Womans Movement & the Awaking

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century there was a strong movement busting through the United States and Europe. This movement known as the Women’s Movement was helping women everywhere to realize that they have potentials to be something on their own, and to choose on their own future not to have it chosen for them. Documents such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments, and Mina Loy’s Feminist Manifesto gave females a bold realization of how oppressed they had been. Also, during this time period, many notable women writers surfaced, one of the best being Kate Chopin.

Kate Chopin’s “The Awaking” is the epitome of realism when dealing with the oppression of women and the woman’s movement. In “The Awakening” Edna is a woman bound by traditionalism and forced into a role of wife and mother. Edna is miserable even though she has, what appears to be a perfect loving husband she does not love him back. The main reason this marriage is an unsuccessful one is that Mr. Pontellier, Edna’s husband, regards her as a possession; not as an individual. This belief is also oh so common, and or realistic of this time period. Women were to be thought of as possessions by men and their place was to be in

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Edna is so distressed because she was bound by her marriage and knows there is no hope in her ever being free. At this point Edna goes to the ultimate extreme and commits suicide. While Edna travels through her change Chopin reveals to her reader the injustices that society, at that time, put on women, and uses realism to express her ideas. Robert Lebrun while she was vacationing with her family that she begins to realize her individuality. Edna, however, loves her newfound freedom and took pride in relieving herself from her societal roles that added to her strength, and expansion as and individual. The idea of sex was not to be spoken about by a women period much less the idea of sex outside of marriage.

The last draw for Edna was when Robert returned to the city. After this discovery Edna begins to disregard her husband’s wishes and often ignores her children. The independence Chopin expresses here through Edna was a radical idea of this period. There are still aspects of our society today that keep woman from their full potential.

Many individuals are aware of Edna’s immoralities but Edna seems unconcerned, her husband tries countless times to get Edna to agree and go along with the societal norms, yet Edna continues to disregard the customs of society. However Edna is greatly upset when Robert moves to New York on business and turns to another man again for support who frees Edna in another way. Free to feel loved and to love which she has never really felt up to this point. Robert realizes this once again that is love for Edna will never be able to be expressed to the fullest and leaves.

Approximate Word count = 872
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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