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Wolff’s View on Feminine Sexuality in Chopin’s The Awakening
In her essay “Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening” Cynthia Griffin Wolff sees the lack of a language—for Edna Pontellier’s sexual desires in particular and female sexuality in general—as the main theme in Chopin’s novel. She particularly looks at how issues of sexuality remain unsaid in the novel, or how they are expressed in a different way, because of the lack of a language of feminine sexuality. As Ross C Murfin points out in his introduction to this essay, Wolff combines several theoretical perspectives such as feminism, gender studies, new historicism, psychoanalytic criticism, and deconstruction (376). Wolff introduces her thesis in her initial discussion of the opening passage of The Awakening stressing the fact that the parrot has no language of its own. She remarks that “there is a sense of enigma (or fraud) about this bird who seems able to communicate but is not” (376). Similarly the main character Edna Pontellier can’t communicate her needs.
The first part of Wolff’s essay is a six-page assessment of the image of women current at the end of the nineteenth century showing the lack of a language for intimacy and sexuality. She looks specifically at the work of William Acton, an author widely read at the time. According to him women didn’t have sexual feelings of any kind; hence he saw no reason to talk about those issues. Wolff criticizes that this false image of women as a-sexual beings created by writers such as Acton also mislead the men of that time in their perception of women. Wolff argues that a “vernacular of ‘motherhood’” (386) replaced the missing language of intimacy and sexuality. In this context she refers to the passage when Léonce comes home, Edna rejects his advances, and instead of reproaching her of neglecting her marital duties, he blames her for not taking care of the children. Léonce turns the disappointment of the rejection into a reproach of neglected motherly duties.
According to Wolff, the true subject of Chopin’s novel, “may be less the particular dilemma of Mrs. Pontellier than the larger problems of female narrative that it reflects; and if Edna’s poignant fate is in part a reflection of her own habits, it is also, in equal part, a measure of society’s failure to allow its women a language of their own” (388).
When Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" was published at the end of the 19th Century, many reviewers took issue with what they perceived to be the author's defiance of Victorian proprieties, but it is this very defiance with which has been responsible for the revival in the interest of the novel today. This factor is borne out by Chopin's own words throughout her Preface -- where she indicates that women were not recipients of equal treatment. (Chopin, Preface ) Edna takes her own life at the book's end, not because of remorse over having committed adultery but because she can no longer struggle against the social conventions which deny her fulfillment as a person and as a woman. Like Kate Chopin herself, Edna is an artist and a woman of sensitivity who believes that her identity as a woman involves more than being a wife and mother. It is this very type of independent thinking which was viewed as heretical in a society which sought to deny women any meaningful participation.
Like in many feministic works, that struggle constantly to point out the corruptions of a patriarchal society, which subordinates women to men and subconsciously make them accept their inferior position without defending, their opinions, their interests and themselves, Kate Chopin in her short story “The Storm”, does something completely different of what was consider as acceptable in the 18th century´s literature. She creates the character of a woman who breaks the socially accepted conception of how a woman should be and act in a relationship, or in this case in a marriage, to express her sexuality. In this society women were put in an inferior position and were deprived of many privileges and rights given to men, especially in the sexual aspect; but Chopin, with her viewpoints, went ah...
Elia, Randy. Peter Kwok’s Kung Fu Academy. Masonic Temple Lodge, Westwood, NJ. 17 March 2014. n.p.
One example of gender criticism Chopin accounts in her writing is the love between the women in the novel which has been suppressed throughout history as “lesbian” encounters in order to uphold male power and privilege (LeBlanc 2). Edna’ friendships with Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele Ratignolle both act as different buffers into Edna’s sexual and personal “awakening.” Edna’s a...
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
Breaking away from society’s “so-called” customs/norms incorporates a large array of valor, inspiration, and most importantly, individuality. Society places normalities upon its people in order to maintain stability and often times, tradition. More specifically, gender roles, such as women raising children; men being the only source of profit, must also be broken in order to establish uniqueness and distinction in a conventional- themed culture, such as Victorian society. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is perhaps the only novel that fully illustrates the struggle that is leaving Victorian ideals and tradition from a woman’s perspective. Although often considered a feminist text, The Awakening can be viewed as a novel that depicts and promotes individuality using symbolism. Instead of plastering readers with dull literalism, Chopin uses symbols, such birds and music, to relay subtle ideas. Within each fictive part, Chopin provides symbolism that readers must comprehend in order to appreciate the novel as a whole.
The needs of Aboriginal youth are not being met in mainstream systems. Undoubtedly, with the high dropout rate of “7 out of 10 first nation youth drop out of school” (Donovan, 128), the school system is failing them. Across Canada only “23 percent of the Aboriginal population has their high school diploma” (Donovan, 129). Aboriginal people make up the youngest and fastest growing segment of our population, and yet many still have significantly less education than the general population.
To sufficiently take a side in the ever-growing debate of pornography, one must first define the concept around which this discourse surrounds itself. A working definition for pornography is a piece of material that has the object purpose of arousing erotic feelings. Radical feminists, however, strictly define it as “the act of sexual subordination of women” (Dworkin 1986).
To a person not conversant with this art, Jujitsu may be considered as a foul or derogatory term in Japanese. However, Jujitsu us one of the most effective and deadly forms of martial arts taught today. Unique among other forms of combat, Jujitsu holds the position of a “parent art”, of from which other forms of martial arts such as Aikido, Judo and several Karate styles were extracted. Jujitsu is a combination of all levels of combat. It incorporates chokes, striking, grappling, nerve and pressure point attacks, joint locks, redirection of momentum and throws.
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tries to shed light on the conflict between women and a society that assigns gender roles using a patriarchal approach. Specifically, Margaret Bauer highlights, that most of Chopin’s works revolve around exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (146). Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” Chopin depicts a society that oppresses women mostly through the institution of marriage, as women are expected to remain submissive regardless of whether they derive any happiness. The question of divorce is not welcome, and it is tragic that freedom for women can only be realized through death. According to Bauer, the society depicted in Chopin’s story judged women harshly as it expected women to play their domestic roles without question, while on the other hand men were free to follow their dreams and impose their will on their wives (149).
A police officer or detective’s job can be very stressful and dangerous. They can come in contact with unpleasant and sometimes horrific events (“FBI Agents” 306). They also have one of the highest injury and illness rates of all jobs (“Police and Detectives”). Special agents must keep all cases confidential even with relatives and spouses. FBI agents have a lot of responsibility, respect, and have a different adventure every day. At any time and at any location they can be called to a case (“FBI Agents” 306). Police and special agents can be called to work at any time, almost no matter how important what you are involved with in your personal life is. The nice thing is most agents can wear plain clothes to the job.
The more dangerous vale-tudo-style bouts of the early UFCs had been made safer by adding rules, leading to the popular regulated form of MMA seen today. Initially endorsed as a competition with the with reference to finding the best martial arts for unarmed combat situations, contestants were pitted against each other with minimal rules. Later, fighters joined numerous martial arts into their style while promoters came up with additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. The term gained fame when the website newfullcontact.com, then one of the prime covering the sport, hosted and reissued the article. Following these fluctuations, the sport has seen increased popularity with a pay-per-view business that rivals boxing and professional wrestling.
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.
In reading the essay Pornography, from Andrea Dworkin’s “Pornography’” Pornography: Men Possessing Women (Jones pg. 480 – 482) Dworkin clearly is not only extremely against pornography but cannot or chooses not to separate pornography from rape, and does not separate nudes in any medium, from the much more raw and socially questionable if not unacceptable types of pornography that are part of the current culture. However, Dworkin does bring up some interesting facts such as the word ‘pornography’ itself was derived from the ancient Greek porne and graphos, meaning “writing about whores,’ which implies that pornography tells us not only that pornography has existed for centuries but that the general disapproval of society at no doubt varying levels has seemingly always accompanied it. Yet the very definition she uses also seemingly limits pornography to writings, something that Dworkin herself chooses not to mention.
In America, the 1890s were a decade of tension and social change. A central theme in Kate Chopin’s fiction was the independence of women. In Louisiana, most women were their husband’s property. The codes of Napoleon were still governing the matrimonial contract. Since Louisiana was a Catholic state, divorce was rare and scandalous. In any case, Edna Pontellier of Chopin had no legal rights for divorce, even though Léonce undoubtedly did. When Chopin gave life to a hero that tested freedom’s limits, she touched a nerve of the politic body. However, not Edna’s love, nor her artistic inner world, sex, or friendship can reconcile her personal growth, her creativity, her own sense of self and her expectations. It is a very particular academic fashion that has had Edna transformed into some sort of a feminist heroine. If she could have seen that her awakening in fact was a passion for Edna herself, then perhaps her suicide would have been avoided. Everyone was forced to observe, including the cynics that only because a young