Women In The Awakening

Illogical, submissive, and sensual are some of the words used to describe the view of women during the nineteenth century. In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin tells the controversial story of a woman, Edna Pontellier, and her spiritual growing. Throughout the story, Edna constantly battles between her heart’s desires and society’s standard. The novel shows how two women’s lives influence Edna throughout the novel. Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle are both in their own way strong, motherly influences in Edna’s life. Mademoiselle Reisz is Edna the mother who wants Edna to pursue her heart’s desires. Madame Ratignolle however, is the type of mother to Edna who wants Edna to do what is socially right. The way the two live

Have you ever wondered what the lifestyles of Nineteenth Century women were like? Were they independent, career women or were they typical housewives that cooked, clean, watched the children, and catered to their husbands. Did the women of this era express themselves freely or did they just do what society expected of them? Kate Chopin was a female author who wrote several stories and two novels about women. One of her renowned works of art is The Awakening. This novel created great controversy and received negative criticism from literary critics due to Chopin's portrayal of women by Edna throughout the book.

Edna becomes so caught up in wallowing in the instant gratification Robert used to provide her with that it “did not strike her as in the least grotesque that she should be making of Robert the object of conversation…” (47). Edna feels no shame in her infatuation with Robert. While she claims she loves Robert, he only sees her relationship with him for its short-term effect on her mood and not as a viable option for her future. Similar to Robert LeBrun, Alcée Arobin provides Edna with a false intimacy; but instead of emotional support, he offers Edna an outlet to act on her more carnal desires. Edna even acknowledges the fact that her affair with Alcée means nothing to her, but she still allows herself to submit to his intentions, only pausing briefly to wonder what Robert, not her husband, would think (77). At times, Edna exhibits a sense of morality, but she immediately silences her conscience whenever it is advising her not to do something that would yield immediate pleasure. Léonce is losing his wife, and Edna offers him no explanation as to why she is no longer

Constant struggle for power, control, and self direction is experienced by every human being at some point in their life time. In some desperate cases this struggle can lead someone to do something momentous. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the lead character, Edna, faces extreme sexism in a time where women were expected to act only as a primal caretaker. Edna’s search for self empowerment in a time where men were the primary decision makers causes her to make crucial sacrifices only to find out that there is no way she can truly control her life.

Edna is expected to be chaste, forthright and behave in an reserved manner. She is to conduct herself and dress herself [and the children]according to custom. Many times throughout my reading I noticed that she "dressed for an early dinner" or the children were properly groomed, "since it seemed to be a law of society that hair must be parted and brushed". These restrictions were very troubling for Edna since at heart she was a free spirit.

This struggle between being a mother and wife. and being a free spirit, is apparent from the beginning of the book. She struggles also with her relationships, those with Leonce, and Robert. “What folly! to bathe at such an hour in such heat!” (Chopin 522) says her husband when Edna and Robert finish with a swim. He is obviously disapproving of their relationship with the water, and how they spend time it it. But he also seems somewhat oblivious to the fact that they are falling in love in front of his eyes, as well as Edna changing her entire

For centuries literature has identified and associated women with certain images and symbols. The critical lens of feminism works to identify these symbols and further argues that gender and time period dictate the manner in which one behaves. Themes of feminism are evident throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Chopin uses contrasting characters such as Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle to further embody the differing aspects of feminism. Adele Ratignolle represents the ideal woman of the time period, a mindless housewife working to serve her family, whereas Edna signifies an independent and daring woman who does not conform to society’s beliefs. These two women’s differing characteristics and personalities allow Chopin to further

Feminism has been a term used by many authors and writers for centuries, symbolizing women being able to use freedom the way they want to, not the way others want them to use it. Edna Pontellier, the main character in Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, experiences an “awakening” in her life, where she discovers her position in the universe and goes in this direction instead of what others like her husband Leonce tell her to take, similar to the style of feminism. “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her,” (pg. 14). Chopin’s novel, published in 1899, received criticism and controversy because of its fashion of how it pictured feminism, especially with Edna taking her own life after learning she has no purpose in the world and wishes to cease existing. The Awakening uses symbols to express feminism in Edna’s eyes, such as birds, which represent Edna feeling caged in rather than being free, and the ocean, which depicts escape from reality, where Edna drowns herself.

Kate Chopin’s The awakening and Fanny Fern’ Ruth Hall A Domestic Tale of The Present Time are both written about the women’s sufferings in the male dominated society. Both authors engrave women who perform the uncommon role in the society. The protagonist Edna, of The Awakening is a woman who is trying to discover her identity. She shakes the whole system of women’s role inn nineteen century, and distresses those who expects certain roles that women should play. She surprised patriarchal society by ignoring her role to play as a wife and mother. The idea of motherhood is very dominant theme of this book. Edna wants to live with her own identity instead of a mother of Raoul and Etienne,

Today women have jobs, but only earn 77 cents to men's dollar.This may seem like a huge inequality, but it’s a quite an improvement from the victorian era.The oppression of women in the Awakening display what was expected of women in the victorian Era. The main character,Edna, tries to break away from society norms. Since this take place in the Victorian Era, Edna’s obligated to focus all her energy on her family. Her life involves domestic chores and the needs of her two sons and husband. Throughout the book, Edna battles with obeying societal demands or achieving her internal happiness. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening elucidates that though society has a myriad of expectations for women. For someone to realize their inner self, they mustn't

The novel “The Awakening”during the 19th century, which has been referred to as the “Victorian Era” by many. The Victorian Era was a period where women began to seek their individuality. This journey to find their freedom involved understanding their sexuality and coming to the ultimate realization that they can be more than their society's view of the perfect wives and mothers, just as Edna did. Convention played a strong role as a theme throughout the book, but more significantly feminism did also. Many readers can argue that Edna’s refusal to abide society’s rules such as not tending to her motherly and wifely duties was based upon her own feminist standpoint of life, whereas others could argue saying that her choices were due to her self-absorbed

Edna Pontellier had a reputation to uphold due to last name she married into. Mr. Leonce Pontellier was portrayed as a wealthy man that based his family off the ideas of the their time period. Ideas such as a women is responsible for being a “mother-woman” (Chopin, 19). A “mother-woman” is a “...women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels“ (Chopin, 19). Throughout the novel, Edna evolves from this stereotype turning into a free woman.

Because of her views of women in society, Kate Chopin was heavily criticized and ridiculed for her beliefs of women’s rights and her portrayal of defying the expectations of being married and being a mother. Throughout the Awakening, Kate Chopin criticizes different societal expectations such as the concept of motherhood, the oppression of the patriarchy, and the way the individuality of women is portrayed, in order to critique society’s views on the roles of women and to evince that women cannot truly be free because of society’s expectations. Chopin portrays the concept of motherhood and criticizes it by evincing the way women were expected to behave and what their roles were in society, which was to be a mother and a wife. Chopin also analyzes the submissive behavior of women to men to critique the fact that men oppressed women and deemed them as inferior. Chopin then criticizes the aspect of how individuality in women was rarely expressed because of how society expects women to adhere to the expectation that they should depend on what society tells them to do.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening depicts a woman's struggle to find and assert herself within the cultural constraints of late 19th century America. Edna Pontellier’s journey is chronicled throughout the novel as she experiences a new sense of independence and expression of freedom that’s paralleled by her corresponding sense of conflict and despair through a series of fractured and convoluted relationships among friends, family, and societal customs. The term "awakening" is defined as the act or process of waking from sleep. Like her name “Pontellier”, which means “one who bridges,” it implies that Edna is in a transition between two worlds but not fully embedded in either. Edna is one whose mission is to begin the process of bridging two worlds: a world where women become wives and mothers or a world where women are exiled for their expressed individualism.

Published when the world was a more conventional and conservative place, The Awakening spurred controversy by brazenly displaying scandalous ideas. Though it shook up society, the novel is full of meaning and emphasizes the importance of improving the woman’s’ identity. In The Awakening, Chopin conveyed parallels between what women in the 1890s were and what they had the potential to be. She portrayed that women had the right to be happy, and to pursue more in their lives. They deserved more than the time allowed them, even if they may not have known it.