Kate Chopin’s Short Story ‘A Matter of Prejudice’: Problematic Preconceptions

Kate Chopin's short story is about a lady, Madame Carambeau, who is “a woman of many prejudices, so many, in fact, that it would be difficult to name them all.” This painting (cropped view) is titled "Grandmother and Granddaughter" by Julius Scholtz in 1863. Public Domain

Our judgments and opinions affect our actions and emotions and, whether they are favorable or unfavorable, lead us to form prejudices. These prejudices can be detrimental, for they can prevent us from seeing the truth around us.

Kate Chopin, most often today considered a forerunner of feminism, addressed something quite different in her short story “A Matter of Prejudice” (1894),  wherein her main character simply learns to see humans as humans.