The novel The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, sparked much controversy among the nation with topics of marital infidelity and most importantly, gender roles. This story set in Louisiana, centered on around a woman that questions and fails to meet societies standards, as well as roles as a wife and mother. Her failures and struggles as a woman allow us to gain a better understanding about gender roles in the late 1800s.
The theme of gender roles is shown through the character of Edna Pontellier. From the start of The Awakening it becomes clear that Edna does not fulfill the traditional duties a wife or mother would during this time period, such as supporting her husband and caring for the children. While vacationing in Grand Isle, Louisiana, Léonce speaks of how he is disappointed in his wife. After coming home
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She questions her role as a wife and mother and is searching for freedom. Edna begins painting as a way to reach some independence and self-worth. She begins to admire and build a friendship with Mademoiselle Reise because she sees how independent a woman can be. Another moment in the novel when she feels a since of re-birth is when she swims in the ocean alone for the first time, which is foreshadowing to her death. This illustrates that during this time period it was almost unheard of for women to do things on their own and for themselves.
Gender roles are also illustrated when looking at the male characters in this novel. Léonce is a successful businessman and when he travels for work Edna becomes romantically evolved with a young man named Robert, whom devotes himself to her for the summer. He is very careful about the way he speaks to Edna, for example he calls her “my dear” because he acts like Léonce has a possession over her. Léonce even visits a doctor to talk about his concerns for Edna when she expresses her “rights of a
Often in novels, a character faces conflicting directions of ambitions, desires, and influences. In such a novel, like “The Awakening,'; the main character, Edna Pontellier, faces these types of conflicting ideas. In a controversial era for women, Edna faces the conflict of living in oppression but desiring freedom. The patriarchal time period has influenced women to live only under the husband’s thumb but at the same time, break away from such repression. These opposing conflicts illuminated the meaning of “social awakening'; in the novel.
The Awakening begins in the vacation spot of Grand Isle. At first we believe that Grand Isle is a utopia, wealthy families relaxing at oceanside, but it is here where Edna first begins to realize her unhappiness. The first sign of dissatisfaction is when Edna allows herself to feel that her marriage is unsatisfying, yet she must agree with the other women that Leonce Pontellier is the perfect husband. Edna asks herself that if she has a good husband but is unhappy, then should marriage be a piece of her life.
In Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening, Edna Pontellier is forced to strive to fit in with everyone and everything around her. Born and raised in Kentucky, Edna is used to the Southern society, but when she marries Leonce Pontellier, a Catholic and a Creole, and moves to Louisiana with him, her surroundings change a great deal. This makes her feel extremely uncomfortable and confused; she feels as though she has lost her identity along with a great deal of her happiness. In order to regain this identity and to try to find out who she truly is, Edna tries her hardest to conform to the Creole society. Though Edna tries extremely hard to accept this Creole society as her own and to become part of it in order to claim her identity, she fails to find both her true happiness and her identity, which, in turn, causes her to commit suicide.
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.
The Awakening sheds light on the desire among many women to be independent. Throughout the novel Edna conducts herself in a way that was disavowed by many and comes to the realization that her gender prevented her from pursuing what she believed would be an enjoyable life. As the story progresses Edna continues to trade her family obligations for her own personal pleasures. This behavior would not have been accepted and many even criticize the novel for even speaking about such activities. Kate Chopin essentially wrote about everything a women couldn’t do. Moreover, it also highlights the point that a man is able to do everything Edna did, but without the same
In the first place, Edna breaks free from society’s rigid mold in order to find herself, not conforming to the expectations of the men in her life and having the courage to fight for her independence. Throughout the course of the novel, Edna works to find her place in life. The first time Edna begins “to realize her position in the universe as a human being” rather than as her husband’s possession is during the exposition at Grand Isle, where she spent the summer (17). Although she does not fully comprehend what she is feeling, she realizes that she does not want to be another woman who submits to the power of
The Awakening by Kate Chopin contradicts the popular nineteenth century image of the ideal southern woman as the main character, Edna Pontellier, gradually realizes her dissatisfaction with her life and discovers she was meant to live for something more. This kind of thinking was unheard of during this time period, and the novel soon raised significant controversy and was “banned from the [libraries’] shelves in response to negative and damning reviews” (Dyer 19). The novel redefines femininity by showing that women do not have to be limited by domesticity or submission.
In the late 1800s, the excessive limitations placed on women took away much of their freedom and individuality. In this time period, inequality among genders was prominent, resulting in an expected obligation for women to obey the commands of men. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin shapes the main character, Edna Pontellier, to represent the common woman at the time, who struggles to gain back the rights she deserves. As Edna finds self empowerment with the ocean as her inspiration, she battles resistance from the people who have constrained her all along.
Society of the 19th century gave a heightened meaning to what it meant to be a women. According to the commonly known “code of true womanhood” women are supposed to be docile, domestic creations whose main concerns in life were to be raising children and submissiveness to their husbands. In the book The Awakening written by Kate Chopin; introduces the protagonist, Edna Pontellier a rebellious twenty-eight year old woman who is dissatisfied with the role of being a wife and mother, a woman who desires independence and sexual freedom. She soon discovers she doesn’t quite fit into the role that has been given to her. Through the use of symbolism, imagery, and irony. Chopin exposes expectations for women in order to be accepted during the Victorian
Edna Pontellier, from the novella The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, serves as a clear example of a character whose mind is being pulled in two seperate directions. One side of Edna feels pulled to the classical women in America at this time. On the other hand, she wishes to remain free from her womanly restraints. We discover that she does not want to feel tied down with any man, not only her husband, Leonce Pontellier. Edna faces internal and external challenges figuring out which woman she wants to be, the one of the times or the one who possesses freedom from societal norms.
As the story unfolds, we learn that, although Edna Pontellier lives in relative luxury in the French Quarter of New Orleans with a successful businessman for a husband and two young boys, she is unhappy about the direction her life is headed. Edna's "awakening" begins when she realizes that she is living her life for others and not herself. The story takes place in the late nineteenth century, a time when women were expected to stay at home and take care of the children, with little independence. Edna decides to pursue her passion of painting making it even harder for her husband Léonce to understand her. She is stepping out of the traditional routine of women, leaving her husband to believe that she may be coming down with a sickness. However, Edna's thoughts are simply filled with her fantasies of Robert. Every summer the Pontellier's vacation at an upscale resort on Grand Isle. This is where Edna first encounters Robert Lebrun spending most of her days with him; she is taken by his love. The narrator says, "She could only realize that she herself... was in some way different from the other self. That she was ...
...tionship she had until she was left with literally no reason to live. Throughout the novella, she breaks social conventions, which damages her reputation and her relationships with her friends, husband, and children. Through Edna’s thoughts and actions, numerous gender issues and expectations are displayed within The Awakening because she serves as a direct representation of feminist ideals, social changes, and a revolution to come.
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.
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.