The Awakening Perspective
“The Awakening” is a novel written in 1899 by Kate Chopin (1850-1904). “The Awakening” is a novel of life in the south and opens in the late 1800’s in Grand Isle near New Orleans. “The Awakening” can be viewed by three different perspectives; psychoanalytical, historical, and feminist. The historical perspective focuses on the setting of the story; the year and the major events of that time period. For the historical perspective “The Awakening” is set in the Victorian times of the south when Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901. The British people had a long prosperity during her reign (ukanswers.com). The feministic perspective focuses on gender and the beliefs of society during that time. The psychoanalytical perspective focuses on the characters and how they actually feel and their dreams, hope, and desires. There
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The feministic perspective has a strong emphasis in this story. Edna Pontellier was a young woman who could not mesh with the responsibilities of being a wife and mother as the society surrounding her. Edna did not fit or belong in the society in which she was living. Edna lived in a society that had much different expectations of Edna; expectations that she could not achieve or satisfy. “The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew a way to elude them.”(Chopin, 1899 chap 39, para 2). Edna comes to the realization that she cannot meet and does not want to meet the demands and expectations of society that women are to be faithful and committed to husband and children. Edna was unable to be what society wanted her to be. When the story comes to an end so does Edna’s life. Instead of giving her life, her heart and her soul to her husband and children, she gives it to the
The feministic perspective has a strong emphasis in this story. Edna Pontellier was a young woman who could not mesh with the responsibilities of being a wife and mother as the society surrounding her. Edna did not fit or belong in the society in which she was living. Edna lived in a society that had much different expectations of Edna; expectations that she could not achieve or satisfy. “The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days. But she knew a way to elude them.”(Chopin, 1899 chap 39, para 2). Edna comes to the realization that she cannot meet and does not want to meet the demands and expectations of society that women are to be faithful and committed to husband and children. Edna was unable to be what society wanted her to be. When the story comes to an end so does Edna’s life. Instead of giving her life, her heart and her soul to her husband and children, she gives it to the