Feminist Theory and "The Awakening" Essay Example

Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", is a story about Edna Pontellier. A nineteenth century women looking for her self and discovering new and magnificent qualities in herself and the people she meets during her summer vacation with her husband and children on Grand Isle. This work was considered highly controversial at its time of publishing in 1899 because of its overtly feminist themes; because this is not a story about her marriage or her motherhood but instead a story about the woman herself and her thoughts about life. Thoughts which are sometimes radical, sensual and certainly autonomous and separate from her role as a wife or mother, an idea as yet unexplored in English literature and quite challenging of the Chopin's patriarchal society . This is an excellent piece of literature to explore through the lens of feminist criticism. Feminist criticism rejects the genderless mind, finding that the "imagination" cannot evade the conscious or unconscious structures of gender. {Lee, Elizabeth } At the time this novel was released in 1899 the idea of feminist theory of literature did not exist and therefore the application of the theory is recent. "The Awakening" deals with themes unique to Chopin's feminine perspective; amidst a male dominated literary world she was able to write against the andocentric French influence of the time. Kate Chopin wrote during the first wave of feminism and her writings greatly influenced the movement and gave an outlet to the voices of women. A specific theme throughout her book of the sea lends itself perfectly to feminist theory. In order to understand the feminist themes and influences in "The Awakening" it is important to have a basic understanding of feminism and feminist criticism/theory. Feminist criticism/theory focuses on the patriarchal language and masculine ideology which comprises the majority of early European and American literature. This literary criticism also concerns itself with identifying stereotypical gender