... Victorian Era, although without the many pretenses that most women at the time did. Not only did she not fit into the Creole role that her husband had set up for her, she was having a difficult time squeezing into the gendered role that he had established for her as well. Edna gradually ... Pontellier does not. Mademoiselle Reisz's most drastic influence upon Edna is the recognition of her awakening. Edna tries to explain this to her flabbergasted husband that has no hint of understanding the changes that his wife is undergoing. He is mainly concerned with appearances and that she is a...

• Word Count: 1597
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... above Victorian society, casting long and dark shadows on the dismal face of femininity. Shackled and constrained in a society where unjust barriers were abundant, women were forced to live under an unwritten social code of submission, without tasting the sweet nectar of true freedom. With her revolutionary novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin depicts a heroic character that liberates herself from the suffocating ... Robert, the careless and young son of Madame Lebrun is the catalyst of her mental, emotional and sexual awakening. The relationship is regarded as within the Creole social con...

• Word Count: 1478
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Graduate

... – woman" (Welter 1). In addition to that piece of literature, there was another well known 'ideal' for what a woman should aspire to be. "The popular Victorian image of the ideal wife/woman came to be known as 'the Angel in the House,' who was expected to be devoted and ... submissive to her husband. The Angel was passive and powerless, meek, charming, graceful, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and ... was, but she knew that she was not the motherly type. According to nineteenth-century ideals, the best thing that a woman could do for her husband was to produce an '...

• Word Count: 1289
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

... makes me so nervous.""(Gilman 433) She knows that if she can't escape his control, she can get better, but that is an impossible option. John behaves more as a paternal figure to Jane than a husband. He puts her in a nursery despite her protests. "No wonder the children hated it! I should hate it myself if ... mind the wallpaper, yet she continues to watch it and study it. By the end of the story she completely defies her husband, and rips off the wallpaper. In "The Story of An Hour- the main character, Louise Mallard is introduced to us as a woman with heart trouble. So the other charac...

• Word Count: 1313
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... her to fix up her appearance and transform back into the attractive and well-kept woman of the day. Furthermore, "Mr. Pontellier had been a rather courteous husband so long as he met a certain tacit submissiveness."(Chopin 55) He always wanted to know that he had control over his wife and her decisions. However, ... and uphold her role in society as a wife and mother. Another way in which Chopin delineates Leonce as an unsympathetic husband is through his obsession with business. Mr. Pontieller, while he believes himself to be a kind husband, is a typical businessman of the era. He want...

• Word Count: 1574
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... symbol in The Awakening is the juxtaposition of the lady in black and the lovers. The lady in black represents the conventional Victorian ideal of the widowed woman. She does not embark on a life of independence after fulfilling her duties as a wife; instead, she devotes herself to ... once were to die, a widowed Edna would be expected to lead her life in such a socially acceptable manner. Edna longs for independence from her husband, but the lady in black embodies the only such independence that society accepts in women: the patient, resigned solitude of a widow. This solitude does ... ...

• Word Count: 2280
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... grace and charm- (Chopin 8). She is perfectly content and happy conforming to society's view of the perfect wife, who lives for her husband and children and strongly encourages Edna to be womanly by traditional standards which requires self-sacrifice. Mrs. Pontellier is aware of Adele Ratignolle's ... possessing no other role that of a wife and a mother; therefore existing only to facilitate the needs of her family. Whatever subject her husband Alphonse spoke about, she listens to with undivided attention, "His wife was keenly interested in everything he said, laying down her fork the b...

• Word Count: 2488
• Approx Pages: 10

... late 1800's) looks down on females who seek anything other than attending to their husband's and children's needs. Therefore, Edna is seen as rebellious and treated by some as an outcast. Near the beginning of "The Awakening," Edna's husband, Leonce, poses the question, "If it is not a mother's place to ... personal definition for her life. Robert Lebrun is the man who Edna truly loves, and his persuasive personality helps her realize that life with her husband resembles a "masquerade"(Chopin 19) more than a marriage. The sea reflects her feelings, becoming almost one with her consciou...

• Word Count: 2199
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School