Societal Issues Concerning Women
Romanticist writer Kate Chopin became a voice for women in the late 1800s and early 1900s, using topics such as marital discord, adultery, identity, sexuality, and morality to explain both the defiance that comes from revisionist patriarchal restraints that hinder feminine selfhood and also the consequences that can stem from such defiance from any given individual as it pertains to the individual and her surroundings.
Chopin uses adultery and the sensations that accompany it as a recurring means of rebellion for both her male and female characters in works such as The Awakening and The Storm. In The Storm specifically, characters, “appear relieved to have succumbed to their long-standing attraction” (Dominic …show more content…
Chopin allows others to fill in the blank concerning consequences, so that they may connect better to the story and also read the story in its entirety, so as to receive the full extent of Chopin’s unique and powerful message. Kate Chopin’s use of adultery allowed for her, “[s]ociety’s disapproval of impulsiveness, especially of sexual license” (Berkove 300) to grow and grow. While society increasingly began to disapprove impulsiveness, Chopin’s writing also began gaining controversiality. With the controversiality, Chopin begins to use the disapproval of impulsiveness as a turning point in which to subtly educate. Chopin uses her works to explain that the impulsiveness connects with patriarchy and subjugation, thus subtly inciting that giving women more freedom would help lessen the amount of poor decisions being made. In addition, Chopin uses family dynamics in The Storm to draw in more members of society. Chopin uses these dynamics not only to represent realist ideals that reflect a struggle between human and physical nature, but also to represent that “humans recognize an obligation to their offspring” (Berkove 303). Family dynamics constitute a crucial part of Chopin’s …show more content…
Marriages in both The Awakening and The Story of an Hour struggle without the husband’s realization of the marriage being in such a state. Chopin instills marital discord between certain characters for a reason and then has her female characters resort to drastic measures in response to prove a point concerning the ability a woman has to express herself. In The Awakening, The Story of an Hour, and The Storm, characters Edna, Louise, and Calixta all are, “[u]nable to openly communicate with their husbands and [discuss] negative feelings regarding their married relationships” (“The Storm” 291) In response to this inability, each of the three women, “resort to drastic measures to find release from their marital responsibilities” (“The Storm” 291). In each story, Chopin’s female characters display dissatisfaction in their marital relationships by either going off and committing adultery, proclaiming their love to another man, or feeling an overwhelming sense of triumph upon the death of their husband. This fraudulent love results in harmful consequences. Chopin points out the harmful consequences through allowing Edna and Louise to eventually die over their fraudulent love as well as through Calixta’s adulterous confession that denotes her dissatisfaction concerning her marriage. Likewise, Chopin
Romanticist writer Kate Chopin became a voice for women in the late 1800s and early 1900s, using topics such as marital discord, adultery, identity, sexuality, and morality to explain both the defiance that comes from revisionist patriarchal restraints that hinder feminine selfhood and also the consequences that can stem from such defiance from any given individual as it pertains to the individual and her surroundings.
Chopin uses adultery and the sensations that accompany it as a recurring means of rebellion for both her male and female characters in works such as The Awakening and The Storm. In The Storm specifically, characters, “appear relieved to have succumbed to their long-standing attraction” (Dominic …show more content…
Chopin allows others to fill in the blank concerning consequences, so that they may connect better to the story and also read the story in its entirety, so as to receive the full extent of Chopin’s unique and powerful message. Kate Chopin’s use of adultery allowed for her, “[s]ociety’s disapproval of impulsiveness, especially of sexual license” (Berkove 300) to grow and grow. While society increasingly began to disapprove impulsiveness, Chopin’s writing also began gaining controversiality. With the controversiality, Chopin begins to use the disapproval of impulsiveness as a turning point in which to subtly educate. Chopin uses her works to explain that the impulsiveness connects with patriarchy and subjugation, thus subtly inciting that giving women more freedom would help lessen the amount of poor decisions being made. In addition, Chopin uses family dynamics in The Storm to draw in more members of society. Chopin uses these dynamics not only to represent realist ideals that reflect a struggle between human and physical nature, but also to represent that “humans recognize an obligation to their offspring” (Berkove 303). Family dynamics constitute a crucial part of Chopin’s …show more content…
Marriages in both The Awakening and The Story of an Hour struggle without the husband’s realization of the marriage being in such a state. Chopin instills marital discord between certain characters for a reason and then has her female characters resort to drastic measures in response to prove a point concerning the ability a woman has to express herself. In The Awakening, The Story of an Hour, and The Storm, characters Edna, Louise, and Calixta all are, “[u]nable to openly communicate with their husbands and [discuss] negative feelings regarding their married relationships” (“The Storm” 291) In response to this inability, each of the three women, “resort to drastic measures to find release from their marital responsibilities” (“The Storm” 291). In each story, Chopin’s female characters display dissatisfaction in their marital relationships by either going off and committing adultery, proclaiming their love to another man, or feeling an overwhelming sense of triumph upon the death of their husband. This fraudulent love results in harmful consequences. Chopin points out the harmful consequences through allowing Edna and Louise to eventually die over their fraudulent love as well as through Calixta’s adulterous confession that denotes her dissatisfaction concerning her marriage. Likewise, Chopin