Kate Chopin s The Awakening Essay - 1617 Words

In 1899, Kate Chopin had published The Awakening, an American literature classic. Set in Victorian Louisiana, Chopin presented a world where woman are often given a limited amount of options in the many difficult choices we face today in life and bounded to a certain status. Stephen Greenblatt proclaims that the â€Å"beliefs and practices that form a given culture function as a pervasive technology of control, a set of limits†¦ to which individuals must conform† as well as that â€Å"literature†¦ has been one of the great institutions for the enforcement of culture through praise and blame.† The Awakening is the first of its time to introduce the idea that women should not follow the cultural boundaries set for them and to â€Å"batter against those boundaries† instead. However, the novel has also managed to be an â€Å"enforcement of cultural boundaries† by showing the consequence of when they are challenge. Readers of its time would find The Awakening as a breakthrough of the cultural constraints women faced in 19th century Louisiana whereas modern readers would be shocked by how enforced these seemingly oppressive boundaries are. The Awakening shows these two concepts mostly through its protagonist, Edna Pontellier, who finds herself constrained by the stereotypes and roles women are given in society and chooses to disagree with them in implicit and explicit ways stated below. In Culture, Greenblatt explains that going beyond the limits of culture are not typically met with harshShow MoreRelatedKate Chopin s The Awakening935 Words   |  4 PagesKate Chopin’s â€Å"The Awakening† can arguably be considered a feminist piece, but regardless of whether it is or not, the short story unmistakably describes how life was for women in the late 1800’s. Her story is a great example of the sexist views of the time and existing social roles for each gender. The literature includes a large interplay between so ciety and gender roles, which affected the reader’s response to the plot and other literary devices such as imagery back then and even today. ChopinRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1553 Words   |  7 Pagesare evident throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Chopin uses contrasting characters such as Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle to further embody the differing aspects of feminism. Adele Ratignolle represents the ideal woman of the time period, a mindless housewife working to serve her family, whereas Edna signifies an independent and daring woman who does not conform to society’s beliefs. These two women’s differing characteristics and personalities allow Chopin to further compare and contrastRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1497 Words   |  6 PagesEdna Proves that Society Does Not Control Her In Kate Chopin s novella, the awakening, Chopin portrays a story of how the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, undergoes a realization that she has been dumbfounded by the way society assert roles for women. Mrs. Pontellier s awakening stirs up issues in her marriage with her husband. For Mr. Pontellier does not understand why his wife is acting different as someone who does not share the values and duties that society withholds women to. Edna even fallsRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening Essay1450 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing† (Chopin 67). Change: the most frightening word in the English language; it has never came quickly, never came easily, never come without casualties. Throughout history, countless revolutions have fought with blood, sweat, and tears for the acceptance of new ideas to foster change within mainstream culture. Naturally, there is always a resilient resistance to revolution, the norm thatRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1875 Words   |  8 Pageswomen s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.† The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, was written in 1890 during the height of the women s suffrage movement, and essentially the public felt that the author â€Å"went too far† due to â€Å"the sensuality† of the protagonist (Toth 1). The â€Å"male gatekeepers† that scrutinized her work saw her piece as a statement that â€Å"the husband is a drag†, and that traditional American values should be forgotten (Toth 1). In truth, Chopin did notRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening2531 Words   |  11 PagesDress to Impress Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening depicts sexual affairs, inner struggles, and the conquest of motherhood that most women face today. The conquest of motherhood involves the battle between being a supportive wife and selfless mother. The story revolves around the characters’ dialogue and appearances described beautifully throughout the novel by Kate Chopin. The story is a familiar one that, sadly, most women can relate to: A woman is married without knowing what true love is. HerRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1685 Words   |  7 Pagesconforms, the inward life which questions† (Chopin 18). The Victorian Era created a clear distinguishment between male and female roles in society, where women were expected to behave feminine-like, be responsible for domestic duties and have little involvement in society. This created a heavy oppression upon females and as a result forced many of them to remain entrapped in a male dominant society, in fear of being outcasted . In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin depicts how Edna’s defiance of VictorianRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1981 Words   |  8 Pagesthe 1800s The Awakening by Kate Chopin published in 1899 is a novel that can teach the true meaning of family, the importance of friendship, and the value of independence. Chopin teaches the true meaning of family by showing how Edna receives no support from her own family and struggles to succeed without them. Chopin shows the importance of friendship when Edna has no one by her side until she meets a woman named Adele and a man named Robert. The primary area that Chopin focuses on is the satisfactionRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1198 Words   |  5 Pageswoman’s freedom is the driving force behind Kate Chopin’s contextual objections to propriety. In particular, The Awakening and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† explore the lives of women seeking marital liberation and individuality. Mrs. Chopin, who was raised in a matriarchal household, expresses her opposition to the nineteenth century patriarchal society while using her personal experiences to exemplify her fe minist views. Katherine O’Flaherty, later Kate Chopin, was born to Eliza and Thomas O’FlahertyRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1870 Words   |  8 Pagessymbolizes the Marxist cause. A multitude books throughout history and the current day are representing the groundbreaking thoughts of Marxism, and they help to demonstrate how vile Capitalism truly is. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening there lie countless subtleties of Marxism and its standards. Chopin skillfully injects the ideals into the novel through characters’ actions and behaviors. Three characters in particular represent the evils of Capitalism in the teachings of Marxist, and those characters