Mrs. Sommers, a middle-aged widow, is out shopping one day when she comes across a pair of silk stockings. She has never owned anything so luxurious before, and she impulsively decides to buy them. She takes them home and puts them on, feeling a sense of pleasure and excitement. The stockings remind her of her youth, when she was young and carefree. She remembers the days when she was able to go out and enjoy herself, and she begins to feel a sense of longing for those days. She decides to spend the day indulging herself, and she goes out to the theater, buys herself a new dress, and has a nice lunch. At the end of the day, Mrs. Sommers is exhausted and realizes that she has spent all of her money. She is filled with guilt and regret, and she realizes that she has been foolish and irresponsible. She takes off the stockings and puts them away, vowing never to be so impulsive again.
By Kate Chopin · First published 1899 · Genre: Realism, Feminism, Short Story