A Family Affair Flashcards
by Kate Chopin — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: A Family Affair
Why does Madame Solisainte invite one of her nieces to stay with her?
She thinks it will be cheaper than hiring a housekeeper, and believes she is doing the niece a kindness.
Why is Bosey the one who comes to the plantation?
None of the other three nieces would consider it. Bosey agrees only on a purely experimental basis.
What does Bosey do with Madame's bag of keys upon arriving?
She firmly takes the entire bag from her aunt's claw-like fingers and keeps it twisted around her own wrist at all times.
Where does Bosey move her aunt, and why does Madame object?
She moves her from the back window (where she could spy on workers) to the front room overlooking the road — cutting off her surveillance.
What does Bosey do about the household food?
She throws out the weevil-infested meal, fires the field-hand cook, hires Daniel's wife Mandy, and stocks the cupboard with fresh supplies from Lablatte's store.
Why does the Doctor visit so often?
He is drawn both by Bosey's charm and her invitation to treat Madame. He eventually falls in love with Bosey and proposes.
What does Bosey reveal just before leaving?
She has divided her grandmother's silver, table linen, and jewels equally and sent half to her mother — their rightful share that Madame had seized.
What happens to Madame Solisainte when she hears Bosey's revelation?
She rises from the chair she has been unable to leave for two years, walks to the press, and finds half the valuables gone.
How is Madame Solisainte physically described?
"Superabundantly fat" — her body fills the chair "like water poured into a mould." She has small watchful eyes, thin lips, and gray-streaked brown hair.
What items does Bosey arrive with, and what do they signal?
Three trunks, a tin bathtub, a bundle of umbrellas, and a small dog — signaling determination and permanence that immediately alarm Madame.
What is Dimple's role in the household?
She is Madame's sixteen-year-old "confidential servant" — a spy who reports on everything happening in the kitchen and quarters.
What running gag involves Dimple's appearance?
Her calico dress is too small and constantly ripping; she spends much of her time biting a bent safety pin back into shape to hold it together.
Who is Mandy, and why is she hired?
Daniel's wife, known for cooking for the "particularest people in town." Bosey hires her to replace Susan, who can't cook properly.
How did Madame Solisainte originally gain possession of the family valuables?
She seized her mother's belongings "by the force of audacity alone" while the old woman sat helpless in her chair.
Why is Bosey's act of dividing the inheritance morally ambiguous?
She is arguably reclaiming what was wrongfully taken, but she does it through deception, using the guise of a caretaker to access the locked press.
How does the story parallel Madame's original power grab?
Just as Madame seized the estate while her own mother sat helpless, Bosey reclaims it while Madame sits helpless — the pattern repeats across generations.
What makes Madame's cry of "Voleuse!" (Thief!) ironic?
She is accusing Bosey of the exact crime she herself committed years earlier — taking family property that wasn't solely hers.
How is Madame's walking at the end an example of situational irony?
Bosey promised to get her on her feet. It happens — but through rage at being "robbed," not through the doctor's care.
What do the keys symbolize in the story?
Household power and control. Whoever holds the keys controls the food, the silver, and the domestic economy of the plantation.
How does Chopin use dialect to establish character?
Dimple speaks in African American vernacular, Madame in French-accented English, and Bosey in crisp modern speech — each dialect signals social position.
What is a "peignoir" as mentioned in the story?
A loose dressing gown or robe. Madame wears a muslin peignoir daily; Bosey has a silk one made for her aunt for the ball.
What does "Voleuse" mean?
French for "thief" (feminine). Madame screams it after Bosey as she leaves the plantation.
What is "lagniappe" in Louisiana culture?
A small extra gift or bonus from a merchant. In the story, Lablatte's store supplies provisions that Bosey orders freely.
What is the effect of Bosey's parting words: "You know yourself it was only just"?
She frames the division as simple fairness, forcing Madame (and the reader) to acknowledge that half the inheritance was never rightfully hers.
What does the narrator mean by Bosey "pursuing her avocation of the ministering angel"?
The phrase is gently ironic — Bosey maintains the appearance of selfless care right up to the moment she reveals her other motive.
What is significant about Madame moving her bookmark forward in the novel?
She pretends to be reading the books Bosey brought, revealing her pride — she won't admit she has nothing else to do and can't resist the performance.