Women's Issues in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Souls Belated by Edith Wharton

1014 Words3 Pages

Women's Issues in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Souls Belated by Edith Wharton In comparing the three authors and the literary works of women authors Kate Chopin (1850 -1904), The Awakening, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's (1860-1935), The Yellow Wallpaper, and Edith Wharton's (1862-1937) Souls Belated, a good number common social issues related to women are brought to light and though subtly pointed out are an outcry against the conventions of the time. In these three stories, which were written between 1899 and 1913, the era was a time in which it seems, that women had finally awaken to realize their social oppression and were becoming rebellious in their pursuit of freedom from the male-dominated societal convention in which they existed. They commenced viewing their social stature as unjustly inferior and realized that these conventions placed deterrents on their intellectual and personal growth, and on their freedom to function as an independent person. All three of these women authors have by their literary works, have voiced their strong unfavorable feelings about the patriarchal society in which they lived. These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a... ... middle of paper ... ...ded her marriage as a full canceling of her claims upon life" (674). In all the stories, the authors commonly depict propriety in marriage, a yearning for freedom from convention, loveless marriages, wealth and unconventional women. Chopin and Gilman imply that the mental illnesses experienced by their characters are due mainly, to male oppression. Chopin and Wharton write about infidelity, passion and love; and Chopin and Gilman write about women working for pay. All authors write about women who feel trapped by tradition and convention and all display abhorrence toward the social expectations set for women. Bibliography: The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 5th Ed. W.W. Norton & Co. NY. 1998. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening 672-690. Charlotte Gilman Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper 657-670. Wharton, Edith. Souls Belated 467-670

Show More
Related

  • The Importance of Setting in The Awakening

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    New Essays on The Awakening. Ed. Wendy Martin. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988.

    Read More

  • Awakening

    2436 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Awakening the Woman Inside

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    To fully grasp The Awakening, it is important to understand both into the life of Kate Chopin and the time period in which it was published. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Chopin was raised by her mother’s extended French family after her father’s death in a train accident. Her great grandmother expressed a special fascination with Kate’s advancement into womanhood and ensured that Kate understood “how women’s lives were split between responsibility and desire and the significance of women being independent” (Toth 13, 15). These lessons were not lost on Kate, and they materialize throughout her writing which focuses on the struggles of women in a world dominated by men. When The Awakening was being written, “the Feminist movement was just beginning, and many female authors were writing pieces about the improvement of women’s social conditions; however, unlike these women, Chopin did not limit her exploration of freedom to physical emancipation, but also intellectual autonomy” (Guernsey 46). It was this exploration of women’s independence which created turbulence in the literary community when The Awakening was published in 1899. Unfortunately, Chopin was ahead of her time, ...

    Read More

  • Kate Chopins' Awakening is Not a Tragedy

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sullivan, Barbara. "Introduction to The Awakening." In The Awakening, ed. Barbara Sullivan. New York: Signet, 1976.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.

    Read More

  • The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper

    2398 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kate Chopin's story The Awakening and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story The Yellow Wallpaper draw their power from two truths: First, each work stands as a political cry against injustice and at the socio/political genesis of the modern feminist movement. Second, each text is a gatekeeper of a new literary history. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman seem to initiate a new phase in textual history where literary conventions are revised to serve an ideology representative of the "new" feminine presence. Two conventions in particular seem of central importance: "marriage" and "propriety".

    Read More

  • The Significance of Art in Chopin's The Awakening

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 535-625. Print.

    Read More

  • Importance of Water in The Awakening

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ward, Selena. Spark Notes on The Awakening.

    Read More

  • Masculinity and Superiority in The Great Gasby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Awakening by Kate Chopin and A Car Named Desire by Tennessee William

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many centuries, literature has been used to communicated various ideas and wisdom gained from experiences. The idea of masculinity and male superiority can be best portrayed in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. The novel takes place at a luxurious resort known as the Grand Isle, located in New Orleans, during the mid-1800s. Edna Pontellier, one of the main characters in the novel, struggles to find happiness, love, and freedom. Her attitude towards many aspects of life are much different than other married women around her. This novel is very unique mainly because of the time period it was written in. During this era, strict gender roles were enforced and women had many restrictions. The duties of women were strictly fixated on cooking, cleaning, and nurturing. Edna Pontellier craved for independence. She became depressed due to the monotonous and cookie cutter society that she was forced to conform in. The plot of the novel focuses on Edna’s journey to progress into an independent women in this male driven soc...

    Read More

  • The Movement for Women's Rights Inside The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women have been mistreated, enchained and dominated by men for most part of the human history. Until the second half of the twentieth century, there was great inequality between the social and economic conditions of men and women (Pearson Education). The battle for women's emancipation, however, had started in 1848 by the first women's rights convention, which was led by some remarkable and brave women (Pearson Education). One of the most notable feminists of that period was the writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She was also one of the most influential feminists who felt strongly about and spoke frequently on the nineteenth-century lives for women. Her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" characterizes the condition of women of the nineteenth century through the main character’s life and actions in the text. It is considered to be one of the most influential pieces because of its realism and prime examples of treatment of women in that time. This essay analyzes issues the protagonist goes through while she is trying to break the element of barter from her marriage and love with her husband. This relationship status was very common between nineteenth-century women and their husbands.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In 'The Awakening' By Kate Chopin

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Influence of Kate Chopin’s Life and Environment on Her Literature

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bryfonski, Dedria, ed. Women's Issues in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. Print.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.

    Read More

  • The Awakening: Sexuality in Nineteenth Century Literature

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past, literature for women strove to reinforce the culturally approved ideas of femininity. Tremendous volumes of literature were written to reinforce appropriate female behaviour. By the mid-eighteenth century, the ideological division of women into two classes, the virtuous and the fallen, was well developed (Armstrong, 18). Literature often portrayed both of these women, with the virtuous triumphing at the end and the fallen receiving her appropriate punishment. Chopin followe...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Written At The Close Of Spring By Charlotte Smith

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a

    Read More

More about Women's Issues in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Souls Belated by Edith Wharton

Open Document