...“It has been positively asserted that woman is the very quintessence of selfishness” (Dix “Are…” 127), because a woman who ardently pursues her passions must, by definition, care for none but herself. A young author whose foundation for writing lies upon her own experiences, Kate Chopin entered Creole society, formed a family, and later indulged herself with torrid affairs prior to writing The Awakening. Present within that society, various art forms allowed for self-expression and exploration. Edna Pontellier creates art as a means of distraction from society’s suppressive expectations, but struggles to do so, thereby indicating a woman’s limited autonomy within the Nineteenth Century. Sculptures and drawings and paintings gain renown through...
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...Schiller Datum der Abgabe: 16.04.2011 Female Empowerment in Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” Anjana Dhir BA Englisch KF, Geschichte NF 3. Semester Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. The French – Creole society of Louisiana 4 2.1 Cultural background 4 2.2 French-Creole women 5 3. The Role of Women 6 4.1 Edna vs. Madame Ratignolle 7 3.1.1 “A Valuable Piece of Property” 7 3.1.2 Edna – The Unusual Woman 9 3.1.3 Adèle Ratignolle – The Archetype Woman 14 3.2 “Mother Woman” – The Patriarchal Ideology 16 4. Chopin’s Imagery 18 5. Conclusion - Edna’s Suicide 19 6. Bibliography 21 1. Introduction A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her. But that night she was like a little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over confidence. […] A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before. This scene in Kate Chopin’s novel describes the moment in which the lead character Edna Pontellier...
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...Jeanne can be a bit ignorant at some points in the book. When Jeanne was ten, she wanted to be an odori dancer. She asked the two girls that stayed in the class how she could do so, “I did this too, on the sly, until Mama asked me why socks were always inside out, and why I was wearing nothing underneath my dress.” (111). She thought the girls were being truthful to her until Mama had to tell her they were not. When Jeanne and her mom went to the bathroom they overheard two women whispering about Papa. “They kept using the word ‘inu’. I knew it meant ‘dog’... Years later I learned that inu also meant collaborator or informer.” (66,67). When Jeanne first heard the word inu she thought that the two girls were using it in the context of dog, but...
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...The Awakening by Kate Chopin gives the point of view of a women during times when they were not expected to have opinions except on what to wear. During this period of time women were expected to be house wives, raise the children, take care of their husbands and keep the house in order. But, unlike most books of this time Chopin tells from the perspective of a woman who wants more in life. In this book she illustrates the process of a woman discovering she can do more than what society expects of her, though Edna Pontellier's, the main character’s, realizations. In the beginning of the book Edna is depicted as a perfect wife, doing all the things her husband and society expects of her. But this soon begins to change, “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,” (17). Edna begins to discover she has opinions of her own, she is not just a display piece for her husband to show off to the society. For example, every Tuesday Edna is expected to be at home to receive visitors but one day she decides to go out. That night when her husband arrives home he is...
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...before” (27). This is a symbol of her awakening beginning, for she desires to swim out of the confines of society and find freedom when most woman were called insane for desiring so. As she swims out, she begins to see the expanse of sea between her and the shore as a barrier, which signifies the separation between her and society. However, she must return to the shore or else loose her strength. The sudden terror and “encounter with death” (28) she experiences when she realizes that she’s swum out too far, could foreshadow her eventual suicide in the Gulf. It would be fitting for her to end her life in the place where her awakening began. Alternatively, it could be a warning for her to be careful for the farther out she swims from society and what is expected of a woman, the harder it would be to keep her strength and easier it would be to drown. She describes this experience as being dreamlike and all the people were “like some uncanny, half-human beings” (28). She is the one that has awaken up and seen a future where she is in control, not any man, while they others are still sleeping. When she recounts this feeling to Robert, he tells her a story about the spirit who searches for a companion and found her. Edna has been found by the spirit of freedom and won’t ever be able to go back to her previous life again. Edna cannot return to the moment of her life where she didn’t know how to swim. The first step after learning to swim in her awakening is when she disobeys her husband...
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...We can find the most significant one in The Awakening. Actually, the title itself can be viewed as a metaphor. In this story, Edna begins to awaken to the world and environment around her, but also wake up her understanding of herself as an individual and as a woman who does not find herself happy in the domestic world of her peers. The most important awakening is to herself as a sexual being. The novel uses awakening to refer her understanding of the feminism and herself. This novel reveals Edna’s character as a literary icon for feminist ideals, so the writer expressed things like individuality, sexuality or entertaining, which were not a common concept in that period of time. During the story, we can see the writers description of swimming. Actually it is not just a simple swimming. Edna’s swimming in the ocean also has metaphorical meaning, it means she gains freedom as woman and a human being. Also oceans has metaphorical notion of death, but it also represents something...
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...Edna Pontellier from the story “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, openly showed her rebellious behavior against the custom and tradition of being a creole’s wife. She is a protagonist who acknowledged her sexual desires and had the courage to act on them. Edna discovered her own identity that’s independent of her husband and children by breaking through the role appointed to her by the society. At the beginning of the story, Edna exists in a semi-conscious state. She was unaware of her feelings and ambitions and she was comfortable being married to Léonce Pontellier. She has always been a romantic. At a very young age, she was enamored with a cavalry officer, was in love with a man visiting her plantation in her teens, and developed an infatuation...
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...The book The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a remarkable story of a young woman named Edna Pontellier. She does not follow the restrictions of society and behaves in a free and independent manner. However, this causes her to be viewed in a controversial manner by many people. She is viewed differently by her husband, Robert Lebrun, and Alcee Arobin. Edna’s husband, Leonce Pontellier views her as an object or possession and almost as childlike(pg 31). He wants her to be the perfect “mother women” and to behave the way society says. He doesn’t treat her like a wife or a love partner. Although he takes care of his family duties and ensures Edna is well taken care of physically, he spends little quality time with Edna as well as his children(pg 34)....
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...In the 19th Century women were treated significantly different than how they are treated today. During the 19th Century most women were believed to fill specific roles and were expected to act a certain way. The awakening is a book that greatly focuses on some women who submit to these roles as well as some women who broke these roles. The Awakening by Kate Chopin, written in the 19th century, is a great example of what roles women were supposed to fill and it has many female characters that exemplify these roles, which include being a mother-woman, being submissive to their husbands, and being free from the appearance of immorality. In the 19th century there was a huge emphasis on being a good wife to your husband and being a caring mother...
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...The Faceless Woman A famous leader during the Enlightenment by the name of Mary Wollstonecraft, once said: ‘Women [has] always understood themselves as having an obligation to stand on the side of the silenced, the oppressed, and the mistreated.” Women yet to this day, still face oppression from society towards their genders. It is in “The Awakening”, a novel written by Kate Chopin, that we can see women’s emotional turmoil when met with social injustice. Edna’s death scene reinforces the idea that women are silenced when confronted with society’s unjust portrayal of a woman's identity. Edna’s final moment in death shows just how far she had evolved from her being a mindless doll that followed society’s every whim, to blossoming into a person...
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...theory of sexual selection in Kate Chopin works. She describes the sexual attraction use by Chopin in her works according to Darwin’s theory. Holtman, Janet. "Failing Fictions: The Conflicting and Shifting Social Emphases Of Kate Chopin's "Local Color" Stories." Southern Quarterly 42.2 (2004): 73-88. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Apr. 2013 The presents work analyses the concept of skin color used by Kate Chopin her works. It discuss the way Southern discourses of race and class influences Chopin novels “Bayou Folk” and “A night in Acadie”. "Kate Chopin: Her Novels and Stories." Kate Chopin: The Awakening, The Storm, Stories, Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. The website provides information about the all the novels and stories wrote by Kate Chopin. It also has her biography and a list of books, articles and essays about Kate Chopin and her works. In addition, the website has series of questions about Kate Chopin personal life and her reputation as a feminist reformer. Tolentino, Jasdomin, "Kate Chopin's Life and Personal Influence" (2008).Excellence in Research Awards.Paper 2 In this paper, Tolentino discuss Kate Chopin life and her personal influence. He explain how the relations with the members of her family, the environment in which she lives and the close people who died in her life affected her of writing her short stories “The Storm” and “ The Story of an Hour”. Bradley, Patricia L. "The Birth Of Tragedy" And "The Awakening": Influences And Intertextualities...
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...Themes Found in Kate Chopin's Short Stories Kimberley J. Dorsey Stevenson University English 152, Writing About Literature 152-OME1 Charlotte Wulf November 14, 2010 Abstract Many of Kate Chopin’s short stories share the common themes of female oppression. The females in her stories are trying to find a way to escape their oppression and have a sense freedom and individuality. They either commit adultery or fantasize about it as a way to explore their feminine sexuality and obtain a sense of freedom. Common Themes Found in Kate Chopin's Short Stories Kate Chopin, an American novelist and short story writer. Born in 1851 and died in 1904 (cerebral hemorrhage). Chopin lived in Louisiana during her marriage to a Louisiana businessman and began writing after her husband’s death; being left to raise six children alone. Many of her stories are based on her knowledge of Creole and Cajun life during the time she lived there. She is best known for her novel “The Awakening,” considered Chopin’s masterpiece was subject to harsh criticism at the time criticism for its frank approach to sexual themes (Toth, 1988-1999, p. 1). Her attitude seen throughout her writing’s are about a woman’s place as being in the home and her purpose in life is to nurture her husband and children. Being against oppression Chopin chose to write about these issues through fiction, expressing real women. Kate Chopin is considered...
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...Mainiero, Linda. American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide From Colonial Times To The Present. New York: Fredrick Ungar Publish Co., 1979. After Kate Chopin graduated from Scared Heart Convent, she married Oscar Chopin, a native of Louisiana. In 1870 she moved to New Orleans with her husband and had 5 children. Her first poem “If it might be” was published in 1899. “At Fault” her first novel was established in 1890. Toth, Emily . Unveiling Kate Chopin. Jackson, Miss: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. When Kate Chopin began publishing fiction in national magazines, she was doing something no other women in St. Louis had ever done. Kate was surrounded by the voices of women – from her mammy to her mother and grandmother, to the Sacred Heart nuns, to her best friend Kitty Garesche....
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...A Journey for the Lost Soul The Awakening by Kate Chopin was written during the 1800’s and was published in the year of 1899. During this time, the novel struck controversial subjects using a strong feminist tone, which underlined Chopin’s views on sex, marriage, and women of that period. In this novel, it is evident that freedom and feminism are used as interrelations of each other to express her feelings towards each subject. Some characters in The Awakening served as an encouraging force pushing Edna to go forth with her self-discoveries. In her journey, Edna travels through many stages of freedom to find herself; from exploring her creativity, to being freely aware of her sexually desires in the novel. Chopin uses the self-defining journey of Edna Pontellier to reveal her views of freedom as it relates to women, through a feminist lens during the 1800’s. According to Annetta Kelley, author of The Sparkle of Diamonds: Kate Chopin's Usage of Subtext in Stories and Novels, "The novel's most stirring poetic semblance is its continuous subliminal whispering of "the seductive, murmuring sea" (Kelley 334). Chopin uses Edna Pontellier to represent independence and free will, and the sea to represent Edna. She uses this character as a tool to exemplify her own thoughts on subjects such as sex, marriage, and what it is to be a free woman. The freedom Edna Pontellier desires so much throughout the novel becomes apparent to her primarily when she is at the beach with her...
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...Tony Dass Prof Shaw Egl 2219 March 2nd 2016 Kate Chopin who had an Irish father and a French-creole mother, she was born on February 8, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri. The O'Flahertys were members of the Creole social elite and were fairly well-off. When Kate was very young, her father Thomas O'Flaherty died in a work-related accident. He left behind a family of four generations of women all living in the same house. Kate was very close to her maternal great-grandmother, Madame Charleville, who first introduced her to the world of storytelling. Madame Charleville spoke only French to Kate and told her elaborate, somewhat risqué stories. Family tragedy surrounded the young Kate. When she was eleven, Madame Charleville died, and her half-brother George was killed while fighting in the Civil War for the Confederate side. Yet, Kate seems not to have completely despaired; she earned a reputation as the "Littlest Rebel" when she tore down a Union flag that had been tied to her front porch by Yankee soldiers. Had Kate not been a young girl at the time, the incident might have resulted in serious consequences, but since she was, her act became famous as local legend. While attending a Catholic high school, Kate studied both French and English literature and became an accomplished pianist. She attended numerous social events and became very popular in St. Louis high society. She also became interested in the movement for women's suffrage although she never became very politically active...
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