In the late 1800s, nearly all women were viewed as subservient, inferior, second class females that lived their lives in a patriarchal and chauvinist society. Women often had no voice, identity, or independence during that time period. Moreover, women dealt with the horrors of social norms and the gender opposition of societal norms. The primary focus and obligation for a woman to obtain during the 1800s was to serve her husband and to obey to anything he said. Since women were not getting the equality, freedom, or independence that they desired, Kate Chopin, an independent-minded female American novelist of the late 1800s expressed the horrors, oppressions, sadness, and oppositions that women of that time period went through.
As both the United States and the world rapidly developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, society evolved at a pace previously unimaginable. Electricity illuminated modern urban areas, cars began to dominate the streets, and families began to travel to movie theaters for a unique motion-picture experience. Yet, while the world was changing by the minute, some components of society were not reflective of societal revolution. Specifically, it was during the late 19th century that the conversation for women’s suffrage was even addressed for the first time, following the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. It would be an extensive and arduous 72 years until women were ultimately given the right to vote, officially delineating women
Over the course of the story the tone of the narrator could be seen as obscure. Due to the story being written in third person omniscient point of view, the tone seems distant. The thoughts and feelings of each character are told throughout the story through the eyes of the narrator although the narrator mainly focuses on Edna. With Edna being the main focus the tone of the narrator can be seen as empirical. Throughout the story the narrator shows sympathy for Edna and the struggle she's face.
Catherine O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 8, 1850. Kate grew up speaking both French and English. Kate attended the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart, with one year at the Academy of the Visitation. Kate Chopin was an American feminist writer, she wrote two novels, and wrote more than a hundred short stories and sketches. Her great grandmother inspired her to get into French culture and feminism.
Mrs. Pontellier is woman who married her husband, not because of true love, but to become part of a society known as Creoles. She becomes tired of him and the rules she has to follow as a woman. The way she goes off to live independently and separates her life from that of her children’s symbolizes her independence. Her paintings and her love for art are also symbols for her desire to be independent. She believed women should be able to express themselves freely and not be bound to the limitations or expectations that society has set for them.
Kate Chopin was born in Kate O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri. When Kate was around five years old, she was sent to the Sacred Heart Academy, which was a Catholic boarding school. She was taught French, music and the women of the past. Later Kate became the top of her class, became an elite member of her class and was awarded with many medals until she graduated. Later, Kate married Oscar Chopin who was twenty-five years old.
Throughout the antebellum era separation of whites and blacks was the usual among plantations dotted along the South. Until more recent times, slavery was not frowned upon, and the ideas of men have been help to higher stature those of women. Kate Chopin introduces a continuation of themes surrounding the general theme of racism by her use of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism to ultimately prove to the reader throughout the story that Armond is aware of his African American lineage from the beginning of the plot, to the chilling ending of his “discovery.” Progressing through the story it is evident that Chopin is trying to convey the idea that Armand is aware of his roots.
Edna fully understands that society would brand her as a terrible woman, but she does not view herself as a bad person. There is an external and internal difference that Edna hopes to one day reconcile. Chopin, instead of creating tension within Edna, created tension within the society and Edna with her newfound independence does not mind how society classifies her. Decisively, it can be concluded that the tension between outward conformity and inward questioning builds the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.
Edna experiences the hardships of striving to break as a “ [feeling] like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul … the exuberance which had sustained and exalted her spirit left her helpless and yielding to the conditions which crowded her in … clutching feebly at the post before passing into the house.” (79). Through the imagery of a weight on her mind and feeble body, Chopin conveys her inability to find the strength to break the chains of the archetypal female identity. Extremely fleeting, her momentary empowerment clearly validates her circular growth rather than a building of personal development.
In the 19th century, a group of people launched the suffrage movement, and they cared about women’s political rights, their property and their body liberty. Born in that age, Kate Chopin was aware of the importance of setting an example for those who were taken in by the reality and poor women to be an inspiration. So we call her a forerunner of the feminist author for every effort she put in advocating women’s sexuality, their self-identity and women’s own strength. When people were ashamed of talking about sexuality, Kate Chopin stood out and call for women’s sexual autonomy.
The term freedom slightly differs from person to person; there is no set definition. We all seek freedom to do and be what we want. Throughout history, people have taken extraordinary measures to gain their freedom and define the word for themselves. For example: Martin Luther organized peace protests to speak against segregation of the blacks, William Wilberforce created a petition signed by one million English citizens to set captives free in England, and finally Harriet Tubman put herself in the face of danger to help herself along with others escape slavery. In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna, desperately wants freedom from her husband and kids; in other words, no responsibilities.
Awakening In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve experienced a sudden moment of realization, they become aware of themselves and their surroundings. This “awareness” led to their demise and created a door for sin. Likewise, the main character in the novel “The Awakening” experiences a sudden moment of awareness. Like many women of her time, she tried to follow the tracks laid out for her, trying to please the eyes of the people.
Edna wrote a letter to Leonce about her moving out, and he wrote back saying that he does not like the idea of her moving out. He then said that he was going to say that the house was being renovated, and that him and Edna were going to travel abroad. Chopin uses this information to describe how Edna feels about this new freedom: Chopin uses language, word choice, and the theme of awakening, to represent how Edna is able to see her own awakening, which serves as a major progression into a new individual, and what she has conquered to become this new individual.
I would love to have telekinesis! The power to move objects with my mental prowess would be very thrilling. I would be able to do pretty amazing things like do my laundry while drinking a cup of tea, haha! But in all seriousness, I would also use it in whatever way the world called for me to use it in order to help those in need.
There are few stories of Chopins which do not foreground language. Language makes the main body of a text. When used correctly it can be manipulated to present certain themes. Throughout the novel, ‘The Awakening’ by Kate Chopin, the language used in the text conveys the struggles of the main character to find her own identity. The way Chopin uses dialogue, a secret language and the narrator’s descriptions relate to the theme of identity, and often places it subtly at the centre of the reader’s consciousness.
