The Awakening Final Project
Throughout history, people’s opinions, values, and actions change constantly. The views of women have become more respectful as time goes on. For instance, women used to be treated as a piece of property. This was a way for men to have more dominance over women and in relationships and in society. Women being seen as a man’s possession is exemplified in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Edna’s relationship with her father and Leonce demonstrates how the time period effects each of their actions. It shows how the father is meant to be dominant over his wife and children and the husband should be as well. Colonel, Edna’s father, is a very strict and dominant parent. Edna has known and been accustom her father’s dominance …show more content…
Edna feels like a husband should be caring and supportive of his wife, and not hold her back. This opinion of hers is ahead of its time and seen as foolish. Women were considered to be too emotional to make decisions for themselves. Contrasting from the time period’s beliefs, Edna wants to make her own choices and not be “owned” by a man. She thinks that Leonce should not reprimand her, just like her father used to do. In her mind, Leonce should be backing up her choices, not limiting her from making …show more content…
The book also shows how women are seen as a man’s property. The scene in which Leonce seems most controlling of Edna is when she is sunburnt. The novel states that Leonce was “looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage,”(Chopin 2). This explains how she is like one of Leonce’s many possessions and that she is only valuable because of her beauty. It may seem as though he is concerned about her burn, but, in reality, Leonce is only worried about how this will effect him. Once her skin was burnt, he was horrified and angry with Edna because this may ruin his image. Due to her being “tarnished”, she was jeopardizing his social status, which is all Leonce really cared about. This situation is a representation of how men felt about their wives during the time period of this book, and how they were treated as objects. If they were damaged, it could affect how people look at the man, in a professional or business
Throughout history, people’s opinions, values, and actions change constantly. The views of women have become more respectful as time goes on. For instance, women used to be treated as a piece of property. This was a way for men to have more dominance over women and in relationships and in society. Women being seen as a man’s possession is exemplified in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Edna’s relationship with her father and Leonce demonstrates how the time period effects each of their actions. It shows how the father is meant to be dominant over his wife and children and the husband should be as well. Colonel, Edna’s father, is a very strict and dominant parent. Edna has known and been accustom her father’s dominance …show more content…
Edna feels like a husband should be caring and supportive of his wife, and not hold her back. This opinion of hers is ahead of its time and seen as foolish. Women were considered to be too emotional to make decisions for themselves. Contrasting from the time period’s beliefs, Edna wants to make her own choices and not be “owned” by a man. She thinks that Leonce should not reprimand her, just like her father used to do. In her mind, Leonce should be backing up her choices, not limiting her from making …show more content…
The book also shows how women are seen as a man’s property. The scene in which Leonce seems most controlling of Edna is when she is sunburnt. The novel states that Leonce was “looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage,”(Chopin 2). This explains how she is like one of Leonce’s many possessions and that she is only valuable because of her beauty. It may seem as though he is concerned about her burn, but, in reality, Leonce is only worried about how this will effect him. Once her skin was burnt, he was horrified and angry with Edna because this may ruin his image. Due to her being “tarnished”, she was jeopardizing his social status, which is all Leonce really cared about. This situation is a representation of how men felt about their wives during the time period of this book, and how they were treated as objects. If they were damaged, it could affect how people look at the man, in a professional or business