Theme Of Sexism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

18th century English novelist, Jane Austen once said, “If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, protagonist Edna Pontellier rebels against the societal roles that are being placed on women in the 18th century. During the summer Edna spends much time with a young man named, Robert Lebrun, then comes to the terms that she is not happy with the life she lives as a wife and mother. After realizing that she will never be truly free from obligations she walks into the ocean, swims until she is exhausted, and then drowns. Sexism, which is defined as “discrimination based on sex”, was one of the severe injustices that women faced in the 18th century, and

In the novel, Chopin portrays Edna’s character development by stating, “She was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself” (Chopin 67) . This characterization of Edna allows the reader to understand that Edna is not happy with her life because of the feminine role that she must maintain. As a character, Edna is very daring and courageous to attempt to break the roles that women held in the 18th century. In an analysis of, “The Awakening”, Novels for Students stated, “The roles that Edna and Robert play in the story point out the unfairness of sexism and the repression of individual freedom that it causes” (Novels for Students). The use of characterization allows the theme of sexism to be illustrated through the roles that characters Edna and Robert play. Novels for Students further elicits their point by adding, “While no one thinks anything of Robert's attention to Edna, people would be appalled at knowing how Edna feels about him. Adèle, for example, is shocked and tries to warn Edna to be careful of her reputation” (Novels for Students). The preconceived notion that women must be faithful to their husbands, watch the kids, and fit the ideal picture of a housewife are all characteristics that Edna has difficulty conforming to. Author, Kate Chopin, captures

The 18th century was a time in which women had to conform to roles that were expected of them or else face the consequence of being shunned by society. For women like Edna, however, testing the waters of life outside the roles of a housewife outweighed the potential consequences she would have to face later. The use of symbolism allows Chopin to portray the theme of sexism through the symbolic ‘pigeon house’. Thus, she is able to address the obligations that are being placed on Edna, and the ‘social scale’ in which Edna feels she has risen in. Through the use of characterization, Kate Chopin is able to showcase the roles that characters have and how they react to them. By portraying how the characters feel about their roles in society, Chopin is able to highlight the main idea of sexism, and connect readers to the story by relating them to traits that the characters exhibit. The use of elevated diction creates the theme of sexism by utilizing formal words and phrases to shape the reader’s opinion of what the central topic of the text is. By using phrases such as “blindly assuming” and “enticing yet ever-elusive freedom”, Chopin stresses the difficulty in going against the roles of society, making the reader understand and empathize with Edna’s situation. On a