Theatricality of women’s voice: An Embarrassing Position by Kate Chopin

Abstract

The paper offers an analysis of An Embarrassing Position, the only extant and not very well-known theatre play by Kate Chopin. Even though it is only one-act-long, the play does not only contribute to the greatness of the artistry of the author, but it also subtly and wittily raises the question of societal imbalance and women’s right to self-deciding. Hence, the aim of this paper is both to expose the theatricality of women’s voice embedded in the play validating women’s stance and foretelling women’s emancipation, and to bring the play to the broader attention of academics as a unique, still underexamined, work of Chopin. In order to establish this light comedy play within a serious domain of women’s rights struggle, as well as to inscribe this short piece of work into the long list of Chopin’s writings which are pro feminist in their overtone, the paper uses hermeneutic analysis with elements of Derrida’s deconstructionist theory of différance, and employs Carl Jung’s idea of synchronicity. Derrida’s deconstruction serves to uncover the inner inconsistencies residing within the humorous lines of the play, whereas synchronicity provides the scaffold for the play’s events that bonds the analysis elements into one meaningful whole.