Kate Chopin was born as Kate O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850. She got married in 1870 and published her first book, “At Fault," in 1890. Her controversial work, "The Awakening," was published in 1899. Unhappy events in her life, like death the death of her loved ones made her a skeptic of religion (Wyatt, 1995). In Ripe Figs, Kate Chopin figuratively tells the story of the seasons in the sun. Ripe Figs is about a young girl named Babette who lives with her godmother Maman-Nainaine.
Summer was nearing and her godmother had promised she could visit her cousins when the figs had ripened. Babette’s youth was undeniable in her impatient demeanor while waiting for summer to come. She visited the fig-trees in the sunshine to check if they have ripened after the warm rains. Her youthfulness was a
...stark contrast to Maman-Nainaine, who patiently, and without a fuss, went about her daily life in her usual calm manner.
Perhaps, at some point, Babette could have felt her impatience was being tested to its end, because each time she visited the fig-trees the gnarled branches did not offer the ripe figs that would signal that her wait was over. Finally, one fine morning when she visited the fig-trees, they offered their purple bunches to Babette. She, in turn, served her godmother the ripe figs at the breakfast table. Upon seeing the ripe figs, Maman-Nainaine exclaimed how early the figs had ripened, to which Babette said that in contrary, they had ripened very late.
Her godmother only bid her farewell by asking her that when she gets to Bayou-Boeuf to extend her warm greetings to her aunt, whom
Maman-Nainaine would visit in spring. The characters represent the seasons: youthful Babette represents spring, as she was impatient for the figs to ripen, for summer to come; and Maman-Nainaine, in her old age represents cool winter, patiently waiting till the time came.
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