Feminist Analysis Of The Awakening - 1438 Words

Kira Thomas Mr. McCarthy AP Literature and Composition 10 March 2016 Feminist Analysis of The Awakening In The Awakening, Kate Chopin creates a protagonist that clearly demonstrates a feminist. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier seeks more from life than what she is living and starts to refuse the standards of the society she lives in. Edna has many moments of awakening resulting in creating a new person for herself. She starts to see the life of freedom and individuality she wants to live. The Awakening encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain freedom and choose individuality over conformity. Chopin creates a feminist story that shows a transformation from an obedient â€Å"mother-woman† to a woman who is willing to sacrifice her old life to become independent and make an identity for herself. As the novel begins we are shown Edna’s life before her escape from society’s standards. At the beginning we are shown that Edna is valued by society because of her physical appearance and is portrayed as a housewife married to a weal thy husband. On only the seventh page of the novel we are shown the lack of individuality women had during this time period. We are first introduced to Edna and Edna’s husband, Leonce. Leonce creates the income for the family as well as viewing his wife more of a possession rather than a partner. Leonce notices Edna is sunburned when she has come back from swimming and views her as â€Å"a valuable piece of property which has suffered some damage† (7).Show MoreRelatedThe Awakening Feminist Analysis1270 Words   |  6 Pagesthough through harsh political and social standards one will feel compelled to make brash decisions. Kate Chopin, author of The Awakening, provides feminist criticism of traditional motherhood, marriage, and conformity. Edna Pontellier, the female protagonist within the novel, grows to desire independence and control over her life. Throughout the story, Edna epitomizes a feminist attitude by defying the regressive standards of the Creole culture, a s exemplified through Chopin’s use of literary elementsRead MoreEssay on Feminist Protagonists in The Awakening and A Dolls House755 Words   |  4 PagesThe Feminist Protagonists in The Awakening and A Dolls House    The idea of womens liberation is a common theme in both Kate Chopins The Awakening and Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House. In her analysis of Feminism in Europe Katharine M. Rogers writes, Thinking of Noras painful disillusionment, her parting from her children, and the uncertainties of her future independent career, Ibsen called his play the tragedy of modern times (82). The main characters in each work, Nora Helmer, in A DollRead MoreEssay on A Male Dominated Society During the 19th Century952 Words   |  4 Pagesmothers and wives. A world where women had rights, control, and power was a fantasy. According to Hall, he states, â€Å"Key to all feminist methodologies is the belief that patriarchal oppression of women through history has been profound and multifaceted† (Hall 202). In other words, it is known that the male takes complete cruel supremacy over the years in our history. In The Awakening and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpa per† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, they all convey the strugglesRead MoreWolffs Analysis of Chopins The Awakening647 Words   |  3 PagesWolff’s Analysis of Chopin’s The Awakening In her essay Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening, Cynthia Griffin Wolff creates what Ross Murfin describes as a critical whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. (376) By employing a variety of critical approaches (including feminist, gender, cultural, new historicism, psychoanalytic and deconstruction) Wolff offers the reader a more complete (albeit complex) explanation of Edna PontelliersRead MoreThe Awakening: An Emergence of Womens RIghts in the Late Nineteenth Century1330 Words   |  6 PagesThe Awakening: An Emergence of Women’s Rights in the Late Nineteenth Century Kate Chopin’s The Awakening addresses the role of women within society during the late nineteenth century. The novel is set in South Louisiana, a place where tradition and culture also play a vital role in societal expectations. The novel’s protagonist, Edna Pontellier, initially fulfills her position in society as a wife and as a mother while suppressing her urges to live a life of passion and freedom. Edna’s relationshipRead MoreFeminist Literary And Cultural Theory By Donald Hall1338 Words   |  6 Pagesthe situations in which women’s equality with men is denied† (200). For example, feminist analysis is being able to recognize the different degrees of social power that are given to and used by men and women (Halls 199). While cultural feminism is one of the many types of feminism, it is an important issue in society. It mainly focuses on the stereotypical roles and characteristics that are given to women. The Awakening by Kate Chopin is an exce llent example of cultural feminism. Kate Chopin was bornRead More A Deconstructionist Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening Essay536 Words   |  3 PagesA Deconstructionist Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening The multiplicity of meanings and (re)interpretations informing critical studies of The Awakening reveal a novel ripe for deconstructionist critique. Just as Chopin evokes an image of the sea as symbolic of Edna’s shifting consciousness (â€Å"never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude,†138), likewise the deconstructionist reading of a text emphasizes fluidity over structure: â€Å"A text consistsRead MoreEssay about Yaeger’s Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening1003 Words   |  5 PagesYaeger’s Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening In â€Å"‘A Language Which Nobody Understood’: Emancipatory Strategies in The Awakening,† Patricia Yaeger questions the feminist assumption that Edna Pontellier’s adulterous behavior represent a radical challenge to patriarchal values. Using a deconstructionist method, Yaeger argues that in the novel adultery functions not as a disrupting agent of, but, rather, as a counterweight to the institution of marriage, reinforcing the very idea it purports toRead More The Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay604 Words   |  3 PagesThe Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening In â€Å"The Metaphorical Lesbian: Edna Pontellier in The Awakening† Elizabeth LeBlanc asserts that the character Edna Pontellier is an example of what Bonnie Zimmerman calls the â€Å"metaphorical lesbian.† It’s important to distinguish between Zimmerman’s concept of the â€Å"metaphorical lesbian† and lesbianism. The â€Å"metaphorical lesbian† does not have to act on lesbian feelings or even become conscious of herself as a lesbian. Instead, the â€Å"metaphoricalRead MoreKate Chopin s An Hour, And Tillie Olsen s `` The Yellow Wallpaper ``1150 Words   |  5 Pagesstripped down of opportunities to their benefit economically, socially, politically, culturally, and several more ways. This essay will highlight and analyze the cultural aspects of feminism from the texts of Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, Donald Hall’s â€Å"Feminist Analysis† from Literary and Cultural Theory, Charlotte Gilman’s short story â⠂¬ The Yellow Wallpaper†, Kate Chopin’s short story â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, and Tillie Olsen’s short story â€Å"Tell Me A Riddle.† Cultural feminism, the ideology of the