A Pair of Silk Stockings

“The vision of her little brood looking fresh and dainty and new for once in their lives excited her and made her restless and wakeful with anticipation.”

Mrs. Sommers is motivated by the idea of her children looking all bright and crisp in a way they never have, providing another clue as to the ongoing pressure on Mrs. Sommers to stretch their money as far as she can. She never seems to get a break from worry and fatigue, and even this excitement affects her sleep and makes her tired the next day. It also shows how much she cares for her children, giving an important context to her actions later in the story.

“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.”

Even though Mrs. Sommers evidently enjoyed some affluence prior to her marriage, she never “indulge[s]” in self-pity or longing for things she can no longer have. She has no time for recollection, hope or contemplation but devotes herself utterly to the necessities of raising her family. This description invokes respect and compassion for the protagonist.

“An all-gone limp feeling had come over her and she rested her hand aimlessly upon the counter.”

Living her life as a dutiful mother has depleted Mrs. Sommers of energy, as thoughts her of children and their present needs completely consume her. She feels lifeless and spent, prompting her to sit down with only the intention to rest; she has not noticed the silk stockings and her encounter with them is an accident.

“She handed the girl a five-dollar bill and waited for her change and for her parcel. What a very small parcel it was! It seemed lost in the depths of her shabby old shopping-bag.”

Despite spending two of her $15 on this purchase, it strikes Mrs. Sommers as being somewhat paltry when she puts it into her capacious, tattered bag. It is as though the threadbare, worn bag is a symbol of Mrs. Sommers’s life and the stockings, though beautiful, are such a small treat in comparison to the many years of austere living. Perhaps this is why she goes to put them on right away, or why she continues to purchase items for herself.

“She was not going through any acute mental process or reasoning with herself, nor was she striving to explain to her satisfaction the motive of her action. 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.”

There are many clues in the text to suggest that Mrs. Sommers is not a decadent person, beginning with the way she planned to spend her money and the excitement her plan inspired. Here, her motivation for spending the money on herself is revealed, and the indulgence is not particularly purposeful or intentional; instead, she seems to be allowing her mental faculties to rest in the same way she’d needed to rest her body. Just as she’d felt compelled to sit down at the counter to alleviate her exhaustion, she now feels how restful and peaceful it is to stop thinking about her duties and responsibilities.

“How good was the touch of the raw silk to her flesh!”

This example of imagery not only directs the reader to focus on how delightful it is to be swathed in sheeny, glistening silk, but it also suggests how fundamental physical comfort is to our natures. Chopin draws out attention to the sensuality of the experience. The word “flesh,” is expressive of Mrs. Sommers’s shift from self-denial to self-indulgence, by drawing explicit attention to her body and how it feels. Mrs. Sommers has not felt physical gratification or satisfaction for so long that she seems to become overwhelmed, mentally, by the sensation. She has been deprived, and now her senses are reawakening.

“Her foot and ankle looked very pretty. She could not realize that they belonged to her and were a part of herself.”

Mrs. Sommers has grown so used to her economical, low-cost lifestyle and appearance that she has trouble believing that those feet in the silky hose and stylish boots are truly her own. She cannot seem to recognize herself in elegant apparel that doesn’t come from a bargain bin. Similarly, she admires her own hand when she gets to the glove counter. Although Mrs. Sommers has difficulty recognizing the pretty foot, they are indeed her own; it is only the clothes that have changed—raising questions about self-hood and identity. Chopin opens up the possibility that Mrs. Sommers is beautiful—and that this would be recognized if she had more time and money for herself.

“As well as she could she lifted her skirts at the crossings. Her stockings and boots and well fitting gloves had worked marvels in her bearing—had given her a feeling of assurance, a sense of belonging to the well-dressed multitude.”

Mrs. Sommers had not felt a sense of importance for years, until she got the $15. Now, with her new things, she feels self-possessed and composed rather than drained and deprived. It doesn’t take much to elicit this change in her, but the change itself is substantial. A little indulgence restores Mrs. Sommers to vitality and a sense of self-respect that changes her whole manner.

“She was very hungry. Another time she would have stilled the cravings for food until reaching her own home, where she would have brewed herself a cup of tea and taken a snack of anything that was available. But the impulse that was guiding her would not suffer her to entertain any such thought.”

Mrs. Sommers’s typical “meal” (of tea and anything that happens to be available at home) is symbolic of the way she has had to give preference to her children’s needs and abandon her own. On this day, however, desire for her own comfort is allowed to determine her course—for the first time in a very long time—and she seeks out the kind of delicious and satisfying meal she may have been accustomed to enjoying in her youth.

“When she entered her appearance created no surprise, no consternation, as she had half feared it might.”

Mrs. Sommers has long felt herself to be insignificant, that she does not belong in the society of well-dressed people, and so she fears, momentarily, that the obviously well-off individuals in the restaurant will look down on her. Earlier, we learned that she has seen this lovely restaurant before, but it did not occur to her to go in. Even now, entering involves some courage. The acceptance of Mrs. Sommers shows that she is not intrinsically out of place—now that she has enough money and wears expensive shoes and stockings, she is recognized by society.

“The price of it made no difference. She counted out the money to the waiter and left an extra coin on his tray, whereupon he bowed before her as before a princess of royal blood.”

For the first time in a long time, Mrs. Sommers enjoys the freedom of ordering what she’d like, regardless of cost. She seeks to gratify her desire for comfort and freedom, while taking a break from the daily anxieties that are so typical for her. Rather than feel silly or underconfident, as she did earlier when considering the pair of silk stockings for herself, she has increased in self-assurance as the day has progressed. Her poise and generosity prompt the server to treat her with absolute respect, making her feel venerated rather than an object of pity or ridicule. This is also the passage where money as social currency comes most to the fore, raising considerations about what money brings with it: status, respect, confidence.

“It is safe to say that there was no one present who bore quite the attitude which Mrs. Sommers did to her surroundings. She gathered in the whole—stage and players and people in one wide impression, and absorbed it and enjoyed it.”

It has been so long since Mrs. Sommers has been able to indulge herself and enjoy leisure time, free from worry or work, and so she makes the most of this opportunity. She takes in every moment because she cannot know when or if she will ever be presented with another such opportunity. The fact that no others appreciate the experience as much as she does marks her out as unique. She may have emotional and artistic depths and is also alone in the crowd. This is another passage that shows how thankful Mrs. Sommers is for the opportunities she’s had today, strengthening Chopin’s compassionate tone. The use of polysyndeton—the repetition of conjunctions, like “and,” in a series—compounds and intensifies this portrayal of Mrs. Sommers’s appreciation.

“The play was over, the music ceased, the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended.”

The grammatical subject of the two sentences is the play but there is a clear implication that the whole experience of the day is now over, and Mrs. Sommers is aware that she must return to reality. A dream can be an ambition or a desire, and this has been a day of fulfillment for Mrs. Sommers. She has been guided by her own physical impulse rather than a logical and contrived strategy, in a rather dream-like state. The first sentence is made up of three independent clauses, strung together with commas but no conjunctions; this asyndeton—the lack of conjunctions, like “and,” in a series—seems to compound the fullness and intensity of the moment. The second sentence, in contrast, is comprised of just one independent clause that is syntactically uninteresting and predictable, much like the life to which Mrs. Sommers must return. In its lack of imagery or description, this sentence seems to indicate a stilling of Mrs. Sommers’s physical senses and a return to reason and thought.