Essay on Kate Chopins novella, The Awakening - 870 Words

Kate Chopins novella, The Awakening In Kate Chopins novella, The Awakening, the reader is introduced into a society that is strictly male-dominated where women fill in the stereotypical role of watching the children, cooking, cleaning and keeping up appearances. Writers often highlight the values of a certain society by introducing a character who is alienated from their culture by a trait such as gender, race or creed. In Chopins Awakening, the reader meets Edna Pontellier, a married woman who attempts to overcome her fate, to avoid the stereotypical role of a woman in her era, and in doing so she reveals the surrounding societys assumption and moral values about women of Ednas time. Edna helps to reveal the†¦show more content†¦Edna breaks the rules when she stops taking care of the house and stops showing up for her tea parties each Tuesday night. Leonce is shocked by this when he exclaims: Why, what could have taken you out on Tuesday? What did you have to do?...Why, my dear, I should think youd understand by this time that people dont do such things; weve got to observe les convenances if we ever expect to get on and keep up the procession. Leonces feelings about Ednas lack of interest in her supposed duties are clearly presented in his statement. He wants her to conform to what society expects of her. By deciding not to partake in her duties as a wife, and in wanting to do something for herself, Edna expresses the assumptions that society has for her to carry out her wife-like obligations. Ednas acquaintances all share similar moral values. The women around her feel that they should be completely devoted to their wifely duties, and that they should be loyal to their husband at all times. The narrator describs them: It was easy to know them ...They were women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands. . . Madame Ratignolle was, quote, the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. Their simplistic and meaningless morals are made more clear when compared to Ednas devotion to her ownShow MoreRelatedChona And The Ocean In Kate Chopins The Awakening1027 Words   |  5 Pagespurity, danger and excitement. It is vast, sustaining many forms of life, but it also has the power to take life away: the ocean is symbolic of creation and destruction. In Kate Chopin’s novella, The Awakening, many important scenes are set the ocean. Edna Pontellier experiences and reflects the dual power of the ocean in the novella, through childlike activities such as, learning to swim and a rebirth, but also in more powerful experiences, like committing suicide in the final scene. Chopin uses imageryRead MoreThe Awakening: Edna Pontellier as a Believable Character Apart from Feminist Symbol776 Words   |  4 PagesKate Chopin’s â€Å"The Awakening†, her most famous novella, was written in 1 899 and is widely regarded as one of the earliest American works that earnestly focuses on women’s issues and ideals. Chopins novel captures the essence of the struggle for freedom, equality, and independence in which women have been formally engaged for almost 150 years. In Edna Pontellier we find a woman that goes beyond being a symbol for freedom and the pursuit of female independence, but a complex individual coming to termsRead MoreThe Symbolism Of Birds Throughout Chopin s The Awakening1564 Words   |  7 PagesThe Symbolism of Birds in Chopin’s The Awakening In the 1899 novella, The Awakening, Kate Chopin illustrates the social oppression that women experienced during the Victorian Era (1837-1901). 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Women’s groups worked together to win women’s suffrage and later to create the Equal Rights Amendment. The economic boom in 1917 and the early 1960s brought many women into the workplaceRead MoreThe Awakening By Kate Chopin1563 Words   |  7 Pages The Awakening by Kate Chopin The title of Kate Chopin’s novella is significant and full of enriched symbols that reflect Edna’s Awakening. Edna is waking up her understanding of herself as an individual. Not as a mother nor a wife, but who she is as a woman and a sexual being. Throughout the novel, there are a few distinct types of awakenings; from her awakening to herself as an artist, realizing that she can have her own opinion over what kind of music she liked, and the most important, Edna realizedRead MoreKate Chopin And Virginia Woolf s A Room Of One s Own Essay1254 Words   |  6 PagesThrough their works, Kate Chopin and Virginia Woolf were able to portray a certain relationship between women and society. While some literary pieces are optimistic towards women, others are not. In this case, The Awakening, a novella written by Kate Chopin, focuses on the inner battle that the main character Edna faces throughout her life. On the other hand, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, discusses ideas related to gender inequality. Both women seem to be facing inner turmoil that correlatesRead MoreHouses as Motif: Kate Chopins the Awakening2783 Words   |  12 PagesMotifs in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening Linda Catte Dr. Kathryn Warren ENGL 2329: American Literature March 22, 2012 (KateChopin.org.) (Krantz’s Grand Isle Hotel Picture of painting by Tracy Warhart Plaisance) (Reflechir: Vol.1. Les images des prairies tremblantes: 1840-1940 by Chà ©nià ¨re Hurricane Centennial Committee) It is not new or unique that an individual is looking for one’s purpose and meaning in life. Nor is it unique that men and women imitate the norms of society. In Kate Chopin’s novellaRead MoreThe Awakening And Henrik Ibsen s A Doll s House1288 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopin’s feminist novella The Awakening and Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play A Doll’s House both follow strong female protagonists who deal with abusive relationships, difficult situations, and self-realization. A main theme seen in both works is that of self-awareness and the journey to find one’s self while they deal with conflicting relationships between themselves and other characters. Although Robert M. Adams’ identification of personality clashes is evident in both works, his interpretation