"The Awakening" by Kate Chopin

Introduction

Kate Chopin (1850-1904) used to write short stories and novels. She is considered as one of the feminist authors of 20th century. She had written short stories about children and adults. Among her stories, the most famous ones are 'Desiree's Baby', 'the story of an hour' and 'the storm'. She got recognition after a decade of her death. 'The awakening' was written in the year 1899. This plot was set in New Orleans and South Louisiana. She portrays an unpretentious style in this novel. It is hybrid as it captures narrative currents as well as looks forward to European and Southern trends. 'The Awakening' got censored. It was counted as immoral because of open expression of women's sexual desire. Kate Chopin faced difficulty in publication of this novel and she did not write any novel or short story after 'the Awakening'. This novel is considered as classic feminist fiction. Consistent with the emergence of the feminist movement in the United States in recent publications gives rise to a broad, critical review by experts of women's writing. Kate Chopin has emerged as an integral part "of the great tradition of American women writers" (Chopin 2011, 94).

Creating the feminine in The Awakening

The heroine of The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, was a painter in her spare time. It was inappropriate for the women of middle class to devote themselves against a vibrant art too seriously. They were suspected then leave out their vocation as mother and wife. In the same way, female sexuality was filled by the child and domestic life. The idea that the personal development of women was met by the fact of childbearing and in care of the house seemed quite common. In the words of Kate Chopin: "Mr Pontellier was a rather courteous husband so much that he had met a certain tacit submission. " This comment is to the fore the social expectations towards women.

The novel "The Awakening" focuses on Edna Pontellier, the twenty-eight year-old women struggling with the constraints that society has placed on her. The innovative shows Edna's gender building by the humanity that she lives. This novel is based on Chopin's portrayal in the innovative endeavoring to obtain self-reliance and command over her life in humanity where she is expected to have none of this. Women like her are looked as an indecent image, in a society that anticipates a woman to be a good mother and wife, not anything equivalent. When she breaks these rules her husband thinks that she might have a mental illness; but Chopin in the novel points out that what he does not realize is that "Edna was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self, which we assume, like a garment with which to appear before the world" (Denise 2003, 100).

As he begins to realize that her wife is going away from his duties, which are strictly, related to household and family, the husband of Edna responds by discrediting his work. Appropriately, one of the ...