ipl-logo

Creole Culture In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

1036 Words5 Pages

CQ: Creole culture values place women in a submissive role while granting men the ability act as dominantly and freely as they wish. Why does the Creole society isolate Edna while idolizing Adele?
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Creole culture and norms subjectify women through the imprisonment of the Creole culture and norms. These cultural norms confine women to the every wish of their husbands. Thus, women who aspire to be individualistic suffer under the intense regulations of the Creole culture. Edna, originally an American girl, struggles to adapt to the Creole way of life while directly juxtaposed by her peer, Adele. Society reacts differently to these two women depending on their lack of realization of the oppression of Creole society. …show more content…

Madame Ratignolle chooses to abide by her husband’s wishes and offer her body as an instrument to create a family, which is highly valued by the Creoles. “Madame Ratignolle had been married seven years. About every two years she had a baby” (Chopin 10). Adele prides herself in acting as the prime role model for all other women in her society and sets an example by only allowing herself about 6 months of recovery time in between bearing children. Creole culture expects the women in society to place the responsibility of caring for their children above every other responsibility. Due to Adele’s unwavering dedication to having and caring for children, society idolizes her familial …show more content…

As Robert leaves suddenly without telling Edna, Edna begins to realize her attachment to Robert, despite Creole etiquette ruling summer flirtations strictly platonic. As Robert left “Edna bit her handkerchief convulsively, striving to hold back and to hide… the emotion which was troubling - tearing - her. Her eyes were brimming with tears. For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation” (Chopin 44). This action further pulls Edna towards isolation as she breaks yet another social standard imposed on Creole

Show More
Related
1120 Words | 5 Pages

Dialectal Journal; The Awakening (Kate Chopin) Motif- The Sea Quote Literary/Style Elements Commentary Additional Ideas “There was no sound abroad except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a water-oak, and the everlasting voice of the sea, that was not uplifted at that soft hour.” (7) Personification Chopin’s use of personification demonstrates how the sea provides a feeling of comfort. The soft hour helps to communicate the feeling of comfort as Chopin tries to show how the setting of the sea is calming.

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

Edna fully understands that society would brand her as a terrible woman, but she does not view herself as a bad person. There is an external and internal difference that Edna hopes to one day reconcile. Chopin, instead of creating tension within Edna, created tension within the society and Edna with her newfound independence does not mind how society classifies her. Decisively, it can be concluded that the tension between outward conformity and inward questioning builds the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

Since he sees Edna as a valuable object, he expects her to be the perfect wife model in return- take care of the house, be very caring for their children, and keep up with the creole social standards that he sees necessary. “It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to define to his own satisfaction or anyone else's wherein his wife failed in her duty toward their children.” (9). Being the perfect husband in the Creole culture it makes it very easy to focus on his wife's character and her process of self

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

Some of Edna’s most obvious decisions immediately question her weakness to handle pressure. Edna’s inability to show compassion and care for her children challenge this normalcy for a mother of the time period; Edna considered her children “like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days” (Chopin 115). The children almost seemed like a burden, or a detriment to her. Edna’s doctor visit nearly foreshadows this mindset, where the doctor notes that

Read More
1386 Words | 6 Pages

The other reason makes Edna realize her own self is swimming, as if a release to her. Refer to what she said in the novel, to beyond other women, it can express that her aspiration on being alternative and get rid of the constraint from the society. Also that is the first body contact with Robert, she find herself in the ocean, and there is the place she longing, also aware of the freedom. Robert, is a boy she falls in love with, yet she aware of that, if she marries to Robert, her future just same as now, she will lose her freedom.

Read More
944 Words | 4 Pages

Edna Pontellier in the novel, The Awakening, is a self-driven woman determined to become independent and free whilst undergoing a significant change in behavior throughout the novel. She attempts to withstand societal expectations by doing certain things that were not socially acceptable during this time period. While doing so, she experiences many different struggles during her awakening. These struggles that Edna undergoes may be described as internal as well as external. In the awakening, there is a constant conflict between inner and outer Edna.

Read More
1171 Words | 5 Pages

Her frequent vacations to the island, like her frequent dips into the ocean, begin to spark a personal change within the woman. A Creole man, Robert, shows Edna a new dimension of feelings she never knew she lived without, and she begins to look through life through a new lens. Having been awakened for the first time, she sees injustice and mistreatment where she saw none before. Chopin uses Edna’s new observations and reactions to the culture around her to illustrate the myriad ways women were marginalized. In an ironic twist, the white woman from Kentucky proves to be more liberated than her more traditional husband, who grew up

Read More
1234 Words | 5 Pages

Title: The Awakening Author: Kate Chopin Setting: Grand Isle and New Orleans in the early 19th century Genre: Tragedy Historical context: The Awakening takes place when women were seen as a man’s possession. Mr. Pontellier looks at Edna as a possession. Women were expected to stay devoted to their husband and children and remain a stereotypical housewife whose main job is to clean, cook and care for the children. (Adele) Edna rivals against these standards as she challenges society 's expectations of women during the early 19th century.

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

The title, The Awakening, signifies the self-realization of Edna Pontellier and her own personal awakening. Edna’s character undergoes a dramatic lifestyle and spiritual change. She begins the novel as the typical old fashioned housewife that is expected to look and act a certain way. Edna was a respectable housewife who yearns for a social, spiritual, and sexual awakening

Read More
1315 Words | 6 Pages

Edna Pontellier was only seen as a “valuable piece of property which [had] suffered some damaged” to her husband Mr. Pontellier (BOOK). One can also see that “The Awakening” also focused on the sexual desires of women, identity, and self-discovery Edna, a character in “The Awakening” experienced her awakening by discovering her identity in her own self. “The Awakening” attempts to tell the story a woman who wants to find herself while lusting. Later, at the end of the story, one discovers that since Edna Pontellier could not fully find her peace, and freedom she ultimately decides to commit suicide. Through this “The Awakening” shows that although women were oppressed, they also had empowerment.

Read More
834 Words | 4 Pages

She wrote a short story The Awakening, which took place in New Orleans and told the struggle of Edna, a housewife and a mother, whether she should follow her heart or respect the tradition. She made the choice of rebelling the past and she started to seek for herself. It was an extreme role, once she realized what she is then she abandoned everything she had in the past; and she wanted to be set free from her family role and motherhood. “The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! Well!

Read More
1210 Words | 5 Pages

This socially constructed identity is the first of the many that Edna grapples with in the text. It is the identity of women within the time period of the text. In the words of Dix, Edna’s identity is meant to be that of a typical American wife who will control the home, children and entertain socially yet remain obedient to her working husband (146). ‘Looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property’ (Chopin 4). The

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

Soon after Edna moves out, many of her intimate desires had been awakened. She begins to open herself up to her sexual wants and begins to explore her sexuality, though she does know that it is inappropriate. In the nineteenth century, women were looked down upon for having sexual thoughts or desires towards other men besides her husband (Adultery). Despite the societal restraints, she begins to fantasize about Robert Lebrun and goes on to have a meaningless affair with Alcée Arobin, which was only driven by her own sexual desires.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

Edna Pontellier’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is not a perfect mother-women for many ways. Edna Pontellier is not a perfect mother because “Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-women”(Chopin, 10). This quote means that Edna Pontellier is not a good mother/wife because she is not that of a women who would worship their children ,and their husband. Edna Pontellier is not a good mother because “I would give up the

Read More
519 Words | 3 Pages

However, Creole women were expected to be chaste, and would behave in a unreserved manner. The exposure to such openness is what frees Edna from her previously repressed emotions and desires and motivates her to become more independent. Because they are women, Adele and Edna do not have much freedom, as in comparison to men. However, Edna gains more freedom that is much closer to that of men when she abandons her household and social responsibilities. Edna’s refusal to follow and obey social conventions, allows her to spend her time on painting and sketching.

Read More

More about Creole Culture In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Related Topics

Open Document