Feminism In The Awakening - 1562 Words

When beginning to categorize the social issue of feminism, it is a sensitive topic that must be inclusive of all genders. The modern term of ‘feminism’ is defined as giving both men and women the same rights and privileges as each other. Basic human rights would give others the notion that this is how all humans should have been treated from the beginning. However, this is far from the truth. Books like The Awakening, give us an inside look at how women were treated around 100 years ago. When Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening, she created a blueprint for how we see modern feminism. Without being obvious, Chopin showed how one woman started to liberate herself from an oppressive society. During the 1800s when the book was published, the role†¦show more content†¦(Christina R. Williams 2008) In contrast, Edna is not close to being the mother-women children; but I wouldn t give myself. I can t make it more clear; it s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.† (Chopin 10-13) Edna does not run towards her children if they have fallen or tend to them if they are sick. However, she is caring for them and demonstrates such when she buys her children chocolates or periodically hugs them. She begins to open up to the idea that women don’t necessarily have to lose their identities to their children to show love or even have children at all. In the present day, debates and books have begun to show a huge advancement in the expectation of women in motherhood. It is argued that the ‘motherly instinct’ to which Edna referred to is only a societal idea and that women do not have to feel guilty if they do not experience it. (Jessica Bennett 2012) Edna combats the idea of how a mother should act subconsciously and her ideas are now seen in present day society. Even though she has the epitome of motherly instincts as her friend, Edna manages to be her own person with her own plans on how a woman should as a mother. Referring once again to the ideas of true womanhood, we go into Edna’s role as a wife and how she combated against those ideas. A perfect wife would be described as submissive, tend to the house, and not work. (Christina R. Williams 2008) InShow MoreRelatedFeminism; the Awakening868 Words   |  4 PagesThe Emergence of Feminism In the 19th century women were supposed live by concept of Republican Motherhood. Republican Motherhood is the idea that American women had a few main roles, to stay in their homes, to train their children to be good American citizens and to follow the demands of their husbands. This reinforced the idea of that a domestic womens life should be separate from the public world of men. Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equalRead MoreFeminism In The Awakening1329 Words   |  6 PagesThough it was not common during the 1800’s, some women did not want to assume the traditional role of a typical Victorian lady. In Kate Chopin s The Awakening, this is just the case; she introduces us to Edna Pontellier a mother and wife during the said era. Throughout the story, we follow Edna s journey of self-discovery and self-expression through emotions, art, and sex thanks to the help of people she meets along the way. Chopin decides to end the book with Edna’s suicide to try to convey aRead MoreFeminism In The Awakening1193 Words   |  5 PagesTHE AWAKENING LAP TOPIC #3- EXPLORE HOW EACH MAN IN EDNA’S LIFE ATTEMPTED TO CONTROL AND/OR REPRESS HER EXISTENCE.. NICHOLE NARINEBRIJBASI In the time era of the 1800s, women were regarded as the weaker sex to society. Gender equality wasn’t the focal point of society as yet, leading to the oppressive mindsets of women. Men were viewed as â€Å"superior† because of their masculinity and righteousness that society had implanted into our view of socialRead MoreFeminism In The Awakening1506 Words   |  7 PagesThe Awakening LAP Topic 1 By: Lourdes Rivera AP Literature Mr. Amoroso Rivera 1 Courageous, brave, and valiant are all characteristics that are necessary for one to possess in order to be heroic. The actions an individual takes dictates the kind of person they are and the actions of a hero reflect these characteristics. If the world is against a group of people, it takes a heroic person to break away from the oppression set to hold them down. Women have faced tremendous oppression from the ideologyRead MoreFeminism In The Awakening2069 Words   |  9 PagesThough it was uncommon during the 1800’s, some women didn’t want to assume the traditional role of a typical Victorian lady. Such is the case in Kate Chopin s The Awakening; she introduces us to Edna Pontellier a mother and wife during the said era. Throughout the story, we follow Edna s journey of self-discovery and self-expression through emotions, art, and sex thanks to the help of people she meets along the way. Chopin decides to end the book with Edna’s suicide in an attempt to convey a senseRead MoreThe Awakening Feminism Essay1262 Words   |  6 PagesAfter reading The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, I believe the text is feminist. Whether Kate Chopin was deliberately writing for early feminists or not, the book has many early feminist ideas and it is shown through the main characters awakening by being eccentric. The author uses Edna Pontellier as an anti-conv entional woman, breaking societal laws that govern her life, in search for individuality in a society that represses her. From a reader’s perspective in the early 1900’s, Edna would be a mentallyRead MoreThe Awakening Feminism Essay1689 Words   |  7 PagesComing into the nineteenth century, women were looked at as feminist. â€Å"Feminism,† as we know the term today, was nonexistent in nineteenth-century America (Cruea 187). Feminist describes as someone embracing the beliefs that all people are entitled to freedom and liberty within reason. Gender, sexual orientations, skin color, ethnicity, religion, culture or lifestyle should not be considered as a form of discrimination. Women roles, in the nineteenth century, were to take care of the cooking, cleaningRead MoreEssay about Feminism in The Awakening986 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel The Awakening, by Kate Chopin the critical approach feminism is a major aspect of the novel. According to dictionary.refe rence.com the word feminism means, â€Å"The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.† The Awakening takes place during the late eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds, in New Orleans. The novel is about Edna Pontellier and her family on a summer vacation. Edna, who is a wife and mother, is inferior to her husbandRead MoreThe Rise Of Feminism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin711 Words   |  3 PagesFeminism is the liberation of women and their rights as human beings. The feminism that we see today started in 1960s, but the issue began way before the 1960s. In the 1890s, Kate Chopin wrote a novella called The Awakening to tell the story of the rise of feminism within a character named Edna. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin creates feminism before it’s time by using Edna’s attitude toward her lovers, the freeness of the scenery, and her motherly attitude. These traits that Edna possesses are extremelyRead More Analysis Of Proto-Feminism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin838 Words   |  4 PagesProto-Feminism is defined as a philosophical idea in which feminism existed in a time period it was expected to be unknown. Before the 20th century, women’s liberation was not a familiar concept to society, however a great variety of literature from this time period displayed how women defended themselves for the independence and freedom they lacked. Along with the many novels written in this time period, The Awakening written by Kate Chopin in 1899 justifies this philosophy. Edna Pontellier, the