Kate Chopin: The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s novel we see the patriarchal society that takes away a woman’s freedom to think, to act, and to feel the way that she should so please. It is clear that from a young age, a girl is taught how she should display her outer self, despite what her inner self may wish for. In “The Awakening,” we see a woman who has confrontations with society, an imprisonment from her marriage, and a new exploration of her own sexuality. As the story opens, we take a look at Edna’s life and see that there is not much to really see. We see a woman who is dreaming of a world in which she could have her own identity, a world in which self-expression is not rejected, a world in which dual roles is not disapproved. Kate Chopin’s controversial novel defines the lines of society that force unwanted roles and expectations on the lives of Victorian women. Through the foiling of two prominent women in the text, Chopin’s character Edna Pontellier exemplifies the necessity of compromise to live a life of contentment. Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz serve as alternate routes of which Edna is expected to take to mold her future. This unattainable expectation of unacceptable choices forces Edna to create her own path; a path that is destructive, yet free.In the Victorian time period, women had one basic expectation. They were to be a natural nurturers who serves her husband and tends to the laundry and children; a wife and mother, nothing more, nothing less. I. intro Thesis: Kate Chopin shows in her novel “The Awakening,” a woman who has confrontations with society, her imprisonment in her marriage, and a new exploration of her own sexuality. II. Edna’s confrontations in society Bored with being a wife/devoted mother adele/creole women lifestyle opening her eyes III. Imprisonment in marriage Leonce traveling for work More concerned with societie thoughts IV. Exploration of sexuality Falling for Robert Removes herself from house Starts affair Controls the affa            

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