It wasn`t that Athenaise husband mistreated her.Nor did she hate him.It was just being married she despised-to have him always there,`his ugly bare feet-washing them in my tub,befo` my very eyes!`Athenaise flees,but in New Orleans,dwelling with wise Madame Sylvie,an extraordinary transformation takes place.Heavy with the languor of the deep South,Kate Chopin`s stories-like her celebrated book The Awakening-vibrantly depict women`s instinctive efforts to reconcile their lives and their hearts` desires.