Feminism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin
Feminism in Chopin ¨She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world” (Chopin). Kate Chopin believed women should find themselves instead of trying to become what society expects of them. She was born in a time when women did not have rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. Chopin expressed feminism in her short stories and novels to open societies “eyes” on the reality of life. Even though, her work did not get published until after her death, her works helped the feminine movement. The American novelist and poet Kate Chopin, used her life experiences revealing ideas on feminism, sexual repression leads to mental issues, and social moral standards
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Society and medical professionals believed this was caused by sexual deprivation in particularly passionate women. In Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier, is sexually repressed due to being married into a world in which she is not familiar with that later causes illnesses within Edna. Chopin illustrated how social ideas negatively influenced the idea of the female. Edna, “could not tell why she was crying. Such experiences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her married life” (Chopin, 8). Edna did not have anything else but her marriage therefore, most situations were uncommon to her. She did not know how to deal with these uncommon situations which lead to her having mental issues. Furthermore, in Chopin’s short story, The Story of an Hour, Chopin illustrates sexual repression leads to depression. In this story the main character, Louise Mallard, is portrayed as a wife that has heart troubles, both physically and mentally due to her forced marriage. After her husband's death she noticed how she “had loved him--sometimes. Often had not...which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Chopin, 2). The death of her husband had relieved her depression which was built up due to her sexual repression. Chopin revealed to society how sexual repression leads to mental problems in the female
Society and medical professionals believed this was caused by sexual deprivation in particularly passionate women. In Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier, is sexually repressed due to being married into a world in which she is not familiar with that later causes illnesses within Edna. Chopin illustrated how social ideas negatively influenced the idea of the female. Edna, “could not tell why she was crying. Such experiences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her married life” (Chopin, 8). Edna did not have anything else but her marriage therefore, most situations were uncommon to her. She did not know how to deal with these uncommon situations which lead to her having mental issues. Furthermore, in Chopin’s short story, The Story of an Hour, Chopin illustrates sexual repression leads to depression. In this story the main character, Louise Mallard, is portrayed as a wife that has heart troubles, both physically and mentally due to her forced marriage. After her husband's death she noticed how she “had loved him--sometimes. Often had not...which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Chopin, 2). The death of her husband had relieved her depression which was built up due to her sexual repression. Chopin revealed to society how sexual repression leads to mental problems in the female