First Great Awakening

Female Independence In a society where women are controlled by patriarchal expectations, true independence is not an option. Kate Chopin witnessed and experienced these restrictions first hand during the 19th century, yet she refused to conform. She detailed this restriction in many of her works, and in The Awakening, her protagonist, Edna, goes against social constraints in a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Chopin utilizes literary elements to track Edna’s progress while detailing the…

developed the two main characters in both the novel and short story. Women being oppressed in their marriage was a main theme within the literary pieces. Though Chopin represented their personality and life differently. Edna Pontellier in The Awakening made the decision to find her individuality after she was married and had two children. She made the conscious choice to have an affair with another man when she was still married. Edna then later moved out of her family home into a pigeon house…

With The Awakening being published in the year 1899, it can be deemed as an early work of feminism several years prior to the successes of the first wave feminist movement which granted women the right to vote in 1920. Chopin’s work could potentially have been inspired by the first wave feminist movement which proposed legislation in 1878. I think Chopin is finding inspiration from the first wave feminist movements and she is reflecting her progressive views onto the main character Edna. Edna…

In the movie, Awakenings, there were many actual depictions of what happened during the trial. The actual events of the drug trial were performed by Dr. Oliver Sacks who asked that his name be changed in the movie. During the 1920s there was an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica that spread worldwide. Symptoms of encephalitis begin with high fever, headache, and sore throat. Progression of the disease has symptoms of muscle pain, tremors, slowing of physical and mental response as well as…

The movie Flowers for Algernon and Awakenings are both the same in some areas and then different in other areas The movie Awakenings is about a doctor named Oliver Sacks and a patient named Leonard. Leonard who survived the encephalitis epidemic now has a brain Syndrome which allows him to be in a catatonic state. After Dr. Sacks many hours of research he came across the totally new drug at the time L- Dopa. L- Dopa would allow the patients using it to come out of the catatonic state they were…

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is an artfully crafted piece of literature in the late nineteenth century. During this time, The Awakening is seen as vulgar and distasteful to many critics, but the book gave a much-needed “eye opener” to the perspective of women’s suffrage. This story is told in the eyes of Edna Pontellier, a wife and mother, who struggles with the ideas of freedom and self-awareness. Society’s expectations of women are to be a “stay-at-home” caretaker of the home and children…

The desire to belong is integral to human nature, but so is curiosity. The Awakening is a Victorian era novel by Kate Chopin following Edna Pontellier’s untimely search for social, financial, and emotional independence. Her character is highly reflective in nature. At one point she notes that while she may conform to appease those watching, she secretly questions the behaviour she witnesses in herself and others. Chopin examines the disparity between outward conformity and inner doubt through…

In the book, The Awakening, Kate Chopin addresses a common struggles woman face in society through the main character Edna Pontellier during the 1800s. Edna Pontellier is an American woman infused with charm and grace. Edna’s charm could not escape her. She moved gracefully among the crowds and appeared self-contained. Edna learned to master her feeling by not to showing outward and spoken feelings of affections, either in herself or in others. This common custom seems to be understood among…

Pontellier, Chopin's stereotypical male, visits the Doctor regarding the 'strange behaviors' of his wife, Mandelet inquires about the symptoms of this 'curious illness.' Upon being told of her recent disregard of her duties to her husband and her new ideas concerning the eternal rights of women, Mandelet already perceives that there might be another man in Mrs. Pontellier's life. During the conversation, however, he seems to keep the front of being a stereotypical male in the company of Mr.…

Kate Chopin 's novel, The Awakening, is seen as an enlightening novel based on young women from the 1800s. The ultimate goal for women during that time period was for them to live their life for themselves, which required them to break out of the various barriers that was expected from society and their own family. Chopin uses caged birds as a recurring theme to display the domestic lives of women, especially in the character, Edna Pontellier. Caged birds were frequently referenced as a concise…