The Rise Of Feminism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism is a major part of the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, which is a story that portrays women’s lack of freedom in the1800s. Women had no rights, and had to cater to all of their husband’s needs. The main character in “The Story of an Hour” is a woman who suffers from heart trouble, named Mrs. Mallard. When Mrs. Mallard was told about her husband’s death, she was initially emotional, but because of her husband’s death she reaped freedom and became swept away with joy. The story is ironic because Mrs. Mallard learns her husband was not dead, and instead of exulting

            One of the main aspects of the feminist movement is breaking away from society’s limits and expectations. Before Edna could break free, she first had to experience an awakening. In her awakening, she had to realize the role of women in the universe, the role that society created for women, “…beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being…” (Chopin 17).

In Chapter 8, Madame Ratignolle pulls Robert aside and asks him to leave Edna alone. She explains that Edna,” Is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously.” Chopin’s use of repetition in Adele’s dialogue puts emphasis on Edna’s uniqueness and labels her as an outcast. Adele sees Edna drifting further and further away from the social norms of their accustomed society and wishes to stop her before its too late. Chopin also uses this scene to foreshadow Robert’s unwillingness to commit to Edna as he brushes off Madame Ratignolle’s warning, seeing his relationship with Edna as a fling rather than being the passionate lover Edna craves.

The author is insinuating that Edna no longer wants to be with her husband. Kate Chopin does this by slowly making Edna Pontellier leave the presence of her old life. This also shows that Mrs. Pontellier is becoming very independent because she is no longer living off of her husband and she is doing what she wants to do when she wants to do it. This was very uncommon for a mother of two children during the 1800's. Edna Pontellier's thoughts and feelings change throughout the book and this also helps better reveal her character.

First let us start with Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin’s great novel, The Awakening. As the novel begins we meet the Pontellier’s family and most importantly Edna. We see through the exposition that Edna is a twenty-eight-year-old wife of a New Orleans businessman who see’s her as a mere possession that is the most fragile and important possession to have, but still just as a possession. Based on the culture around her we see her servility to her husband and her everlasting devotion that her life is to be controlled by whoever she marries(1878–1899: Lifestyles). This becomes very clear when reading on page two. In this situation we see Mr.

The author’s tone can be found through the main protagonist’s diction and language. Edna speaks in a disapproving and saddened tone throughout the book when describing women’s roles in society. When Edna is asked by her husband to join him in celebrating her sister’s marriage she uses gloomy and a disapproving tone: “She won’t go to the marriage. She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth.” This quote adds to the disapproving tone of the novel as Edna addresses her feelings about marriage to her own husband. The author also has her way of displaying her tone. The narrator discusses Edna’s feelings to the readers in the same saddened tone: "She could not have told why she was crying. Such experiences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her married life. They seemed never before to have weighed much against the abundance of her husband's kindness and a uniform devotion which had become tacit and self-understood." The narrator expresses Edna’s feelings by saying it in a sort of understanding and favorable way and not in a complaining way. This is an example of Chopin’s tone because Edna’s feelings about her husband is disapproving and she is starting to find her independence as a woman.

Chopin especially reveals the growth of Edna’s inner identity through her increasingly conflicting interactions with her husband

The Awakening written by Kate Chopin in 1899, is one of the first Feminist works in American literature. The novel recounts the story of a woman called Edna Pontellier and her strife to find the meaning of life, true happiness, and independence. This leads her to take many decisions women of her time found repulsive and forbidden. The setting of the novel plays a crucial role in the development of the story, since it takes place at the end of the 19th century, a critical time for women, since they were seen as inferior to men and had little to no rights. Thomas Carlyle in "On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History" says "the different sphere constitutes the grand origin of such distinction; that the Hero can be Poet, Prophet, King,

After returning from vacation, Edna is a changed woman. When her husband and children are gone, she moves out of the house and purses her own ambitions. She starts painting and feeling happier. “There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day” (Chopin 69). Her sacrifice greatly contributed to her disobedient actions.

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.

Chopin tells of this younger woman with an older husband who runs with her intuition in search of her own mind. Another presentation of Romanticism in The Awakening is described during Edna's search for individualism when she says of her that "...no longer was she content to 'feed upon opinion' when her own soul had invited her" (124). Edna Pontellier has a desire to be her own person in her own world when she is placed in a setting that refuses to permit such an action.

Not only does Chopin use Edna and Adele’s views to contrast them, but also physically describes them as opposites. Edna is described as a sticking woman that is captivating “Mrs. Pontellier’s eyes were quick and bright; they were a yellowish brown, about the color of

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

limitations. Back then, a woman’s sole purpose was to get married and to care for her husband

In the novel The Awakening, by Kate Chopin the critical approach feminism is a major aspect of the novel. According to dictionary.reference.com the word feminism means, “The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” The Awakening takes place during the late eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds, in New Orleans. The novel is about Edna Pontellier and her family on a summer vacation. Edna, who is a wife and mother, is inferior to her husband, Leonce, and must live by her husband’s desires. While on vacation Edna becomes close friends with Adele Ratignolle, who helps Edna discover she must be “awakened”. Adele is a character who represents the ideal woman. She is loving,