The Role Of Feminism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin

“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength,” says author G. D. Anderson. Modern women are well aware that their history with inequality and prejudice takes root in the beginning of mankind and civilization itself. In spite of this, steps towards a more socially aware culture in America did not begin to take form until the mid-nineteenth century. No action taken to improve women’s status came easily; the magnitude of reproach women received in their long-awaited “awakening” was extensive, but this merely ignited a fire that pushed the boundaries of their fight for equality even further. Bypassing uncountable societal and lawful restraints, the women’s rights

Never before had a woman dared to express sexuality and sexual freedom in the way she did with Edna, the main protagonist, who lived an independent life outside of her husband and patriarchal society. “In a time when women’s roles were changing, Chopin’s characters found themselves questioning conformity and duty versus freedom and personal identity” (“The Awakening” 56). Chopin directly transferred issues from her time and life to the pages of the novel in order to give a realistic sense of how these Creole women lived and felt. From a twenty-first century point of view, it is challenging to imagine how serious the nature of these restrictions placed on women truly was. Men published behavioral guidelines to inform women of their roles: “Let nothing, but the most imperative duty, call you out upon your reception day. Your callers are, in a measure, invited guests, and it will be an insulting mark of rudeness to be out when they call . . . you must, for that day, prepare to give your time wholly to them” (Culley). It is brilliant, even heart-warming, to then read the scene when Edna does exactly this. Although many critics today applaud Chopin’s writing and artistry, she received severe, negative criticism at the commencement of publication of The Awakening in 1899; some libraries even banned her work from their shelves. One

Despite this progress, the modern world is not quite at where many feminists wish it to be. The length of the movement relies solely on the response of the public and the satisfaction of women globally. For what is left to achieve, women of approaching generations will undeniably feed off of the strength that so many before them displayed in the face of ignorance. The final goal of feminism, referring to what G. D. Anderson impeccably stated, is simply the hope for everyone to perceive that strength in the same way that countless women already do: infinite, passionate, and equal to if not greater than that of