The Objectification Of Women In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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.

In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin shocks her audience with a completely different type of lyric than what her audience had grown accustomed to. After the tragic and sudden death of her husband, Kate Chopin published her first novel, At Fault. Two short story collections succeeded the novel, and then soon

It appears that a primary reason in Edna's marriage to Leonce is simply because of her father and sister’s aversion towards it (Magill 446). The class system Edna became a part of by marrying Leonce proves to be contrastingly different than her “strict Presbyterian upbringing” (Magill 446). An example of her abhorrence is when while attending church with Robert, Edna becomes conflicted and flees the scene. This is similar to when she was a child-her father read prayers to her in a “spirit of gloom”, which is what may have triggered her (Magill 447). Another suggested example of Edna's deep psychological dissonance stemming from her upbringing, is the fact that she is motherless and therefore cannot bond with Adele, the mother women, completely (Streater 411). It is assumed by some critics that the mother Edna becomes is based on the teachings of her harsh father (Streater 412). Realizing that the mother she has become is tin fact the sole reason of her existence, Edna, swims out far into the sea and does not return (Gray