Feminist Analysis Of ' The Awakening '

In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin portrays an image where someone shifts from one phase to another one. We find the protagonist go through a shift from patriarchy to feminist resistance. As this story continues to unfold, Edna goes through feminist resistance where she doesn’t want to still rely on her husband anymore and want to live by her own rules. Edna Pontellier’s “awakening” takes place in Grand Isle and New Orleans during the late 1800s. It is an important factor of the book because during this time period women were fighting for their rights. Usually before this time, women would only stay home and follow the orders of their husbands. Women during this time period needed to stay home and care for the house and the children. They always had to live for their children almost are like a slave to their husband. Women would be often seen as a property and not an actual human being. In this novel, we find restrains at the beginning and later see the shift to wanting freedom of expression.

Kate Chopin’s aspiration to deliver The Awakening was to convey to the early 20th century public her position of women’s roles, rights, and independence in a time of strict gender roles. Chopin conveys to readers the oppression of women during her time. Edna Pontellier is Chopin’s protagonist in the novel, and she finds herself unhappy and contempt of her role as a republican mother, which characterizes the idea of women’s work, and Edna identifies indirectly with the women at the Seneca Falls convention. Throughout the book Edna’s husband, Leónce Pontellier, continually scolds her for not being an attentive and loving mother and Edna compares herself with Madame Ratignolle, who is the epitome of motherhood

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as mother and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the ultimate cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursuit of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses many images to clarify the relationship between Robert and Edna and to show that Robert is the cause of both her freedom and her destruction.

In the iconic debated novel “The Awakening”, Kate Chopin’s novel takes place in the Victorian Era, which is in the 19th- century, similarly the novel was published in 1899. Edna is depicted as a woman longing for more, a woman who was looking for more than just a life of complacency and living in the eyes of society. The story uses Edna to exemplify the expectations of women during this era. For example, a woman’s expression of independence was considered immoral. Edna was expected to conform to the expectations of society but the story reveals Edna’s desires which longed for independence in a state of societal dominance. Throughout The Awakening, Chopin’s most significant symbol,

Though it was uncommon during the 1800’s, some women didn’t want to assume the traditional role of a typical Victorian lady. Such is the case in Kate Chopin 's The Awakening; she introduces us to Edna Pontellier a mother and wife during the said era. Throughout the story, we follow Edna 's journey of self-discovery and self-expression through emotions, art, and sex thanks to the help of people she meets along the way. Chopin decides to end the book with Edna’s suicide in an attempt to convey a sense of liberation from her repressed life, but was the reasoning behind her suicide what everyone else thinks? Consequently, this said journey took me along for the ride, and I had no complaints. As Edna figured out who she was, I felt as if I was

TOPIC #3- EXPLORE HOW EACH MAN IN EDNA’S LIFE ATTEMPTED TO CONTROL AND/OR REPRESS HER EXISTENCE..

In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening a wife and a mother of two, Edna Pontellier, discovers her desires as a woman to live life to the fullest extent and to find her true self. Eventually, her discovery leads to friction between friends, family, and the dominant values of society. Through Chopin's use of Author’s craft and literary elements, the readers have a clear comprehension as to what the author is conveying.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier, a woman with an independent nature searching for her true identity in a patriarchal society that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers.

Kate Chopin’s controversial novel, The Awakening, ignited turmoil because of her blatant disregard of the established 19th century perspective of women upholding strictly maternal and matrimonial responsibilities. Edna’s candid exploration of the restrictions on women through her liberal behavior in a conservative Victorian society makes her a literary symbol for feminist ideals. Despite denunciation from other people, Edna chooses individuality over conformity through her veering from traditional obligations. Edna indulges in her love of art, which is considered to conflict with her expected singular devotion to her household. Exploring her sexuality rather than repressing any sexual awareness constructs her feministic mentality.

In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the constant boundaries and restrictions placed on Edna Pontellier by society will lead to her struggle for freedom and her ultimate suicide. Her husband Leonce Pontellier, the current women of society, and the Grand Isle make it evident that Edna is trapped in a patriarchal society. Despite these people, Edna has a need to be free and she is able to escape from the society that she despises. The sea, Robert Lebrun, and Mademoiselle Reisz serve as Edna’s outlets from conformity. “Edna's journey for personal independence involves finding the words to express herself. She commits suicide rather than sacrificing her independent,

In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin (2005) uses deep symbolism to show how the main character, Edna Pontellier, discovers her own independence in the society in which she lived. Edna was a traditional mother and wife seeking freedom and independence throughout her adult life. Chopin portrays Edna as being a rebel against her own life. The story takes place in the 1960s when women were to follow certain rules made by the society they lived in. Chopin also foreshadows the things that occur in Edna’s life through nature and death itself. Based on the many ways Chopin uses symbolic meanings through the novel, we can see the events of Edna’s life as one that rebels against society. Throughout this novel, Chopin proves that Edna’s actions

“The Awakening” gives readers different view of feminism. The novel not only displays how Edna begin to gain independence from the role of an obedient wife but the novel also embodies of how Edna gains control of her body. The idea of Feminism rebukes people from being treated as property. This notion of feminism not only applies to independence but also freedom of making decisions, in Edna’s case, Decisions about her body and sexuality. Edna cared for her husband and appreciated how well he took care of their family. However, she didn’t love him, “she had married without love as an excuse” (Chopin, 2005). This being evident in the novel, it’s no surprise the Edna started to stray from her marriage to Leonce. The estrangement between the couple started earlier in the novel

In the 19th century women were supposed live by concept of Republican Motherhood. Republican Motherhood is the idea that American women had a few main roles, to stay in their homes, to train their children to be good American citizens and to follow the demands of their husbands. This reinforced the idea of that a domestic women's life should be separate from the public world of men. Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. Feminism in 1900s pursued many freedoms that were considered scandalous before the turn of the century, and still today many believe woman should hold the classic stay at home mother role. When

One of the main restrictions of women in the late 1800 to early 1900 was their limited roles in society. A women’s only roles were in the private and domestic sphere. They were daughters, then wives, then mothers. In Chopin’s The Awakening, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is very reluctant to commit to these societal roles. Mr Pontellier notes his wife’s lack of care for their children. “He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother’s place to look after children, whose on earth was it?” (Chopin, 1899, p. 7) The views of Mr Pontellier represent those of the society. The state of Louisianan was one of the more conservative states in the United States. During the time the novel was written, women were deemed to be property of their husbands. In the novel, Mr Pontellier looks as his wife “as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.” (p. 4) This was due to the Louisianan code which was developed form the Napoleonic code. Before Louisiana was purchased by the United States in 1803, it was a colony occupied by the French and Spanish. After it became a state it continued to follow a legal system that followed the French and Spanish civil law tradition. The effect of the law was that, after they had married, women and their property became under the control of their new husband. Not only were women restricted by society, but they were also restricted by law. If a woman

Throughout the southern coast of the United Kingdom, shepherds believed that having a single black sheep in their flock was a good omen. Conversely, in 1822 the idiom "black sheep" was created to signify that a member of a group was less valued in comparison to the rest. The ideology behind the saying was formed because the wool of a black sheep was not able to be dyed and therefore worthless. Just as the black sheep are outliers in their flock, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, becomes an oddity among Victorian Era women because of her early feminist views in the naturalist novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. By casting aside her expected responsibilities to her family and household, the central character is able to further pursue and discover her newfound life passions. Furthermore, as Mrs. Pontellier begins to express her hidden emotions, she is able to explore her sexuality as an individual. Moreover, Edna becomes her own unique individual during the novel through her failure to conform to the traditional roles of Victorian women during the era. Clearly, Edna surpasses the expectations of civilization through her choices in life, and in turn, she proves herself to be one of the first feminists.