The Awakening And Virginia Woolf's Identity

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Humanity’s identity is heavily influenced by desire. Despite the rarity of progressive female authors, centering writings on the identity of women, two prevalent authors highly regarded for this feat today are Kate Chopin and Virginia Woolf. Chopin grew up in a bilingual and bicultural home, greatly influencing her literature. After Mr. Chopin’s death in 1882, Kate sold their family business and began writing to support her family, mother, and herself. Kate Chopin’s second and most successful full length novel, The Awakening, has been ridiculed and tagged as “morbid, vulgar, and disagreeable” in reflection of the scandalous topics discussed (katechopin.org). Chopin’s novel discusses the roles of women in society and their journey’s in self-discovery. …show more content…

Louis Academy of Sacred Heart (Wyatt). Although Woolf comes from a different background than her counter Chopin, she sees the great need to write about female desire. Even though she comes from money and assumes a traditional position in terms of gender expectations, she struggles with mental health issues. This is embodied in her accounts of female characters struggling to formulate a sense of identity. Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Chopin’s The Awakening illustrate identity and the driving force behind identity and self discovery. These relate beyond the time period in which because humanity, at some point, must go through a period of self-discovery. When analyzing the psychoanalytic theory and identity in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, desire is revealed as a dynamic part of

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