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The role of the women in the awakening
A feminist approach to the awakening
A feminist approach to the awakening
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Social Classes and the Strains They May Cause in The Awakening by Kate Chopin
In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, class structures are a significant key to some of the actions of three main characters. Leonce, who is married to Edna, is the character who goes along with the upper-class structure because he wants to be accepted by his peers. Robert, who falls in love with Edna, is too scared to go against the traditional thinking of the upper class. Finally, Edna, who is the main character in the novel, does go against her upper-class structure for her own happiness.
Leonce is the typical husband; he wants to please his wife, Edna, but he also wants to be recognized by his upper-class friends. He truly does love Edna, but he treats her as though she were a child. He also thinks of Edna as his chattel. For example, at the very start of the novel, while looking at his wife like a piece of property, Leonce says, "You are burnt beyond recognition" (24). Leonce looks at her as if she were a lower- class citizen since it would be those that labor in the sun who would be "burnt" (24).
During that time period, most upper-class husbands did treat their wives as if they were a valuable possession. However, Edna does not want to be looked at in a manner that gives her a sense that she is property. Edna wants to be her own person. She wants to have her own opinions about her life, without having her husband tell her whether she can or cannot think for herself. She basically ignores her husband. Margit Stange in her essay "Personal Property: Exchange Value and the Female Self in The Awakening" mentions that "what Edna Pontellier considers as her property is [. . .] her body" (277). Edna doesn’t see herself as property of h...
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...es within herself; she as a flower has begun to die and wilt. She was the only person through the novel who is brave enough to think in a new way. Before Edna commits suicide, she feels that no one understood her. No one knew why she was trying to change things within her class. One reason why she does kill herself is the fact that she knows that she cannot live in such close societal boundaries. The simple way to face this reality for Edna is to just forget all together and put an end to her life.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. Ed. Nancy A. Walker. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: Bedford-St.Martin’s, 2000.
Stange, Margit. "Personal Property: Exchange Value and the Female Self in The Awakening." The Awakening. Ed. Nancy A. Walker. Case Studies Contemporary Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: Bedford-St.Martin’s, 2000.
Allen, Priscilla. "Old Critics and New: The Treatment of Chopin's The Awakening." In The Authority of Experience: Essays in Feminist Criticism, ed. Arlyn Diamond and Lee
The antislavery movement before 1830s was menial, partially slow and not well supported. The antislavery movement before the 1830s was the spark of fire that led to the abolitionist acts after the 1830s. Abolitionism of the 1830s and on led to a great movement in America. The division of a country came at hand, leading up to various riots white men themselves killing each other over the freeing of slaves. The subjugated Negros fighting for a true place in American society under the hands of various abolitionist leaders who gave it all to stand up for the African Americans. They were to be heard all over the union causing divisions and discomfort throughout a close to dividing nation. Abolitionist movement after the 1830s had a greater impact on the nation as a whole with a spark of the antislavery acts before the 1830s and the failure of this movement, the very well spoken and praised leaders, and the well spoken and touching propaganda against slavery.
The antebellum American antislavery movement began in the 1820s and was sustained over 4 decades by organizations, publications, and small acts of resistance that challenged the legally protected and powerful institution of slavery and the more insidious enemy of black equality, racism. Abolitionists were always a radical minority even in the free states of the North, and the movement was never comprised of a single group of people with unified motivations, goals, and methods. Rather, the movement was fraught with ambiguity over who its leaders would be, how they would go about fighting the institution of slavery, and what the future would be like for black Americans.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. 1865-1914. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. 561-652. Print. Vol. C of The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
Leonce does not appreciate this. The reader sees how he assumes what she should be doing from this quote on page 57: "Mr.Pontellier" had been a rather courteous husband so long as he met a certain tacit. submissiveness of his wife. But her new and unexpected line of conduct completely bewildered him. . Then her absolute disregard for her duties as a wife angered him."
By using a combination of ethos and pathos, Obama successfully instills in his audience the importance that education, technology, job creation and being environmentally conscious have to our economic future.
American history and society has been dictated by the influence of white, bourgeois men, causing the oppression of a plethora of demographics and tension between different social classes. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin used the characters Robert Lebrun and Léonce Pontellier to exemplify the differences in class relations, so as to show the reader the toxicity that the white, upper class male complex held on society. This is most evident when examining and comparing how Léonce treated women, specifically Edna, against how Robert did. It is also observable when comparing how important material objects and status symbols were to the
When her husband and children are gone, she moves out of the house and purses her own ambitions. She starts painting and feeling happier. “There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day” (Chopin 69). Her sacrifice greatly contributed to her disobedient actions. Since she wanted to be free from a societal rule of a mother-woman that she never wanted to be in, she emphasizes her need for expression of her own passions. Her needs reflect the meaning of the work and other women too. The character of Edna conveys that women are also people who have dreams and desires they want to accomplish and not be pinned down by a stereotype.
Also known as the Second Great Awakening, the Abolitionist Movement swept through the colonies in the early 1830’s. This was a movement to abolish slavery and to give blacks their freedom as citizens. Many men and women, free and enslaved, fought for this cause and many were imprisoned or even killed for speaking out. If it were not for these brave people, slavery would still exist today. The Abolitionist Movement paved the way in eradicating slavery by pursuing moral and political avenues, providing the foundation for the Underground Railroad, and creating a voice for African Americans.
Allen, Priscilla. "Old Critics and New: The Treatment of Chopin's The Awakening." In The Authority of Experience: Essays in Feminist Criticism, ed. Arlyn Diamond and Lee R. Edwards. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977, 224-238.
Slavery in America was a problem. Most people did not see it but there was a select few who saw through the veil and into the evil of slavery. They hesitantly proposed that slavery be abolished. Soon they became increasingly loud about their complaints. Their main argument was that it said in the constitution that “all men are created equal.” Slavery was against the constitution that America was founded on and should be abolished. These people were called “Abolitionists.”
Pollock, F., & Maitland, F.W. (2012). The history of English law before the time of Edward 1: Crimes and torts. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund.
Being a woman, she is completely at the mercy of her husband. He provides for her a lifestyle she could not obtain on her own and fixes her place in society. This vulnerability stops Edna from being truly empowered. To gain independence as a woman, and as a person, Edna must relinquish the stability and comfort she finds in the relationship with her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Pontellier's marriage comprises a series of power plays and responds well to Marxist and Feminist Theory. Leonce Pontellier looks "…at his wife as one who looks at a valuable piece of property…". He views her as an accessory that completes the ideal life for him. Edna, however, begins to desire autonomy and independence from Leonce, so true to the feminist point of view.
Bogard, Carley Rees. “The Awakening: A Refusal to Compromise.” University of Michigan Papers in Women’s Studies 2.3 (1977): 15-31. Gale Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 January 2014.
(1) "My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors." Starting with the opening lines of the speech, a shift from the style of Bush, with the multitudes of “my fellow Americans” is evident. Obama’s form of address can be perceived as more inclusive, including all nationalities and ethnicities, applying a more citizen-centered attitude. Also, this style of Obama can be explained on the lines of that citizenry is the cornerstones of the American republic, and that the whole system is based on a grass root diplomacy, rather than an exclusive and elitist system of Bush. Strong Citizenry. (2) "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age." Obama not only condemns "greed and irresponsibility” of the individuals when commenting on the effects of the global financial crisis, but also criticizes the "collective failure" of the system, the former being prosecutable, the latter not. So the problem will require a major, institutional reform. The president acknowledges the ongoing war on terror; however, he makes no reference to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. A preponderance of the possessive pronoun “our” indicates unity of the people in the time of national peril.