Kate Chopin
&
The Awakening
1850 - 1904
Chopin's major work was published in 1889.
- well-established as a national writer
- it was reviewed by critics
who universally condemned it
as "shocking" and immoral
PLOT
It is the story of a young woman’s
gradual awakening.
- sexuality
- individual "being"
- longing for an independence
- suicide
She was very important as one
of the earliest examples of
modernism American
Literature.
Romantic elements & The Awakening
- the exotic locale
- use of color
- heavy emphasis on nature
- romantic theme: individuality and freedom
- rebellion against society and death
Edna - two extremes in life
- completely alone = romanticism
&
- frequent inner thoughts
- memories of childhood
- the personified sea (nature)
- the mysterious woman in black
- the romantic music, dinner party
- desire to express herself
Naturalism & The Awakening
- Edna as hostage to her biology
- She is female (children & wife)
- society dictates behavior
- "no attempt to suppress her impulses"
- welfare of her
children
Local Color & The Awakening
- characterizations of the people
- the descriptions of places
- fundamental meaning of the story
- Creole society and its social mores
- women making choices that create a life
STYLE:
Chopin interested in how one
tells the story as the story itself.
Perspective – multiple
Point of view
Imagery
Appearance in reality:
- seen in the New Orleans experience
- things are not always what they seem
- things are different to different players.
All of these formed her style
- theme based
- her stories were very short
- she was experimenting with style
Women’s Rights:
- Chopin: was not your typical feminist nor
a suffragist
- took women extremely seriously
- due to her background (mother …)
-
- lack of interest in feminism and
suffrage: she simply had a different
understanding of freedom.
- Freedom = “character of living your life
within the constraints that the world
makes [or] your God offers you,
because all of us do live within constraints.”
Social Classes:
- Black v. White
- Rich v. Poor
- Male v. Female
- comfortable with difference
- part of life
Theme:
- No true beauty without complexity or
conflict
- tragedy and complexity are needed
Story information:
Creole: is a ‘white person
descended from the French
or Spanish settlers of Louisiana
and the Gulf States and
preserving their characteristic
speech and culture.’ . . .
Three groups:
1) whites - highest class
2) free Blacks - emancipated slaves
middle class
3) slaves household property
the lowest class
They had a complex social organization
which included foreign groups: Germans,
Irish, and Spaniards.
Culture:
- father was dominant
- his word was law
- not always a faithful spouse
- ruled like a king
- dutiful in the sense he went places
with his wife
Young men:
- given their own quarters
- entertainment
- had mistresses
(Black or mulatto)
- couldn’t marry them
- accepted custom
- marriages = business
- wives = passive and ‘innocent’ lovers
Young Women:
- needed a dowry
- marry before 25 years old
- “coming out” event (theater)
- beginning search for a husband
Three kinds of French:
- traditional French
- Acadian
- Black Creole
- Louisiana natives = francophone
French-speaking
Kate Chopin: The Early Years
• Born in St. Louis, MO in 1850
• Life was full of tragedy; largely death
• Attended Sacred Heart Academy
• After her father’s death, raised by her mother,
grandmother, and great-grandmother (all widows)
Role of the Civil War
• St. Louis was a pro-North city
• Only documented female friend was forced
to retreat to the South
• A noted time of change
Death
• Though one of 5 children, Chopin was the
only one to survive beyond 25 years of age
• Many family members died around Holy
Days, instilling a strong sense of skepticism
surrounding religion
Marriage
• Married Oscar Chopin at the age of 20
• Both French Catholic background
• He adored her, admired independence and
intelligence and “allowed” her unheard of freedom
• Gave birth to 5 boys and 2 girls before she was 28
More Tragedy
• Oscar was not an able businessman; returned to
his old home in rural Louisiana (from New
Orleans) and died of swamp fever
• Chopin moved her family to St. Louis to live with
her mother
• Mother died the next year- this began her writing
career
Inspiration for The Awakening and
Reception
• Based on stories of people she’d known in
New Orleans
• Content and message of The Awakening
caused an uproar
• Parallels between Chopin and Edna because
both defied societal rules
Künstleroman
• Like a Bildungsroman, but centered around
growth as an artist
• The Awakening is a tale of a woman who
struggles to realize herself and her artistic
ability
Historical and Cultural Background
• Written at the end of the 19th century
–
–
–
–
–
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Conflict between the old and new
World’s Fair
Darwin
Criticism of the Bible
Women’s Suffrage
Industrial Age (Machine Age)
Louisiana
• In addition to the changes the country was
facing, Louisiana had its own set of
problems:
– Mix of three cultures: American, Southern, and
Creole
– Aftermath of the Civil War still reverberating
– Edna’s father is a good example of this.
Creole Culture
• Catholic
• Creole women were very conservative
• Frank and open in discussing marriages and
children b/c of understood moral nature and
chastity
• Deep and personal commitment to fidelity
– Adele is a good example of this
Creole Culture Continued…
• Louisiana operated under a different legal
system
• Feminist movement had little hope in the
state
– A woman belonged to her husband
– Under Article 1124, married women were
equated with babies and the mentally ill and
were deemed incompetent to make a contract
Industrial Age and Lower Class
Women’s Independence
• With the Machine Age, the crafts women
had always produced in their homes became
a mass-producible industry
• Conditions were hazardous, the pay was
low, and women’s income was the property
of their husbands, but first move toward
female independence
Upper and Middle Class Women
• Expected to stay home as idle, decorative symbols
of their husbands’ wealth
• “angels of the house”
• Pregnant frequently
• Cared for their homes, their husbands, their
children; played music, drew and sang
• Often brought a dowry or inherited wealth to the
marriage
• Adele
Suffrage
• Women began to rise up (Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Coffin
Mott)
• Declaration of Sentiments
• Labeled unfeminine, immoral
• 15th Ammendment (1870) gave right to vote
regardless of color or creed
Climate of the Time
• The Awakening is representative of the time
• Chopin was ostracized
• Praised for her skill as a writer, but demonized for
content
– “Not a healthy book.”
– “Sex fiction.”
– “Unhealthy introspection and morbid.”
• The novel encapsulates the struggle of women
during this time and speaks to the painful process
Literary Context
• Romantic Movement:
– Assertion of the self, power of the individual,
sense of the infinite and transcendental nature
of the universe
– Relationship between nature and man
– Making success of failure, American landscape,
power of man to conquer the land, and
individualism
Romanticism in The Awakening
• Exotic locale
• Emphasis on nature
• Use of color
• Overriding romantic theme: Edna’s search
for individuality and freedom
Naturalism and Realism
• Stresses real over fantastic
• Societal changes- Bible, Darwin
• Uncaring aspects of nature and destiny of man
• Life was viewed as relentless
Realism in The Awakening:
• Portrayal of Edna as hostage to her biology
• Women as economic possessions
• Edna as a victim of nature and fate
• Local color