“The Awakening” is a courageous piece of literature work that demonstrates how civilization forced tremendously elevated expectancies for females and their hypothetical roles. Kate Chopin uses this novel to bring those “expected roles” to light. Edith Wharton also shows how this epidemic has restricted and impaired two of the protagonist in her story “Roman Fever”. During the time period that this book was written, in the early nineteenth century, this epidemic of forcing roles on women was widespread, and this altered the lives of these women in an abysmal way incessantly.
During the nineteenth century, Edna Pontellier lived in a society that imposed strict roles and had high expectations on women. Frequently referred to as the “women sphere”
…show more content…
(XXXX), this refers to the palpable objects that we associate with conventional and domestic standards. Objects that belonged to the “women sphere” were rudiments such as: mothers with their children, Porsches and pianos. “The Awakening” also took place in New Orleans, which is the stronghold of communal rules. Edna was expected by her husband to perform an uncountable number of roles.
These roles comprised, but not limited to, being the faultless communal entertainer, prodigious wife and affectionate mother all at the same time. These expectations that were imposed on her confined Edna, and after refusing to follow the “rules” she packed up and moved to her own house. The “Pigeon House” was nicknamed by Edna because these roles that she was obligatory to abide by, and ultimately after moving numerous times and never feeling that she was “at home”. Edna ended up taking her own life, and that is the only place where she can find respite, ease and discretion.
As New Orleans was the center of communal roles, Edith Wharton’s’ “Roman Fever” was based in Rome, but the characters are from Old New York’s muffled Victorian society, which has the uppermost values for appropriateness. The two characters, Grace Ansley and Alida Slade were raised up in Manhattan, New York and were childhood friends ever since they can recollect.
Even though the two girls are inordinate friends, there are plentiful personality traits that set them apart. Alida is outgoing, “Fuller and higher in color” and has a very optimistic and intense personality. Grace on the other hand, has a cloudy, grey nature, has no imagination, and is frequently referred to as a “museum specimen of Old New
York”. Wharton chose Rome as a perfect habitation for this location. As these girls are belligerent over their generational differences and conflicts, Roman gladiators did the same thing many years ago. The women have been great friends, but are letting slight alterations get in the way of enjoyment. The women grew up in a society with abhorrence, ferocity, distrust and anger and jealousy, and in the end, their social expectations got the best of them. Edith Wharton and Kate Chopin have done such a great job at bringing these social roles that were forced upon women to light. It is fascinating to read and have others learn how strict the expectations and rudiments were back in the late eighteen to early nineteen hundred. Unfortunately, both “The Awakening” and “Roman Fever” ended with one of the foremost protagonists dying, due to feeling so much pressure over the communal rules and expectations.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening takes place in the late 19th century, in Grande Isle off the coast of Louisiana. The author writes about the main character, Edna Pontellier, to express her empowering quality of life. Edna is a working housewife,and yearns for social freedom. On a quest of self discovery, Edna meets Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, falls in and out of love,and eventually ends up taking her own life. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening shows how the main character Edna Pontellier has been trapped for so many years and has no freedom, yet Edna finally “awakens” after so long to her own power and her ability to be free.
When Edna felt dissatisfied with the life she is given, she pursues other ways in which to live more fully. She attempts painting and enters into an affair with another man. As her desire for freedom grows, she moves out of her husband’s house and tries to live life as she sees fit. She lives a life reflecting her new philosophies towards life, philosophies that are in conflict with that of society. The oppression by man caused Edna to have a social awakening, illuminating the meaning of the novel.
Throughout Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, the main protagonist, experiences multiple awakenings—the process in which Edna becomes aware of her life and the constraints place on it—through her struggles with interior emotional issues regarding her true identity: the confines of marriage vs. her yearning for intense passion and true love. As Edna begins to experience these awakenings she becomes enlightened of who she truly and of what she wants. As a result, Edna breaks away from what society deems acceptable and becomes awakened to the flaws of the many rules and expected behavior that are considered norms of the time. One could argue that Kate Chopin’s purpose in writing about Edna’s inner struggles and enlightenment was to
Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is followed by the audience through her voyage of self-realization. As Edna’s journey unfolds, Chopin incorporates a vast variety of symbols in order to express Edna’s relationship with society. One of the most present symbols that Chopin uses is the way she addresses Edna’s clothing or its absence. As Edna’s character develops and her desire to liberate herself swells, she removes clothing that she feels are not only constricting to her body physically but to her soul emotionally. While Edna removes her clothing throughout the novel, she is contravening the social norms and rules that the society she lives in has presented to her. This is one of many ways that Edna
Kate Chopin's novella, The Awakening. In Kate Chopin's novella, The Awakening, the reader is introduced into. a society that is strictly male-dominated where women fill in the stereotypical role of watching the children, cooking, cleaning and keeping up with appearances. Writers often highlight the values of a certain society by introducing a character who is alienated from their culture by a trait such as gender, race, or creed.
While the Narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper strove for independence from the mental suppression she was placed under, Edna Pontellier of Kate Chopin’s story The Awakening fought for physical autonomy from her husband and children. The belief that women of the late 1800s were expected to remain in the domestic sphere and care for their families first before themselves was expected. In doing so they were unable to think of their own wants or desires before that of their families’. The Awakening highlights the physical aspects of feminine roles in this patriarchal society.
When Kate Chopin develops the male characters in her novel, The Awakening, she portrays men in a very objectionable light. For the most part, her men are possessive, cowardly and self-serving. She seems a trifle unfair and biased in her portrayal of men, yet this view is necessary for Chopin to get her point across. She uses the characters of Mr. Pontellier, Robert, Alcee and a few other men to demonstrate her observations of the middle class man in the society of her day.
Over the span of our short years we meet people who create a way for us to even better express ourselves, thoughts, and our character. These people are a catalyst to our personality and most often make us better as a person. On the other hand we also meet people whose personalities are stifling, repressing, and/or controlling of ours. These people are anchors, and are known to metaphorically put the real us in a cage. Throughout the course of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening we see that many of the male characters approach Edna and that they each tried to either repress, or control Edna in some way shape or form.
She cannot live a life of serving others and existing merely to entertain guests while simultaneously being an independent individual. When she visits Madame Reisz for consulting, she warns Edna of the strength it will take to metaphorically fly above her social roles. Ultimately, Edna decides she cannot sacrifice herself for anyone else, even her own children. She decides to move out of her husband’s house and into the pigeon house, taking only the possessions he did not buy for her. Soon, she realizes the pigeon house acts as a cage just as much as her old home did. In the end, her internal conflict tears her apart and, to escape the feeling of entrapment, she drowns
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.
After these episodes, the images related to birds are absent form the narrative until the chapter 29. Following the summer on Grand Isle, where she had awakening experiences, she starts to express her desire for independence in New Orleans through her move to her own house, the pigeon house "because it's so small and looks like a pigeon house" (pp 84). The nickname of the pigeon house is very significant because a pigeon house is a place where pigeons, birds that have adapted to and benefited from the human society, are kept cooped up.
She didn't wait for his approval nor did she expect it or care, she didn't take anything from the old home that was his, and she paid for it on her own without taking any of his money for it. The "pigeon-house" represents Edna's freedom in acting as her own person.
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
Roman Fever" is an outstanding example of Edith Wharton's theme to express the subtle nuances of formal upper class society that cause change underneath the pretense of stability. Wharton studied what actually made their common society tick, paying attention to unspoken signals, the histories of relationships, and seemingly coincidental parallels. All of these factors contribute to the strength and validity of the story of Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley.
Women have been fighting for gender equality and unbiased respect from society. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and many others advocated for women’s right to vote and the subsequent ability to hold a position in public office. If this is true, why do sexist individuals believe that it is so predictable that a female candidate receives votes primarily from women? When have women proven that they are not intelligent enough nor capable of a leadership role in this society? If one of those misogynists would look into history, he/she would see how much of an impact women have had on society. Although women have been granted the same rights as their male counterparts, including voting and labor rights, they are still oppressed in terms