Portrayal of American Women Literature Never Changes

Portrayal of American Women in literature never changes
Over the last thirty decades, women have come secondary to the male population. American women have since sought to challenge and change this standard. We are tired of the oppression and mistreatment! Slowly but surely, women have strived to take a stand against prejudice and embrace the values of American freedom and equality. Even though women’s rights have progressed, we have yet to be treated as equal to the American male, especially in literature.
While reading The Awakening, I am amazed by the limited roles women had during the late 1800’s. We see the protagonist Edna Pontellier, a mother of two children, who lives in the Victorian age. Her then husband is a businessman that provides for the family. Her main job was the “mother role”. This role includes cleaning the house, cooking, caring for children, but most importantly catering to her husband. Edna’s confidence is seen throughout the book, she becomes tired of being a conformist and changes her lifestyle.
“Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instructively the dual life that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (Chopin, Kate. "Chapter 7." The Awakening. New York: Avon, 1972. N. pag. Print.). Edna in the end kills herself, one may say it was over heartbreak but it's a true sign of her integrity. To me her death was symbolic for the simple matter that she died being content. She was tired of being unhappy, the man she truly wanted to be with Robert was afraid to commit to her. Robert was afraid of what his peers would think and denounced his love for Edna.
In contrast to Edna, Tennessee Will...

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...but there are also strong women who really do portray Edna. these women who try to be like Edna, doing what makes them happy, living for themselves, are the women most talked about. They are the ones who are remembered in the end.
Even though women’s right have progressed, to be honest as a woman, I believe that we will forever have to prove ourselves. By this I mean, women are going to be seen as less than a male. It is up to us, the women in America, to put a stop to this. Not only in the real life, but the way we as women are portrayed in : literature, television, on the Internet, etc.. Our time is overdue! Women don’t have to be masculine to prove that they are strong. All women are different, not one is alike. The one goal each and everyone of them have is, taking a stand against prejudice and embracing the beautiful values of American freedom and equality.