs. Sommers in a position safe from blame because it is not her rational, thinking brain that is controlling Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas de
Her foot and ankle looked very pretty. She could not realize that they belonged to her and were a part of herself.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Mrs. Sommers finds a quiet spot in the store to put on her new stockings, just minutes after buying them. She moves towards the shoe department, where the combination of her expensive stockings and her shabby clothes confuses the clerk working there. When she looks down at her foot, freshly clad in leather boots and the silk stockings, she is unable to recognize her own body. Mrs. Sommers, normally depleted in both energy and femininity, has such low self-worth that she cannot believe that she is capable of looking “pretty.” She experiences dissociation with her body, admiring her foot and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in.
She was hungry.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Mrs. Sommers realizes that she is hungry when she eventually leaves the department store. Indeed, she began her shopping trip faint and famished and has still not eaten. However, her hunger here also refers to her newly awakened and insatiable appetite for more—more spending, more indulgence, more consumption. Chopin illustrates the dissatisfying nature of American consumer culture when revealing how Mrs. Sommers’s “cravings” grow, rather than lessen, as her shopping spree unfolds. Each delightful purchase is followed by a feeling of emptiness or dissatisfaction that can only be replaced by yet more purchases. Mrs. Sommers will never find happiness through Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores
The play was over, the music ceased, the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Mrs. Sommers’s final purchase is a trip to the theater. The play becomes a microcosm for Mrs. Sommers’s life and her place in society because she is subject to the scrutiny of the shallow women in the audience, who ultimately accept her into their social set just because she is well dressed, but maintain the power to reject Mrs. Sommers, should her performance not be convincing enough. The end of the play symbolizes the end of Mrs. Sommers’s adventure. It becomes obvious that through the course of the day, not just the duration of the play, disbelief has been suspended Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Vo
[…] a poignant wish, a powerful longing that the cable car would never stop anywhere, but go on and on with her forever.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
During her journey home, Mrs. Sommers is observed by a man “with keen eyes” who tries to determine what kind of woman she is. The narrator reveals that he is unable to decipher anything about Mrs. Sommers—who wears a peculiar combination of extravagant and shabby clothing—a woman preoccupied with a secret wish to avoid her return home. Mrs. Sommers longs for her journey in the cable car to “go on and on with her forever” because she desperately wants her day of luxury and self-fulfillment to continue. She fears the return to her domestic chores, and perhaps the repercussions she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus
Get the entire A Pair of Silk Stockings LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Mrs. Sommers Character Timeline in A Pair of Silk Stockings
The timeline below shows where the character Mrs. Sommers appears in A Pair of Silk Stockings. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
A Pair of Silk Stockings
For reasons not revealed, Mrs. Sommers finds herself in possession of fifteen dollars. For poor, “little Mrs. Sommers,” this seems like...
(full context)
Mrs. Sommers is completely consumed by the question of how to spend her small windfall. “She did...
(full context)
The neighbors like to gossip about Mrs. Sommers ’s past—back when she enjoyed “better days,” prior to getting married to Mr. Sommers. Mrs....
(full context)
Mrs. Sommers is usually a skillful and tenacious shopper, able to “elbow her way” through stores and...
(full context)
As she braces herself to begin shopping, Mrs. Sommers accidentally brushes her hand against a pair of silk stockings. Although the stockings are on...
(full context)
Instead of visiting the “bargain counter,” Mrs. Sommers promptly goes to the dressing room to put on her new silk stockings. As she...
(full context)
Stuffing her old stockings in her bag, Mrs. Sommers makes a beeline for the shoe department. The clerk there is surprised by the combination...
(full context)
Mrs. Sommers then thinks of how long it’s been since she’s purchased new gloves, and promptly visits...
(full context)
Having not eaten since her bout of faintness earlier in the day, Mrs. Sommers feels incredibly hungry all of a sudden. Under normal circumstances, she would usually ignore her...
(full context)
Once seated at her own table, Mrs. Sommers claims to “not want a profusion,” but nonetheless orders a fine feast. Following her oysters...
(full context)
Mrs. Sommers has enough money for one last splurge. She spots a poster advertising a matinee and,...
(full context)
As the play ends, Mrs. Sommers feels as if “a dream ended.” She files out of the theater and walks alone...
(full context)
