Oppression Of Women In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

During “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, women were viewed as the property of their husbands and possessed very little influence in society; responsible for keeping their house in prime condition, doting over their children, and being the perfect well-behaved housewives. In the age in which the book was written; the end of the 19th century, the upper-class women were expected to be unemployed and were not allowed to vote; if they were to go outside of societal norms they were looked at with disdain. The novel gave a very precise account of a woman’s role in society and the burdens she faced because of the overwhelming pressure of her peers. As present in the “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, women were the property of society; forced

If a new government was to ever arise, there are so many possibilities of so many drastic changes; having the potential to manipulate people’s actions and thought process. “All those women having jobs: hard to imagine, now, but thousands of them had jobs, millions. It was considered the normal thing.” (Atwood 172 and 173). Things people complain about and take for granted could be restricted and in this dystopian novel, the freedom of others to support themselves was taken and the result was a higher dependency on men. Margaret Atwood is able to see how words could be twisted against people and create a completely new meaning; women had designed this society in order to achieve ‘women equality’, but not amongst themselves or individually. “‘Woman, my dear friend, is a very peculiar and delicate organism—a sensitive and highly organized woman, such as I know Mrs. Pontellier to be, is especially peculiar. It would require an inspired psychologist to deal successfully with them. And when ordinary fellows like you and me attempt to cope with their idiosyncrasies the result is bungling.’” (Chopin 172 and 173). A future so diverse from modern day is hard to comprehend, but there were identical situations in the 1800s where men use to view women as a different, less-intelligent species; almost like an animal, just to justify their

Professor Warren Hedges believes their central dilemma was "how to create a 'gynocentric' culture without drawing on a notion of 'universal' sisterhood that may exclude some women" (1). This gynocentric culture is predicated on the assumption that women are inherently kinder and gentler than men. Atwood criticizes this assumption in The Handmaid's Tale, where we see a woman's culture maintained through women's cruelty towards one another.” (Callaway 17). Women in “The Handmaid’s Tale”, had been so diverse in opinions that instead of coming together in a time of crisis, they increased the distance of their division. In the 1980s, women were fighting for control and equality amongst men, but Margaret Atwood hints at the fragility of the situation; there is only strength in numbers. “They wore blouses with buttons down the front that suggested the possibilities of the word undone. These women could be undone; or not. They seemed to be able to choose. We seemed to be able to choose, then. We were a society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice.” (Atwood 25). There is a separate hierarchy of the same gender; against one another even in the most difficult of times, even when a minority there is no solid ground to build a truce upon. “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the