Regret

Kate Chopin’s short story “Regret” was first published in the American literary journal Century in May 1895. Later, it was published as part of her second collection, A Night in Acadie, in 1897. Many of Chopin’s stories were written and published before The Awakening, the novel for which she received posthumous fame, particularly in the 1970s during second-wave feminism. Other works by this author include “At the ’Cadian Ball”, “A Respectable Woman”, and “The Night Came Slowly”.

Kate Chopin’s writing was grounded in Louisiana, where she lived in the late 19th century. Her stories are tied to a time in which memories of the Civil War were still fresh in the American South. Though slavery had ended, Black Americans were often subjected to restrictions, prejudice, and violence. At the same time, Reconstruction-era policies attempted to make society more equal. The Gilded Age (1877-1896) was a relatively conservative era; wealth disparities increased drastically, and women were restricted by societal norms and expectations.

This guide is based on the story as it appears in Kate Chopin: Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie, published by Penguin Classics in 1999.