The Roles of Women in the Awakening - Research Paper Example

 “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin touches base with the way women were perceived in nineteenth century New Orleans. “Society of the nineteenth century gave a heightened meaning to what it means to be a woman. According to the commonly known ‘code of true womanhood’, women were supposed to be docile, domestic creatures, who main concerns in life were to be the raising of their children and submissiveness to their husbands (Jones).” Differing greatly from our own modern roles, women had other societal expectations to live up to. Throughout “The Awakening,” the women of the novel had unique methods of conforming to the demand of society. Edna, Adèle, and Mademoiselle Reisz each portray a different aspect of nineteenth century womanhood; indeed, each woman could be seen as a different cliched part of what was expected of women. Edna is the rebellious one who wanted nothing more than to break free of the societal norms; Adèle is the perfect woman; and Mademoiselle Reisz is a free woman. All of these varying personalities of women show how difficult it was to obtain and hold on to the standards of the time. Edna is an atrocity, the outcast. In the nineteenth century, it would have been an insult to be a woman of such independent thoughts and questionable beliefs. Women of that era had only one focus: their family. “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman (Chopin 10).” Every other thought was thought to be beyond the comprehension of women who were true to their motherly nature. Unhappy with the home life that everyone else expects her to live, Edna set out to explore her other possibilities. Unfortunately, Edna’s ideals about sexuality and freedom are greatly frowned upon, making life increasingly difficult for her. Far from being swayed by the misfortune of her generation and societal expectations, she set out on her own path, discovering what she had to offer to her own freedom and womanhood that her generation constantly kept from her. Edna spent too much time in a strict, demanding society. It eventually got to the point where she could no longer handle being the ideal woman, the one who spent all of her time at home tending to the needs of her family. To Edna, there is more to life than just what takes place at home. Completely ignoring what society demanded of her, she focused more on discovering herself - thus the title, “The Awakening.” Though the other women of the novel are aware that there are other ways for women to live, they are more content with living in ways that were expected by others. They did not want to do anything for themselves; Edna strove to break from this mold. “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Chopin 17).” Edna began to understand that she was more than just simply a woman - she was a human, one that deserved just as many rights as her male counterparts. Instead of being oppressed by males and society, she showed the world that she was worthy of more than what she was initially given. However, the world was still not so keen to give her these opportunities. The men and women that she had communication with either verbally reprimanded her for her actions and thoughts or else agreed with them but could do nothing to help her. Edna was the one woman who understood that something was not right with the way that men and women were viewed in comparison to each other. She was unable to sit idly by and watch as opportunity after opportunity passed her by all because she was born the oppressed gender. “Chopin voices the fears and concerns of many housewives discontented with their restrictive lifestyles (Brundage).” The purpose of Edna’s character is to show how not every woman in that time era was accepting of what was expected of them. Edna is the woman that many wished they could have been. Adèle is, by the standards of the nineteenth century, the perfect woman. A devoted mother and wife, Adèle is the only female character that never once wavers from the role of a true woman. She is the type of woman that other women should have been able to look up to and imitate so that they could also be proper females. Adèle has a very conformist existence, focusing only on the aspects of womanhood that people expect to see. She is more than eager to do what society deemed appropriate for a woman. Far from being open to other ideals, she chastises other women who act outside the basic standards. Adèle is the type of woman that would regard social norms as clearcut rules - they were meant to be followed, and there was no altering them to suit specific people. If they were not precisely followed, then the woman is not considered much of a proper woman. Not only does Adèle regard herself as the perfect woman, thereby feeling like she can judge other women by their actions and ways of living, but others also view her as being the perfect role model for women everywhere. Adèle is a dedicated mother and wife, always doing what is required of her to ensure that her family is safe and well taken care of; her family comes before everything, with Adèle hardly being in her own list of priorities. Even though other women in the novel are the same way, making sure that their families are put before them, Adèle does it with a conscious view of how she is being perceived by people that could be watching from the outside of her family. Judging by her attitude about the ideals of women and how she would make it well known when someone was acting outside of the proper ordeals, one would think that Adèle was purposely acting as the perfect woman. Adèle’s own ideals are made known when Edna started fully expressing her own opinions about the woman’s place in society. Adèle let Edna know where she stood and further let her know that what she was doing was unacceptable for a woman. In telling Edna how she should live her life and focus more on her family, Adèle only accomplished pushing Edna further away from these ideals. Through Adèle, Edna was able to see the kind of woman that she would have turned out to be if she had gone by society’s wishes. Though a loving mother and wife, Adèle is stuck up and closed minded, blinded by the world was really about. Mademoiselle Reisz is a bit of a taboo when it comes to the ideal woman of the nineteenth century, though not as much as Edna. She is an unpopular woman with unpopular ideas about life. She is the person that Edna often looked to as inspiration; she views Mademoiselle Reisz as being the woman that she could have been if she had gotten an earlier start on living out her life as an independent female. The only aspect of Mademoiselle Reisz’s character that people agree with is that she kept to herself, seldom seeking the company of others; the other people in the area felt that this was good seeing as she was not often the best influence, especially to women who were trying to live the stereotypical life of the perfect housewife and mother. Mademoiselle Reisz rejects the socially acceptable behavior of women as she prefers independence and solitude, and the chance to focus on her music and artistic passions. She is often called upon for entertainment purposes, but nobody, with the exception of Edna, appreciates her music nearly as much due to the independence that acts as a foundation to her inspiration. Mademoiselle Reisz represents the artist of the group of women; again, this type of woman is an unwanted sort in the nineteenth century. Women were not entitled to any ounce of freedom, but Mademoiselle Reisz is unable to find any other way to express herself, so she resorts to art and acting as inspiration to others who long for the life that she has. The novel itself and the character of Edna caused controversy in regard to Edna’s ideas and perception of the world. Prior to the publishing of the novel, “society had been engaged in a struggle over social ideologies and equal rights issues. [...] Women as a whole had, to a certain extent, already experienced mobilization and emancipation from their socioeconomic fetters (Sprinkle).” What Kate Chopin did with her novel was what many women wanted to speak up about, but this was hardly allowed in a society in which women were regarded as something lower than men. The character of Adèle is the woman that was expected in society, Mademoiselle Reisz is the aged wise woman who had already experienced an oppressed society for women and did what she could to pull herself from it, and Edna is the one who is quickly realizing that something is out of place in society. Like Mademoiselle Reisz, she is eager to get away from it and become an independent woman. The different roles of women portrayed in the novel show the various classifications of women in the nineteenth century. Though there were those that had no problem with upholding the social norms, there were still some that greatly resembled Edna, and therefore wanted nothing to do with the idea of the perfect woman. The novel also shows the struggle that arose for females as they tried to make their places in the world; each aforementioned woman displayed some degree of freedom and self-worth. Works Cited Brundage, Matt. “Roles of Women in the Nineteenth Century.” Mattbrundage.com. Matt Brundage, Nov. 2009. Web. 09 Aug. 2010. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York, NY: Bantam Dell, 1981. Jones, Emma. “A Study of the Extent to Which Edna Pontellier, in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Marks a Departure from the Female Characters of Earlier Nineteenth- Century American Novels. Literature-study-online.com. Literature Study Online, Apr. 2003. Web. 09 Aug. 2010. Sprinkle, Russ. “Kate Chopin’s The Awakening: A Critical Reception.” womenwriters.net. Women Writers, 1998. Web. 09 Aug. 2010. Read More