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.
Individuals all around the world today face obstacles that challenge their strength and integrity. Someone’s ability to persevere through obstacles ultimately builds their moral character. Moreover, an individual’s capability to turn themselves into the person they have always desired to be can be life-changing. Human beings can discover who they genuinely are in a variety of ways. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the main character Edna Pontellier awakens in life with bravery and a sense of exploration, which, in due course, alters her perspective on life and grants her independence.
In the story, The Awakening, the author; Kate Chopin writes about a woman named Edna Pontellier who is stuck in a time and a society that focuses on women having jobs of only being a wife and a good mother, nothing more nothing less; and in the meantime she is still trying to figure out her life and what she really wants. Kate chopin effectively ended the book the way she did to get her reader to question whether Edna has gained a victory or a loss of her struggle for independence. The plot at the end of the story is that Edna Pontellier kills herself by walking into the ocean and drowning herself. There are several big meanings behind the way in which the story ended the way it did.
Kate Chopin’s famous novella, The Awakening, is the story of a complex woman named Edna Pontellier who experiences a series of awakenings that prompt her to explore her independent wants and desires. Through her struggles with her unhappy marriage and the expectations placed on women during this time, she goes on a transformative journey toward personal fulfillment and liberation by breaking free from societal constraints. Throughout the novel, Edna struggles with the expectations of motherhood due to the limitations placed on women. She, along with most women during this time, was expected to care for their children and husbands, fulfill domestic obligations, and manage a social life at the same time. Chopin juxtaposes her frustration with
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.
Chopin represents Edna’s journey of her awakening through the symbol of birds. Within the first paragraph of the novel the mention of Madame Lebrun's "green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage” is presented to the reader (Chopin 1). The parrot lacks communication with the world and is only able to voice few words: “ The parrot could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood" (Chopin1). It warns its listeners crying “Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en!
Monumental strides have been made when looking at the treatment of women in today's society, compared to the treatment of women in the early 20th century. In today's society, a woman can survive on her own, with no companion to assist in her sustainability. However, in New Orleans creole culture circa 1899, women were not given any opportunity to express any form of individualism. The objectification of women in the early 20th century is exemplified by the women in Kate Chopin’s feminist novel The Awakening.
The way Kate Chopin sets the region and setting as something important to the plot is because back in the day like in the 1800s . People didn't have has much responsibilities and struggles as we do today in society . I realized that Kate Chopin had 8 sons by the time she was 28 years old . Back in the day , things where a lot cheaper then things today . Today in society we had to work for a lot of things and to also pay bills and so on .
Literary analysis is the use of textual clues in a work of literature in order to find what an author means and is trying to represent within a text. “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin is about a New Orleans wife trying to hold her beliefs in who she wants to become against what society wants her to be. The book was written in a time where women were homemakers and were treated as possessions rather than as an individual who has feelings, interests, wants, and needs. In “The Awakening,” Kate Chopin is using realism in order to represent women for how they really are and how they are treated in order to bring social change to women’s rights. Kate Chopin uses realism to represent women in the Awakening by showing how they were truly treated in
The Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin that follows a woman named Edna Pontellier on her journey to self-awareness. Edna lived a comfortable lifestyle with her husband and two children in Louisiana during the 19th century. Despite obtaining all aspects to a perfect life, Edna became dissatisfied after meeting Robert Lebrun in Grand Isle. Robert sparked a desire for unlawful lust as well as a yearning for independence in a society full of conformed standards. Edna was unable to handle the pressures associated with achieving personal freedom which ultimately led to her death.
Self Discovery Imagine living in a society constantly having strong feelings of not belonging and self-hatred. Then getting married, settling down, and having children… just to find unhappiness, and confusion. This is Edna Ponteiller’s life from The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Edna lives in an extremely high class, classic, New Orleans creole society in the Victorian Era. She has a husband, Leonce, and children at home, but slowly she begins to choose herself over her family and begins to go on her own self-discovery fueled journeys, meeting new people along the way.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a progressive novel which defines the individual struggles faced during a transitional period in American history and culture. The Awakening showcases the fallacies regarding the confinement and traditionalistic repression that women during the 19th century were subject to by showcasing the complex struggles and unrest that the main character, Edna, faces with daily. It is evident that during this time period women had the choice to either fit the mold of the mother figure, in which women were expected to wholeheartedly give themselves up to satisfy the needs of their husband and children, or be shunned by the patriarchal society. Throughout the novel, Edna begins to deviate from the traditional lifestyle that was slowly deteriorating her, and experiments with personal indulgence and freedom from the tethers of motherhood. The wonders of self-fulfillment, infatuation, and art are sensuous to her, but soon
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was written at the end of the nineteenth century, where many roles for women began to change; therefore, the it appears to have been a turning point for females (“The Role of the Wife and Mother”). These changes in female roles were mostly due to the actions of women themselves, motivated by their desires to break away from the limits imposed on their gender The nineteenth century was a critical point in time for women, in regards to their roles in society (“The Role of the Wife and Mother”). In The Awakening, Edna goes through noteworthy changes in the course of the novel, which reconstructs her into a woman who goes against societal ideals regarding motherhood and marriage . In the 1890s, motherhood was viewed
There are many definitions that pertain to the word Culture. In Stephen Greenblatt’s work Culture he makes an analysis on the subject of culture as a whole. Greenblatt describes culture as “...a pervasive technology of control, a set of limits which social behavior must be contained,” “...models to which individuals must conform.” He also states that “Literature… has been one of the great institutions for the enforcement of cultural boundaries through praise and blame.” (Greenblatt)
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a piece of fiction written in the nineteenth century. The protagonist Edna is a controversial character, Edna rebels against many nineteenth - century traditions, but her close friend Adele was a perfect example in terms of a role of a woman, mother and wife at that time. Chopin uses contrast characters to highlight the difference between Adele and Edna. Although they are both married women in the nineteenth century, they also exhibit many different views about what a mother role should be.
