Feminism has been a term used by many authors and writers for centuries, symbolizing women being able to use freedom the way they want to use it, not the way others want them to use it. With Edna Pontellier, the main character in Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, she experiences an “awakening” in her life where she discovers her position in the universe and goes in her direction instead of what others like her husband Leonce tell her to take, similar to the style of feminism. “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her,” (pg. 14). Chopin’s novel, published in 1899, received criticism and controversy because …show more content…
Just because the men say women were not able to do the toughest of business did not mean women could not do the same things the men could do, they wanted to be equal too. Leonce says to Edna that she cannot do the same things as him for her being a woman. “You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier 's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose,” (Edna, pg. 102). Chopin’s The Awakening received mostly mixed reviews when it was first released, as people back then (mostly men) did not understand the feminist act. However, other people gave the novel good ratings understanding Edna’s actions to flee from reality, including the Chicago Times (now known as the Chicago Sun-Times), who praised the novel for its sexist traits. “That the book is strong and Miss Chopin has a keen knowledge for a writer of certain phases of feminine character will not be denied. But it was not necessary for a writer if so great refinement and poetic grace to enter the overworked field of sex fiction,” (Chicago Times-Herald, 1899). They also said while it was not a pleasant story for its depressing ending, they gave Kate Chopin thumbs up for making Edna a likable character with a believable personality and said that Chopin was the best character
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier’s suicide is an assertion of her independence and contributes to Chopin’s message that to be independent one must choose between personal desires and societal expectations. Chopin conveys this message through Edna’s reasons for committing suicide and how doing so leads her to total independence.
In the novel The Awakening, by Kate Chopin the critical approach feminism is a major aspect of the novel. According to dictionary.reference.com the word feminism means, “The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” The Awakening takes place during the late eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds, in New Orleans. The novel is about Edna Pontellier and her family on a summer vacation. Edna, who is a wife and mother, is inferior to her husband, Leonce, and must live by her husband’s desires. While on vacation Edna becomes close friends with Adele Ratignolle, who helps Edna discover she must be “awakened”. Adele is a character who represents the ideal woman. She is loving, compassionate, and motherly. Throughout the novel Edna seeks something more from life than what she has been living. Also, she is unhappy with her marriage, and all through the summer falls in love with Robert Lebrun. Furthermore, Edna attempts to become independent, free, and in control of her own destiny. During this time period the Feminist movement was taking place. The Feminist movement was a time when women fought to prove themselves equal to men. Women fought for the rights to vote, have jobs, and go to school. The late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds showcased the power the women had to prove their equality. According to the excerpt, “Women of Color in The Awakening” by Elizabeth Ammons, “… The Awakening is its heroine’s break for freedom.” Ultimately, this shows how most women, especially Edna Pontellier, try to break free from the burden of society. Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, showcases the feminist critical approach through women’s roles, women characters, influences, and in...
In the late 1800s, a crusade began that campaigned for the rights of women across America: the Feminist Movement. Using this movement as inspiration, Kate Chopin bewitches her primarily female readers with a writing style that emphasizes the importance of emotion and encourages the independence of women in a world dominated by men. In her novel, The Awakening, Chopin flawlessly illustrates the radical yet alluring character transformation of her protagonist, Edna Pontellier, as she struggles to surmount marital and societal conflict in the hopes of being reborn.
The 1890’s were an era of rapid social change in regards to women’s rights. In 1893, Colorado was the first state granting women the right to vote with Utah and Idaho following soon after in 1896. This soon set momentum towards of ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. It was in 1899 the Kate Chopin published The Awakening, a novel telling the tale of a suppressed mother, Edna Pontellier, and her desire for something more in her life. Literary scholars consider Chopin’s The Awakening as a subtle yet effective portrayal of women of the late 19th century and consider it as an important piece of the feminism movement. Throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, women had felt controlled by men and the demands society put upon them. Men had held a discriminatory view of women throughout this era, for they merely saw women as property. Women were expected to bear a man’s child, care for the child, and watch over the household while the man was away. The Awakening was an eye-opening novel in that it challenged the social structure of the time in which men dominated society. This novel showed the discriminatory view of women and treatment of women. The novel also does a great job in showing the dissatisfaction in the women’s lives, particularily through the actions of Edna Pontellier. Due to society’s expectations, women were not allowed to pursue their psychological or sexual drives, for it was scorned by society. Edna pursues these drives as she eventually cannot tolerate her way of living. In The Awakening, Chopin’s use of three characters, Edna Pontellier, Adele Ratignolle, and Mademoiselle Reisz, exemplifies the accepted roles of women in the late 19th century.
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is a powerful piece of literature written at the tail end of the 19th century which defines the story of Edna Pontellier and her struggle for independence from her family. More specifically, Edna wishes to cast off the shackles of her marriage, and seeks to empower herself through attracting the attention of other men. Chopin’s novel was highly controversial at the time, seeing as a woman “awakening” and acting on her own against a man’s consent was unheard of, but her proud brand of self righteousness is what has made women equal citizens today. This change within her had opened her eyes to the injustices of her life, and she wished to start anew. Through lavish language, captivating reasoning, and a tone grounded in reality, Chopin succeeds in illustrating a world where women can act independently.
Kate Chopin’s short novel, The Awakening, was published in 1899, five years before her death. The Awakening follows Edna Pontellier as she navigates through the summer and fall of her twenty-eighth year. She learns to swim, engages in two extramarital affairs, moves out of her husband’s house, and, upon hearing of her lover, Robert’s rejection, she drowns herself. For over fifty years, The Awakening has been heralded as a deeply feminist text. Chopin destabilizes traditional family values and puts a woman in a position of sexual power and quasi-liberation. The feminism of this text is complicated by Edna’s final action. Edna’s inability to continue living after being rejected by Robert would indicate a feminine dependence on a masculine figure,
Upon its debut at the turn of the 19th century, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening created massive controversy among critics. At the time, women were expected to remain submissive to their husbands. Following the plight of Edna Pontellier, a woman struggling to define herself as an individual, The Awakening challenged the common societal views of women. It was considered immoral and vulgar, prompting the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to describe it as “‘too strong drink for moral babes. . .” and that it “should be labelled poison’ (Toth 335)” (Sprinkle 3). Despite its harsh criticism surrounding its publishing, today The Awakening is a depiction of a woman’s desire for independence. Chopin utilizes the symbolism of the sea to illustrate Edna’s unconventional methods of awakening her true self, who is lying dormant under society’s expectations.
A man cooks and it’s considered surprising to some people, but when a woman cooks it’s her obligation. Back in the old days, gender roles were enforced and were consider to be traditional in societies. Certainly, in the novel “The Awakening” the narrator creates many scenarios of traditional and inequality within gender roles. The narrator used the scenarios to show the standard gender roles in a Creole society. In “The Awakening” Katherine Chopin suggests that the expectations on gender roles limit and create barriers to an individual’s choice.
Kate Chopin boldly uncovered an attitude of feminism to an unknowing society in her novel The Awakening. Her excellent work of fiction was not acknowledged at the time she wrote it because feminism had not yet come to be widespread. Chopin rebelled against societal norms (just like Edna) of her time era and composed the novel, The Awakening, using attitudes of characters in favor to gender, variations in the main character, descriptions and Edna's suicide to show her feminist situation. Society during Chopin's time era alleged women to be a feeble, dependent gender whose place laid nothing above mothering and housekeeping. In The Awakening, Chopin conveys the simple attitudes of society toward women mainly through her characters Leonce, Edna, Madame Ratignolle, and Madame Reisz. She uses Leonce and Madame Ratignolle to depict examples of what was considered adequate in society. In a critical essay written by Emily Toth, she states that "The Awakening is a story of what happens when a woman does not accept her place in the home. The novel moves us because it illustrates the need for women's psychological, physical, social, and sexual emancipation--the goals of feminists in the twentieth century as well as the nineteenth" (Toth). However, Chopin takes account of the opposing characters of Edna and Madame Reisz in a determination to express desires and wants concealed by the female gender.
The 19th and 20th centuries were a time period of change. The world saw many changes from gender roles to racial treatment. Many books written during these time periods reflect these changes. Some caused mass outrage while others helped to bring about change. In the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin, gender roles can be seen throughout the novel. Some of the characters follow society’s “rules” on what a gender is suppose to do while others challenge it. Feminist Lens can be used to help infer and interpret the gender roles that the characters follow or rebel against. Madame Ratignolle and Leonce Pontellier follow eaches respective gender, while Alcee Arobin follows and rebels the male gender expectations during the time period.
After the novel was published, “the content and message of The Awakening caused an uproar and Chopin was denied admission into her St. Louis Fine Art Club based on its publication” (Wyatt). Her main character Edna Pontellier went against society and decided her own life, which most people did not agree with. The content of the novel is what caused it to be banned from certain libraries. Because the novel created chaos, it “remained unnoticed for several years after the commotion it initially caused” (“The Awakening” 57). People during Chopin’s time did not agree with how The Awakening was written, but it influenced women to stand up for their independence. Chopin was disappointed that the novel did not get the attention that she had wanted it to. In the novel, Edna went against society, so her “actions reflect the times and the emotions felt by many women who sought personal freedom” (“The Awakening” 55). Her actions caused women to stand up and fight for their rights and freedom. The novel caused a commotion, which nobody really wanted and they did not appreciate how Edna chose her own journey instead of sticking with society. Later in the 1930s, The Awakening was brought back after literary critics changed their minds about the novel (“The Awakening” 57). Critics have decided to bring back the book after many years of it being unnoticed. Even though the novel was noticed years later, Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening based on her beliefs of society. The novel fits in with what society would be because her beliefs in the novel took place ahead of her time
When Kate Chopin develops the male characters in her novel, The Awakening, she portrays men in a very objectionable light. For the most part, her men are possessive, cowardly and self-serving. She seems a trifle unfair and biased in her portrayal of men, yet this view is necessary for Chopin to get her point across. She uses the characters of Mr. Pontellier, Robert, Alcee and a few other men to demonstrate her observations of the middle class man in the society of her day.
Kate Chopin, born February 8, 1850, used her life’s experiences to express strong opinions to her 1900s American audience. Although her work was criticized for its honesty and audaciousness, by the late 1900s Chopin’s work was considered as brilliant literature that accurately described women of the late 1800s. The Awakening was Chopin’s most famous work, however it nearly ended her writing career due to the violent backlash she received for writing such a truthful novel about women in a time which they were still considered inferior to men. This novel was practically ignored during the early 1900s because it had been considered inappropriate as Chopin was among the first authors of her time to write accurately about a woman’s life. Kate Chopin was greatly influenced by the strong single women who raised her, the southern way of life of the 1800s, and French literature and authors to write her highly-criticized, feminist novel The Awakening.
Kate Chopin is quite witty when choosing titles for her short stories and a novel, just like The Storm indicated some natural, unavoidable passion, in her novel The Awakening we have sexual awakening of the main protagonist Mrs. Edna Pontellier. Chopin kept it simple and classy yet deep tones given to titles are more than present. Chopin portrayed Edna in most honest way and not fearing that by giving her character sexual, emotional and intellectual freedom, Chopin was damaging a social picture of herself, since people were not very forgiving for daring Chopin, they try to harm her career and reputation. Edna Pontellier is a young woman in her late twenties who didn’t let her role of a wife and a mother rule over her personality.
Kate Chopin had many influences throughout her life that made her become the feminist writer she was when writing The Awakening. Edna Pontilier was created as a feminist because of influence of others on Chopin?s life, personal experiences and the enforcement of societal expectations placed on Chopin during this time. Both women defied society to obtain freedom and independence in a society where women were objects, not people. Without the influences in Kate Chopin?s life, Edna Pontilier my not have been the dynamic character she was during the novel.