The Works of Kate Chopin - Coursework Example

The works of Kate Chopin Kate Chopin’s works are notable for the element of feminism that permeates them, often coupled with issues of race. Her works were considered revolutionary for her time, since they visualized an identity for middle class white women which was not permissible during Chopin’s generation. While race and class are not overtly made the issues in Chopin’s work, nevertheless they form the underlying subtext of most of her works, as pointed out by Morrison, "Certain absences are so stressed, so ornate, so planned, they call attention to themselves, arrest us with intentionality and purpose . . . " ( Birnbaum 316). However, the dominant theme running through all her works is the assertion of feminine power and the refusal to subscribe to gender prescribed roles of society. “Bayou folk” is an example of the intricacies of race and gender as they play out in the case of Acadians who were considered in Louisiana society to be equivalent to poor white trash. As pointed out by Holtman (2004), there was racial differentiation even among the Whites, with some of the poorer sections of white people in the antebellum South being referred to derogatorily as “poor white trash” (p 73-77). This social structure that existed in the South forms the background and subtext within which Chopin’s stories of women empowerment plays out. “Bayou folk” deals with this intermediate racial class, who are neither black because of the color of their skin, neither are they “white” in accordance with the upper class folk because of their poverty. The subtle racial lines are also highlighted by Chopin as the feminism that characterizes her stories plays out. For example in the story titled “A rude awakening” the character of Lolotte represents the typical Chopin female character – a woman who is prepared, willing and able to think and act outside the boundaries to which her gender and class have relegated her. In trying to take on her father Sylveste’s job as the driver of Mr. Duplan’s mules, although she gets hospitalized in the process. But the notable empowerment that occurs is that Lolotte not only crosses the boundaries of gender but also those of her “poor white” race, because her action is the major factor that makes her family “more like white folks” (Chopin 77) The story of “In Sabine” on the other hand depicts the tensions that exist between blacks and poor whites, even though they are united in their bonds of poverty and irrevocably separated from the rich upper class whites. However, this story also deals with the question of female oppression and white male superiority, as it is the story of a white woman Tite Rien who runs away form her abusive husband by seeking and receiving the help of a black man, Uncle Mortimer, who is not hesitant to stand up against Tite rien’s husband and protect her form his abusive actions (Chopin 49). This story is the story of a woman who does the unconventional thing, as does the black man and is therefore as radical as Chopin’s other stories in that it espouses the cause of feminism. But this story also highlights the racial conflicts that exist between the races and the cruelty of a society that ranks poor white trash on a higher rank than blacks, in spite of the fact that they are equal on the economic scale. Bayou folk primarily concerns poor white people, however racial tensions as depicted in the stories are the result of the invisible racial and gender lines that are drawn in Southern society. Throughout all the stories, the major theme that Chopin focuses upon is the emancipation of the female characters and the struggle for women to rise to the status of men by seeking the right to pursue their own desires, in an effort to overcome the prejudicial boundaries that exist. Lolotte rising to the caliber of a man by taking on her father’s duties represents a move upwards in terms of social class while Tite Rien marrying a man from the “poor white trash” has moved down in the social class and can only liberate herself by escaping her husband. Desiree’s Baby: Chopin’s “Desiree’s baby” is a complex study in racism and the female character in this story – Desiree, is also made the victim of male dominance and superiority. Her husband Armand loves her deeply, but when she gives birth to a racially mixed child, he rejects her completely. This comes as an emotional and psychological shock to Desiree who is unable to cope with the pain of his rejection and disappears into the woods.(Chopin, 221). Issues of race and gender are paramount in this story, since Desiree is indisputably dominated by her husband in typical nineteenth century fashion, both emotionally and psychologically. She is an orphan and Armand’s love has brought joy into her life, therefore his emotional rejection is intolerable to her, especially since she protests her innocence by showing him how much whiter than him she is. She also decides to leave her husband and rather than surviving under the condition of his intolerable rejection of her, she chooses to take her own life. The story reflects the racial and class lines that were clearly drawn in the South of Chopin’s time and where a woman’s purpose in life was nothing other than that of pleasing her husband. Armand is the owner of a rich plantation, clearly belonging to the upper class, while Desiree is an orphan whose ancestry remains unknown, therefore Armand suspects right to the every end that she is the cause of the racially mixed child they have produced, until; the very end of the story where he comes across a letter written by his mother to his father, expressing her gladness that their beloved son will never know that “his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.” (Chopin 1986). The conflicts in the story are the product of the rigid class and race lines that exist, so that Armand, as a member of the rich plantation class of white people cannot help but despise his wife when he suspects she may have negro blood. As pointed by Foy (1991), the story highlights the irony in the repressive regime of Armand with the slaves on his plantation, as opposed to the easygoing nature of his father. (p223). The dark side of Armand’s nature leaves the nature of his personality open to question – as to whether his cruelty and prejudiced attitude is the result of the social conditioning of the times or whether he instinctively senses and remembers his own mother and wishes to distance himself as much as possible from the inner knowledge of his ancestry. (Foy 1991). Finally, he is forced to face up to the true source of his anger and hatred, which is actually himself rather than Desiree or the baby. The character of Armand is a dark psychological character, an inherently flawed one who is tormented by that haunting inner knowledge that is the source of his pain and harshness - although softened for a short time by Desiree and his baby, the character must invariably face up to the painful knowledge of his true ancestry and be released of the demons that torment him, while facing an uncertain and anxious future. (Foy 1991). This story is also characteristic of Chopin’s crusade for feminism, because she highlights the oppressed female condition in this story as well, through the plight of the character of Desiree, who is entirely subject to her husband and is forced by society to exist only as an extension of him, having no identity that exists apart from him. It is this sad knowledge of the existing rigidity of gender boundaries in the South that sends Desiree to her death, because there is no identity left for her once her husband has rejected her. Her pregnancy is the catalyst that highlights all the racial prejudices that come to the surface and Lundie (1994) has also pointed out how pregnancy blows the lid off underlying racial tensions and brings forth racial prejudices boiling to the fore, so that they must be faced and dealt with as a part of the Southern landscape of the nineteenth century. The Awakening: This was one of Chopin’s most controversial novels and again deals with the issue of a women’s struggle to set herself free from the gender oppression and the conventional role forced upon her by society. The protagonist Edna Pontellier, is an aristocrat and while on holiday, she falls in love with another man and starts an affair with him. She also gets the opportunity to learn the piano and starts painting again – which opens the door for her economic self sufficiency. Her affair is like an awakening for her – symbolizing her unconventional wish to follow her desires rather than conforming to the norms that were expected of women in her day. According to biographer Emily Toth, the story of “the Awakening” is in fact a study of nineteenth century feminism and through the sexual awakening and subsequent awakening that Edna goes through, she begins to realize exactly, the limitations of her position as a female in a patriarchal, male dominated society and begins to experience the wish to seek alternative roles for herself that are not so rigidly structured. It is this sexual awakening which in turn leads to her awakening independence, so that she no longer chooses to live her life according to the norms of society in a dream like unreal state.(Evans, n.d.). The character represents the beginning of feminism and the choice to escape from a repressive life with her husband. However, in spite of the fact hat she flouts all the conventions, her lover is not able to do the same and leaves her. Devastated by his loss, she makes a deliberate choice to drown herself. Parvalescu has attempted to analyze what the character of Edna wants and arrives at the conclusion that the character seeks the power – the power to be herself.(Parvulescu, 2005). When she learns to swim, it gives her a sense of power, when she goes back to painting, she feels empowered. Chopin therefore provides an eloquent picture of the character of the average nineteenth century woman, who does not have the power to be herself but must conform, always conform. Thus, as suggested by Parvulescu (2005), the awakening that is suggested in the novel is firstly a sexual awakening through Edna’s affair but most importantly, it is an awakening to the power to be herself, so that when she chooses to drown, it is also a kind of awakening to the self – “The years that are gone seem like dreams-if one might go on sleeping and dreaming-but to wake up and find-oh! well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain dupe to illusions all ones life" (Chopin 110) Edna has therefore experienced another awakening – the awakening to death. What is notable about the story of “The Awakening” is the fact that unlike Desiree, Edna is not really subject to undue oppression by her husband, rather what stifles her is merely the conventional norms of society that dictate what kind of a wife she must be and how she must conduct herself. Therefore, in this story it is the gender issues that have assumed maximum importance and the premise of Chopin’s work is the questioning of the traditional role that has been assigned to women. Edna makes a definite choice at the end of the story, when her awakening leads her to make a choice not to conform as a result of which she prefers death, in the same way that Desiree does. References: * Birnbaum, Michele, 1994. "Alien Hands: Kate Chopin and the Colonization of Race." American Literature 66.2, pp 301-23. * Chopin, Kate, 1976. The Awakening, An Authoritative Text, (ed.) Margaret Culley New York: Norton, pp 110 * Chopin, Kate, 1986. Desiree’s Baby In The Norton Anthology of short fiction (eds) R.V. Cassill. New York: Norton, pp 221 * Chopin, Kate, 1999. Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie (eds) Bernard Koloski. New York: Penguin * Evans, Patricia, No Date. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. [online] available at: http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/southchopin.htm * Foy, Roslyn Reso, 1991. Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby The Explicator Summer 1991, 49(4), pp 222. * Holtman, Janet, 2004. Failing fictions: The conflicting and Shifting Social emphases of Kate Chopin’s “local color’ stories Southern Quarterly, 42(2), pp 73-89 * Lundie, Catherine., 1994. "Doubly Dispossessed: Kate Chopins Women of Color." Louisiana Literature 11.1, pp 126-144. * Parvulescu, Anca, 2005. To die laughing and to laugh at dying: revisiting the Awakening. New Literary History. 36(3) pp 477-507 * Toth, Emily, 1976.. "Kate Chopins The Awakenings Feminist Criticism." Louisiana Studies 5, pp 241-253 Read More