At the ’Cadian Ball

A vignette is a brief, evocative literary episode. Chopin’s depiction of the ball creates an atmosphere around the party, its customs and happenings, and the people who are in attendance. The narrator, after describing the space as a “big, low-ceiled room—they called it a hall” (183) describes more specific sights and sounds: “Men and women dancing to the music of three fiddles” surrounded by multiple smaller rooms for sleeping children, and another where “sober-faced men were playing cards” (183).

The guests eat gumbo and drink coffee and lemonade, all of which they are expected to purchase from the host who has held these parties for decades. The sentence “Anyone who is white may go to a ’Cadian ball” represents the severe racism present in Louisiana at the end of American Reconstruction (183).

By writing dialogue in dialect, Chopin gives her characters a more casual and realistic feel. Hearing not only what the characters say but also how they say it adds to the overall display of local color. Moreover, the colloquial differences in each character’s dialogue set them apart.

Calixta addresses Alcée as “M’sieur” (185), while Clarisse more formally calls him “Monsieur” (181). Clarisse’s speech is more refined (though her accent is noted in her dialogue), and she speaks in French more frequently than Calixta, as was expected of upper-class ladies in southern Louisiana. Clarisse addresses Calixta in French, “Ah, c’est vous, Calixta? Comment ḉa va, mon enfant?” (186) meaning, “Ah, is that you Calixta? How are you, my child?” Even though Clarisse walks in on Alcée and Calixta engaging in intimate actions, she still addresses Calixta properly and kindly, if perhaps with a slightly belittling tone.

In contrast, Calixta “belonged to the younger generation, so preferred to speak English” (185). Calixta ignores the social norm of speaking in French only until Clarisse addresses her. Calixta is more inclined to disregard grammatically correct speech, as was typical for people from a lower class.