REGRET by Kate Chopin

     

     Mamzelle Aurelle is the protagonist of the story. She is a 50 year old woman yet still single. As described in the story, she has a strong figure and a determined eye. In addition, the story tells that there is no femininity in her character. She is content with the life she has. She is unmarried by choice. Someone proposed to her before but she rejected it. Therefore we can say that she wasn't able to marry because she was unfit. It was because that was her choice. 

     The setting of the story is at the farm. Mamzelle Aurelle runs a farm with her negro workers. The time span is two weeks. That was for the time where Mamzelle has to take care of the kids of her neighbour. The weather condition is fine. The mood or the atmosphere at first was not so good because Mamzelle was complaining about the kids but she became close to the kids as the days pass. 

     At the first part of the story, Mamzelle was described as a strong-figured woman. Her neighbor, Odile has to leave her four kids because she has to visit her sick mother. Then, two weeks has passed and when Mamzelle sees the car which Odile is riding, she feels agitated because Odile will get the kids back. At first, she had a hard time in managing the children because she never had one before but as the time goes by, she developed a strong bond with the kids. So, when the two weeks were over, and the children have to go back to their mother, that's the time where she became really sad. 

    The conflict in this story is man versus himself. Mamzelle Aurelle struggles with herself, her own soul, her physical limitations and her choices.

   The point of view used in this story is omniscient. The theme is the title itself---regret. The woman in the story thought she lived a happy life but she wasn’t. When she had the chance of taking care the kids, she realized how empty her life was. She had regrets because she didn’t lived her life to the fullest, regret that she didn't want that priceless joy in her life, and regret that she was too old o try and find it.