Berenice De La Cruz Mrs. Kehrmeyer AP English 12 March 2014 Mankind against Women Gloria Steinem, a journalist and activist, identifies the purpose of a feminist who “is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” In other words, feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. Discrimination against women has been going on for decades. Donald Hall’s Literary and Cultural Theory explains that the “Key to feminist analysis is recognition of the different degrees of social power…” (199). Meaning that depending on the social power, women can be treated differently. Nevertheless, women in society are like cows; they are branded in a way where they are seen as property owned by men. Women are labeled as “weak and sensitive” but when they stand up for their rights and make a decision; they are seen as crazy human beings whose expressed thoughts are misunderstood as nonsense. There are women from past history or even our modern world today that made a change to earn their respect and obtain their rights as women. For example, Mary Wollstonecraft; who supported the feminist movement through the struggle for female suffrage. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and “The Story of an Hour.” Including Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” we are introduced to three female characters who have realized how much their world has been controlled by their own husbands. It alludes to them as “beginning to realize [their] position in the universe as a human being and to recognize [their] relations as an individual to the world within and about [them]” (Chopin15). These protagonists made changes to show society that women should earn recognition not for what they are believed to b... ... middle of paper ... ... really noticed by her husband, because for him, her suffrage doesn’t exist. He thinks he’s doing a perfect job but in reality he’s not asking her how she is doing without him misjudging her pain with something else. In short, all these three protagonists have their worlds, choices, duties in control by their husbands. They don’t gain recognition by their own selves but by who they are labeled as women. Men think that they don’t have the right to change the way they should be just because they want to express themselves. They think that when women change their persona, it’s seen as a wrong move or a “disgrace” for a female to make. But mostly to sum things up, it’s all about gender discrimination. No matter what, it’ll continue in our future years, but for those who imply a change, they will help out one step closer to change the point of view against women.
Feminism, the idea that women are equal to men, is a concept that has been an aspect of American society since the nineteenth century. However, while it was first constructed in 1848, feminism has not always been a widely embraced topic. It was once seen as an extremely taboo, controversial notion that could easily ruin a woman’s reputation if she were to dare speak of it. Despite this, many females put their fears of criticism aside and gained the courage to stand up for the freedoms of womankind. Two women who took the risk to write about the ideas of feminism were Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and Kate Chopin.
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...
Topics of great social impact have been dealt with in many different ways and in many different mediums. Beginning with the first women’s movement in the 1850’s, the role of women in society has been constantly written about, protested, and debated. Two women writers who have had the most impact in the on-going women’s movement are Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper are two of feminist literature’s cornerstones and have become prolific parts of American literature. Themes of entrapment by social dictates, circumstance, and the desire for personal independence reside within each work and bond the two together.
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
Bryfonski, Dedria. Women's Issues in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. Print.
Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening in the opening chapter provides the argument for women's entrapment in roles that society has forced upon them. Chopin was not just trying to write an entertaining story but trying to convey arguments against these social injustices. Women are like these birds trapped in these cages unable to free themselves from these imposed roles by society.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin follows the journey of protagonist Edna Pontellier as she "awakens" from a life of obedience and complacency and rebels against the patriarchal ideology that entraps her. Throughout the novel she strives to fee herself form the stifling obligations and expectations that oppress her, but finds that she is unable to live the free life she desires. This realization causes her to seek freedom in death, instead. In Marxist theory, particularly as subscribed to by Louis Althusser, it is the role of the repressive state apparatuses (RSAs) and the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) to provide willing workers and supplies to the base and enable a system to reproduce itself. It is the ideological state apparatuses, however, that are the most effective and insidious in this task. This is because they operate on multiple fronts (many of them privately owned) such as: education, church, culture, and even family (Althusser 96). Edna's own undoing is caused by the realization that she can never sever her ties to the ideology of motherhood. What is significant about this novel, however, is the while the main focus in undoubtedly Edna, she is far from the only character to be oppressed by the system of Ideological State Apparatuses and social construction. Chopin successfully illustrates that Edna's plight is not a singular one or even confined to women as a gender. Rather, it is a widespread condition of human existence, of life within a social order. Under a Marxist lens, the reader finds the novel is a prime example of an exploitative system which relies on ideology to secure its own reproduction. The novel is full of characters who are limited by their social personas, illustrating the universality of such a con...
4. Kinnison, Dana. "Female Resistance to Gender Conformity in Kate Chopin's The Awakening.(1899) Women in Literature, Reading through the Lens of Gender. Ed. Jerilyn Fisher and Ellen S. Silber. Forward by David Sadker. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. Greenwood. 2003 (22-24)
In the history of the world, not every person of either gender or race had the same rights and freedoms. Discrimination has always been present in our history as humans: those who have been discriminated against many times in many different cultures are minority races and women. In the past, it was not much like it is today; in fact for example women didn’t even have half the freedoms they do today. Women got their rights, but not without a lot of effort, those who fought for their rights as women have always been known as feminists who sparked the feminist movement. “Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen are the foremothers of modern women’s movement. All of these people advocated for the dignity, intelligence, and basic human potentials of the female sex. However, it was not until the late 19th century that the efforts for women’s equal rights coalesced into a clearly identifiable and self-conscious movement, or rather a series of movements” (Martha Rampton). Eventually after many years of fighting for their rights, the 19th amendment of 1920 finally granted women their right to vote (History Staff, 19th Amendment). Many writers such as Jane Austen as stated above were part of what sparked a feminist movement and fought for their freedoms through their writings. These writings had hidden messages within them fighting for their own gender. In fact, in Kate Chopin’s story of an hour, there are many feminist messages that occur in this story; the first being independence, oppressiveness in marriage, and supernatural forces could have been at work.
When the word feminism comes to mind, most people visualize women being oppressed or being inferior to men. This is exactly what should come to mind. For centuries, men have always been superior to women politically and socially. It still hasn’t been at least a hundred years since women have had the right to vote. With this, we can apply the feminist lens to Hamlet by Shakespeare and The Awakening by Kate Chopin, as there are multiple examples in each that will provide insight as to how women are treated and viewed during these two contrasting eras in history.
There are many branches of feministic theorems. As Judith Lorber wrote in her article, The Variety of Feminisms and their Contributions to Gender Equality feminist denominations arose from different views, making many contributions to improve women’s status. Lorber discusses the views of, “gender reform feminisms, gender resistant feminisms, and gender revolution feminisms…”(1) etcetera, all which have fought to improve women’s rights. Though there are many different aspects of viewing feminism, writer and contributor of owl.purdue.edu, Allen Brizee suggests that the main ideology that holds those aspects together is the oppression of women in general. Though, it is when talking about male dominance, women’s resistance, and women’s social roles, that the views on feminism changes. In the book, The Awakening, Kate Chopin greatly reveals women’s resistance within a male dominated society through her main character Edna Pontellier. Similarly, in her short, The Story of an Hour, Chopin emphasized the oppression that married women went through with their husbands during the late 1800s. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman compelled readers, showing how women’s roles seemed insignificant during the early 1900s. The feminist theory suggested by Brizee can be seen within each of these narratives, and their protagonists.
Edna Pontellier of Kate Chopin’s work The Awakening as well as the nameless female narrator of Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper both experienced similar forms of gendered oppression, who have become frustrated with their conventional womanly roles. In having like experiences, these literary works prove effective in relaying the issue of gender inequalities among men and women in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Although both Chopin and Gilman’s portrayal of their character’s dissatisfaction with women’s societal roles resemble one another in more than one way and they both fight for their autonomy, they do differ in the types of independence from a patriarchal society they strive to separate from. The nameless narrator of Gilman’s story fights against the mental suppression that she experiences because of her illness—namely from her husband and doctor, John. Edna from Chopin’s The Awakening fights for a physical independence from her husband and children. In this essay I will explain the ways in which both of these characters are oppressed in a male-dominant society, as well as their attempts to convey their frustration, and the different kinds of independence strove they achieve.
Oscar Wilde once said, “Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them.” (Oscar Wilde, 1893) Women generally have fewer opportunities than men, and Oscar Wilde sarcastically says that as a forbidden fruit is sweet, women can taste a sweeter fruit than men. Women and men have never had equal rights or roles in society, and mostly men were dominating. In all times women were considered as a weaker sex, and there are dozens of examples from history that can prove it. However, in 19th and early 20th century a weaker sex started to manifest itself with feminist activity. In this paper I will attempt to outline feminist views of two different women, namely Caryl Churchill and Virginia Woolf, who write about different times of history. Furthermore I will make some comparisons and contrasts of their ideas and their ways to define these ideas. Finally, I will make some critical analysis of two texts and share my personal opinion on the subject of feminism.
Feminism can be roughly described as a movement that seeks to enhance the quality of women’s lives by impacting the norms and moves of a society based on male dominance and subsequent female subordination. Although feminist literary writings began to gain popularity in the 20th century, feminist characters have been around for ages. “Feminist criticism’s self transformations over the past several decades as it engages with both critiques from within and encounters from without- encounters with psychoanalysis, Marxism, Post-Structuralisms, ethnic studies, post-colonial theory, and lesbian and gay studies- have produced a complex proliferation of work not easily subsumed to a single description. (Rivkin 527)”. According to Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan in their essay “Feminist Paradigms”, feminist criticism includes several other ideas. Gayle Rubin, author of “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex”, also adds: The literature on women- both feminist and anti-feminist- is a long rumination on the question of the nature and genesis of women’s oppression and social subordination.”
The role women play in today’s society is a drastic change from the previous role. Women used to be confined to the superiority of the man. Physically, mentally, and emotionally abused, belittled, embarrassed, and silenced. These are just a few examples of the emotion from the isolated treatment of the past. A woman’s role in today’s society is more valued than ever before.