Second Great Awakening

Edna Pontellier constitutes the modern day definition of a tragic hero, becoming the pioneer for the freedom of women against the social circumstances in the late Victorian Era. Within The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna stands as a testament for self-expression at the sacrifice of her social status, and as a result, falls as a tragic hero. Edna begins subtly defying her husband through ignoring his requests and denying his desires. She slowly breaks away to gain a measure of independence from…

of this time independent, career women or were they typical housewives that cooked, clean, raised the children, and catered to their husbands. They didn’t go out of society’s norm and express themselves freely. Kate Chopin wrote a book called the Awakening. In this novel she tells a story of a character named Edna Pontellier. The novel is about Edna and how she wants to be free. Chopin uses a lot of symbolism to depict Edna’s crave for freedom. Edna is a housewife for to her husband Leonce and a…

Throughout this book, there are many examples of different kind of awakenings, starting off with Edna awakening herself as an artist when she begins her painting career, here realization that she appreciates the music up to the point until she wakens to kind herself unfulfilled. Edna is not only waking up to understand herself as a human beings, and a woman who is not happy in a mans world he also awakens herself as a sexual being. For this essay I am going to focus on the stages that Edna has…

A Search for Independence in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening The Awakening by Kate Chopin centers on the Pontellier family – Leonce, his wife Edna, and their two sons, Etienne and Raoul – residing in New Orleans during the end of the 19th century. The family spends their summer vacationing on Grand Isle at a resort ran by Madame Lebrun and her two sons, Robert and Victor. During this time, Edna’s emotions begin to shift as she wrestles with her traditional patriarchy duties and her desire for social…

“Searching for Identity: The Religious Experiences of Norwich, Kempe, and Truth” Women have struggled, much like the fishermen sailing with a stormy sea, to relinquish their identity from the hands of man and regain control of it again. In waves, they have enjoyed brief moments of freedom and respect yet deep ruts of oppression and scorn. Even after years of efforts and progression, the storm, the struggle, is ongoing still. However, without the contribution of past women, there would be no…

The Awakening Feminism or Love In the book The Awakening written by Kate Chopin there is a lot of references to the book being about feminism and how the treatment of woman and image of them is wrong. The feminism in the book includes independence of women and how they are treated and what the typical women should be. The main character of the book, Edna was a very dynamic character by completely changing from the beginning to the end of the book. The author was also a lot like Enda and was…

The Awakening: A Modern Feminist’s Take The Awakening by Kate Chopin is widely considered one of the earliest feminist novels in American literature. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier, seeks a life away from the social obligations of an 18th century woman. This novel sparked a feminist movement and started a trend of novels written by women about women. Although, feminism as a whole has changed and developed over the years to conform to modern society. As a modern feminist, I did not find The…

Gilman and Chopin both are trying to illustrate how women are trapped and bound by the unspoken rules of Victorian society. They also show the audience the consequences of conformity for women that desire independence. In Chopin’s “The Awakening,” Edna slowly begins to discover herself in her husband’s absence. She experiences “a radiant peace settled upon her when she at last found herself alone” (595). This is the central message which the author wishes to convey. The constant pressures and…

“Turn left at the overlook and swim until you encounter a narrow opening in the cliffside. Inside is the legendary Shell of Shifting!” “What does it do?” Blake asked. She was fascinated by the story that her best friend’s grandmother was telling, although Elina herself didn’t look too interested. “It is said to be able to change the color of anything you want!” she replied. “Now, stop listening to my old tales and go play out in the reef!” Elina and Blake hadn’t been swimming for too long before…

Before taking this course, I never truly understood how many ways coming out of the closet and living your life as a lesbian can impact a woman’s life. From our readings of Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America by Rachel Hope Cleves, “‘No Kisses Like Youres’: An Erotic Friendship between Two African-American Women during the Mid-Nineteenth Century” by Karen V. Hansen, and Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon, I learned that having a relationship with another women can cost a woman her…