Chopin

In the piece “At the Cadian Ball” by Kate Chopin, the author paid a lot of attention to the description of each of the character’s finery as well as the development of the places surrounding them. The French that is used within the piece is interwoven so intricately that it becomes part of the story and the background of the characters. It is part of each of the character’s lives and their culture, not just stuck in there for show.
The author used distinction to emphasize the differences between men and women is markedly shown here. Chopin also went out of her way to accentuate their manners as the elegance of society. The better your manners are, the higher up in society you/your family is. The author also documented the competition between the sexes, especially how the women dominate each other over who has the better dress, or shoes, even the best beau. Men are shown competing with each other over the “fairer sex” as if they are a sport themselves.
It is an important historical note that Chopin wrote this piece during the coming in of the Victorian age, when women wanted more and were allowed to be somewhat more vocal {though doctors knew little of the female anatomy and were not allowed to examine females. See www.historychannel.com} Chopin may have described the piece as a “dance” because both sides have much at stake: the men are courting, hoping for a dowry and a proper wife while the women have to keep their gentlemen interested but at the same time without falling into the trap of giving too much and losing their chastity or worse.