Consolidation Through Rebellion in Kate Chopin's The Awakening
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1306.12Keywords:
feminism, patriarchy, oppression, rebel, sexualityAbstract
This paper examines Kate Chopin’s heroine Edna’s journey for self-actualization in The Awakening which was published in (1899). The period represents the first wave of feminism and New Woman era. Kate Chopin's The Awakening portrays the patriarchy, oppression and marriage as compelling forces that assume women to fulfill the expectations of a devoted true woman. Chopin presents Edna’s rebels against the moral and social restraints set on women by the patriarchal society in order to become an individual as she refuses to be casted as a typical traditional Victorian mother and a wife. To understand Edna's rebelliousness, Chopin uses a variety of pictures and encounters with people as instruments. It's clear that she has a rebellious streak. Chopin’s deliberation, in this sense, is to not condemn Edna's rebellion in proclaiming her sexuality and seeking independence through the consolidation of her mind, body, and spirit, but rather to paint her as the ‘new woman’ who gains control and awareness of her sexual and artistic potentials. Therefore, this research work attempts to study Edna's trials and tribulations in achieving self-understanding by resisting patriarchal subordination and finding autonomy by pursuing her own goals.
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