Read the excerpt from "a pair of silk stockings." she was not going through any acute mental process or reasoning with herself, nor was she striving to explain to her satisfaction the motive of her action. she was not thinking at all. she seemed for the time to be taking a rest from that laborious and fatiguing function and to have abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility. which topic is represented in the excerpt? the joys and pitfalls of motherhood the brief rejection of an obligatory role the subconscious desire for luxury the pressures of a forceful society

The answer is B (filler text)

The brief rejection of an obligatory role.

Explanation:

Kate Chopin's short story "A Pair of Silk Stockings" tells of how a mother's life had been so overcome with her children's needs that she has no time or chance to indulge on her own self. The character of Mrs. Sommers is someone with whom almost all mothers will relate with.

Mrs. Sommers had recently got a fortune of fifteen dollars, which at that time was a fortune. She did not know how to make use of it not because she is rich, but more because there are a lot of things to be taken care of. She decided that she will get things for the children first but on the day of the shopping, an impulsive decision led her to spend everything on herself. The excerpt in the question shows a brief rejection of her obligatory role as care giver and mother to her children and family. Instead, she indulged on herself and did everything that she hadn't planned on doing.