Kate Chopin and Loneliness

Kate Chopin is well known for being an advocate for women's rights during the 1800's. However, while reading her novel, The Awakening, I noticed that Chopin has a reoccurring theme of loneliness in her writings. It's nothing major as of yet, but it's there nonetheless. For example, in The Awakening, Edna Pontellier shows a sign of loneliness as she leaves the sea, leaving the others in the water, to go home and lay on the hammock. As she discusses with Robert, there is a moment of silence in which Edna states, " No multitude of words could have been more significant than those moments of silence, or more pregnant with the first-felt throbbings of desire" (Chopin 40-41). She sits alone on the hammock, not answering immediately as Robert and her husband attempt to talk to her. In addition to Edna, Louise Mallard from The Story of An Hour also shows loneliness. For a majority of the short story, Louise is seen in a closed room, staring outside a window. No interaction is made between her and anyone at all, save the beginning and end where she briefly discusses with her sister. Why are her characters secluded and distant from the world? Perhaps, it's due to Chopin, herself, being lonely. Her writings were rejected during her life and didn't have many supporters. This could have left her in a position where she felt she needed loneliness. As stated in http://evolutionofwomenscitizenship.weebly.com, "As the century moved on women got a little lonely at home,"(Zecic, Kimura, Adomaitis). Are her characters reflecting Chopin and her inner loneliness? Or could her characters be lonely for an entirely different reason, yet to be unveiled? Only time will tell.