Examples Of Americanism In The Awakening

Throughout most of her life, Edna Pontellier’s true self was majorly suppressed by her husband, as well as her duties as a mother, and society’s image of

In Kate Chopin’s 1898 novel, “The Awakening”, she illustrates how one woman decides to try to live with more free-will. Furthermore, it displays her growth in independence by denying societal-norms as the story progresses. Chopin uses literary techniques in order to reveal her intended message to the readers through thorough analysis of her novel. After one ensues that further analysis of Chopin’s literary techniques (that are mainly dependent on each other) of imagery, personification, and symbolism, one would discover that the intended message of which Chopin is trying to uncover is how extremists do not rally up a movement for the masses, but rather, they would bring about characteristics and actions that will lead to their downfall. As

In 1854 Fanny Fern published what was to become not only her most successful works, but one of the most popular and enduring works of English literature during the Antebellum period: Ruth Hall; A Domestic Tale of the Present Time. Though the title – especially to a modern reader – does little to convey the level of thoughtful and heady critique that Fern expounds through this book, it is actually is a strong indictment of the feminine position as the subordinate housewife, mother, and societal agent. However, despite this criticism, it does not seem that Fanny Fern is critical of the institutions of marriage or motherhood as a whole. Her critique is based on the limiting effects of the conventional roles into which wives and mothers fall, and the deleterious consequences these roles have on the personal development and self-actualization of the women who enter into them. Therefore, it is not the institution of marriage or motherhood that Fern is critical of, but rather the expectations and limitations that society assigns to the women who assume these roles.

when the roles of Victorian women were expected to be limited to childbearing and a housewife. Their life was suppose to be centered around their husband and their children. They would submit themselves to their husband and was in charge of the domestic duties. So the women’s and men’s role were not viewed with the same status since women’s rights are given to their spouse after marriage. Thus in The Awakening, Edna’s actions are viewed as uncanny and erroneous because women were not viewed as equals but as housewives.

In antebellum America there was little tolerance for autonomous women. Usually females, spanning all classes, were attached to households, dependent on males for status and wealth. Society demanded that domesticity be the woman’s domain, any deviations from this constricting edict was met with disdain. The cultural myth of the model genteel women permeated the fabric of 19th century life. However, with the advent of the Civil

The period between 1750 and 1850 marked some significant changes to the roles of women in America. For one thing, the success of the family farm depended on both husband and wife working nearly around the clock in the fields. One can imagine that working side by side with her husband must have sparked some ideas or aspirations of equality in a woman’s mind. At the same

1. Edna’s position in life is a wife and mother as well as being a trophy wife for her husband; she is someone that he can show off and shower with gifts in return for her undying affection. It appears he is greatly concerned with her appearance more than how she feels when he comments that she is “burnt beyond recognition” while “looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage”(4). Edna is expected to carry out duties that fall under the Cult of Domesticity, such as caring for her children, tending to house orders, ensuring that she is always respectable-looking and ready for visitors. Mr. Pontellier

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening should be seen as depicting the discontentment that comes from self-gratification rather than the glorification of delighting in one’s fantasies. Chopin describes the central idea of one who is seeking to please her personal needs and desires and, in the process, neglects to notice how her actions affect others. The protagonist, Edna, is not able to find peace or happiness in the accepted daily life that a woman of her era and social status should have. The fulfilling of her desires could essentially cause social ostracism for her, her husband, and her children, yet she is unable to find repose in living the typical social Victorian life. The final resolve of her “awakening”

Edna Pontellier is a woman of great needs. Although she has a husband who cares for her and two children, she is very unhappy. She plays her roles as a mother and wife often, but still keeps doing things unmarried, barren women should do: enjoy the company of other men, ignore her children's cries, dress unladylike for the times. The story is set in the late 1800's, when women were to be in the kitchen preparing a meal for their family, giving birth to more children to help with daily chores, or sitting quietly at home, teaching the children while the husband was at work. Edna Pontellier was a woman not of her time. At only 28, she would have rather been out gallivanting with different men, traveling with them, and painting

In 19th century society, men consider chastity the holy grail to the proper moral character of a woman. However, during a summer trip to Grand Isle Bay, Edna Pontellier betrays society’s fetters as well as her wealthy, yet objectifying husband, Leonce; she begins a relationship with the idiosyncratically gallant Robert Lebrun. Since Edna’s husband is always fortuitously preoccupied or away with work, Edna and Robert become closer. Robert tells the The New Orleans Tribune that, at this time, he brings an awakening in Edna by helping her understand that, although she is a woman, she, too, can have her own desires, such as learning how to swim, and hobbies, such as painting. Yet, ashamed of their extramarital affairs, Robert leaves her and flees to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Still, after Edna and

As shown through the events of The Awakening, Victorian society was preoccupied with the ideal of a mother-woman. Mother-women, such as Madame Ratignolle, disregarded their own individuality, and lived for nothing other than providing for their husbands and children. Edna Pontellier does not conform to this notion, and is thought of by many, her own husband included, as a poor mother. Regardless of the countless changes to the idea of motherhood and the societal role of women through the years, Edna continues to be a poor mother.

Contrary to popular belief, ideas on femininity in the eighteenth century were not so much restrictive as in the nineteenth, at least not where sex was concerned. Catherine Clinton, a professor of American history, elaborates in her book, The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century, that it was even accepted for women to have a high sex drive. Clinton also reveals that it was not uncommon to see a pregnant bride (147). At the turn of the century, however, those free ideals morphed into strict guidelines. Society began to value a woman by her sexual purity and dependent behavior. During the nineteenth century, the type of woman who was most valued was a ‘trophy’ wife, much like Marian Forrester in A Lost Lady by Willa

In Kate Chopin’s novel, “The Awakening,” it takes the reader back to the 19th century when society had a defined meaning of what it was meant to be a woman. During the time that Chopin published her book in 1899 women were expected to stay home and take care of their husbands and children. By this means, society had implied that women were only allowed to act certain ways and do certain things; otherwise, they were thought to be senile. In the “The Awakening,” Edna Pontellier undergoes a dramatic change of self-realization, denying her role as a mother and wife. Edna awakens to discover her own identity seeing the world around her in a new perspective forgetting the roles that have been determine by society and ignoring the consequences to

The 1890’s, a time where society had not only established a hierarchy within the socioeconomic status of individuals, but also the household of every family, where each person was born to serve the destiny that society had implemented through its norms and philosophies. A world in which Edna began to realized she did not belong; such fact is vividly employed in page 13 as the narrator states, “Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize

Since the beginning of time social constrictions have always retained a firm grasp on the ideas and actions of humanity. While it remains a formidable foe, still some choose to fight back against the norm. This never-ending war is responsible for major advancements in the social order, but not every story is so successful. In Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, Edna Pontellier finds herself fighting this very battle that, although begins with a positive outlook, ultimately ends in her demise.