The Awakening

Much has been written about Kate Chopin’s defiant women, however, very little has been written about Chopin’s defiant men (Brown). Some of these characters have experiences that parallel those of the women. Just as a woman in an intimate moment with a man awakens to an inner self buried beneath a culturally sanctioned social one, so does a man. Just as women defy social expectations for women in the Creole culture, so do men that defy culture’s masculine norm. Chopin introduces a range of Creole male types, men who are very conservative in their social and political views, and others who see themselves as socially progressive. Three such characters in The Awakening are Leonce Pontellier, Alcee and Robert Lebrun.

“Leonce is convinced that fulfilling monetary needs excuses the paucity of time he spends with the children, never presuming that some needs cannot be monetarily satisfied (Brown, 72). Brown describes Leonce as having self-pity due to his empowererment. With the privileges of wealth and social standing comes self-debasement. He is so caught up in his own ideals that he fails to see his reaction to his wife, and children. He is caught in turmoil between society and having no other way out and does no

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