Lisinicchia 1

Melanie Lisinicchia

Stephanie Crawford

American Studies

02/13/2017

The Awakening Essay

During the late nineteenth century, and even now, the battle for womens rights and the

issues of social equality and femininity are prominent and debated by many, internally and

externally. This is also a major theme in Kate Chopins The Awakening, and while womens

equality is not specifically discussed in the novel, the inner struggle of wanting to be happy

versus conforming is present. Women should be able to challenge social norms; it should be

socially acceptable for women to be independent and not have their femininity disregarded

because of their want for individual happiness.

The womans suffrage movement started in 1848 and continued through 1920, when the

19th amendment was ratified. (Women in the Progressive Era). The Awakening is set at the end

of the 19th century, in the midst of the womens rights movement. The protagonist, Edna, is not

involved with the movement; but rather with an inner struggle, still based in the same foundation

that women are not treated as equal to men. Towards the end of the 19th century, the womens

movement became extremely influential, and women were becoming aware of their social status.

Their newfound identity gave them ideas of freedom and a fair democracy. (Women in the

Progressive Era). Yet, when The Awakening was published at this time of transformation,

Chopin was criticized; her protagonist, Edna Pontellier, was seen as immoral. The novel seemed

to conflict with the moral standards of society at the time. It caused a lot of criticism, and was
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publicly neglected; the majority was not yet ready to see a woman as an individual and in charge

of her own life after all.

The Awakening presents us with different types of women and how they deal with

the social restraints of their society. Edna struggles with being motherly and fitting societal and

natural molds. She distinguishes between two models of femininity: externalized femininity,

where nothing is hidden, which is characterized by perfecting delicacy and purity; and

internalized femininity, which is thoughtful, strong, contradictory, and chaotic. (The Theme of

Women). She is struggling with her place and has two women that model two different paths in

her life. In her world, women can submit to their husbands or be detached from society. Adele

represents the former, she is a mother woman and represents all four attributes of true

womanhood as defined by the colt of domesticity: Piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity.

(Dhir). Mademoiselle Reisz is the exile. She has no motherly tendencies or sexual desires. Edna

admires Reisz's independent lifestyle and her dedication to Art, but she's lacking sexuality. Edna

experienced a sexual awakening due to her relationship with Adele.

Edna finds Adele and Reisz are both lacking and realizes that what she wants goes

against society and nature, so she makes her own lifestyle. Edna attempts to find self-definition

by creating a third lifestyle option and beginning to act like a man. She sees that men are allowed

to live lives of sexual fulfilment, while not being expected to bear or care for their children, and

develop a personality and individual self through participation in the business world. (Kaplon)

She breaks into the masculine world; she sells her art and gambles, then uses that money to get

her own house. She is seen as less feminine because of these things, because she longs for

individual happiness. She feels trapped and that the only way she can free herself is suicide.
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At the beginning of the novel, Edna explores the idea of independence; as the novel

progresses, she rejects the roles she was in before. In the end, Edna is neither exposed, nor

hidden. She has contradictory thoughts on the role of a woman and realizes that she wants to be

independent. However, she has grown up with these rules that society has imposed on her.

Therefore, Edna sets an example on how hard it was to escape such social conventions. In the

end, she feels there is no place for her and ultimately lets the sea take her. This is her way to

escape the otherwise harsh society of that time and many other inner battles she is experiencing.

(Dhir). Edna battled the inner struggle of wanting to be happy versus conforming, and it seems

that she ultimately lost; however, she escaped the cruelness of society that she believed did not

let her live the life she wanted.

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Works Cited

Dhir, Anjana. "Female Empowerment in Kate Chopin's The Awakening." Academia.edu -

Share Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. <http://www.academia.edu/7926440/Female_

Empowerment_in_Kate_Chopins_The_Awakening>.

Kaplon, Megan P. "Kate Chopin's "The Awakening": Struggle Against Society and

Nature." Inquiries Journal. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. <https://www.inquiriesjournal.com/

articles/657/kate-chopins-the-awakening-struggle-against-society-and-nature>.

"The Theme of Women." LitCharts. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. <http://www.litcharts

.com/lit/the-awakening/themes/women-s-rights-femininity-and-motherhood>.

"Women in the Progressive Era." Women in the Progressive Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb.

2017. <https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/suffrage.html>.