Victorian Women Blog ✌️

To what extent do the female characters in The Awakening represent the Victorian woman? In other words, characterize Adele Ratignolle, Edna Pontellier, the Farival Twins, Mademoiselle Reisz and relate their characters to the norms expected of women in Victorian society.

  

   In the Victorian era, women were dominated by the male gender and was considered useless without men. They were thought to be created to please the men. Women were considered angelic and represented innocence. Women needed to be very pure, a virgin, and no thought of sexual actions. Their positions seemed clear, as to existing as a female is very difficult. Women cannot survive on their own without the help of men. The female gender was degraded and it's “only” use was to pleasure the men. Prostitutes existed because women stooped really low and they needed to satisfy the needs of the uncontrollable sexual men. A revolution happens to change the future of women's rights forever.

     Edna Pontellier is the wife of Léonce Pontellier, a rich businessman who resided in New Orleans. They have kids together and love each other, but they lack communication. Léonce is never home since he's busy with business meets etc. He doesn't give time to spend with his wife and kids. He's a very dominant and wants everything to go like he planned. Edna was like the women in the Victorian era. Her opinions didn't matter so it resulted for her not expressing herself freely. Edna is rebellious since she married her husband to get back to her father and sister, yet she learned how to love him. After she was married, her freedom was stripped of and thrown away. She is imprisoned with her thoughts and feelings by her husband. Like the women during the Victorian era, they needed to please the women, Edna obeyed all the rules her husband has issued. With this, Edna became introverted. She saw the sea and the freedom it has, so she's walking her tough path to a free world. 

     Adele fits the ideal woman because she loves her kids, worships her husband, and her life revolves around her family. During the Victorian era, marriage was the best position for a woman. They couldn't own anything or basically do anything. Adele did everything for kids and did anything for her husband. She followed all his rules and regulations to become this “ideal” mother type. She was considered women during those times because she did everything that was meant to be. 

    Mademoiselle Reisz was the opposite of women during the Victorian era. She is passionate about music and chose to pursue it. She is unmarried and without children. She represent freedom and independence. She has influenced Edna and is held responsible for her actions. She was exact opposite of how women should live. She makes decisions based on her opinions and not by a male. She's a unique character in the story and is very influential since she has broken the boundaries of women. 

     The Farival twins embodied the innocence women should have. They had to entertain the audience by playing the piano. I think they are dedicated to the Catholic religion, mostly to the Virgin Mary. They are destined to be like the other women. They're very pure and no knowledge of sexual thoughts. Therefore, they're being prepared to become the next generation of Victorian women. 

How does Chopin seem feel about the condition of women in Victorian society? Provide evidence from the novel to strengthen your answer.

     I don't think Chopin likes the idea that men are the dominant gender and women are treated with no respect. In the novel, Edna is an example of that. She is expected to be a motherly figure and to obey all her husband's rules. I think that's why Chopin uses Edna as the main character who broke the boundaries of women during the Victorian era. The author added the character Mademoiselle Reisz to emphasize that women could do great things. She is passionate about music and she pursued her passion and she's satisfied with her life. She is used as an aspiration to Edna to become a women like her.

       The author has a character that fits perfectly to the Victorian women, Adele. She is the ideal type of women during the Victorian era and she is the motherly type all women should follow. She loves her kids and does everything for them. Adele abides all her husband's rules and she worships him. 

     Edna has been used as an example of rebellious actions against society. She's going to be rebellious and act based on her emotions. She will be expressive and her opinions will matter. The author wants us how Edna’s character will evolve in the novel. 

Kate Chopin

      Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri on February 8, 1850 to Eliza and Thomas O'Flaherty. In 1851, when she was about 5 years old he was sent to a catholic boarding school, Sacred Heart Academy. Two months after, Kate’s father died from a train accident. She then moved out of the boarding school and resided with her mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother who were all widowed. Her grandmother! Victoria Berden taught her French, music, and gossip. Her mom was the first to gain legal separation from her husband. She grew up in a household filled with strong single women, which probably have influenced her perspectives and style of writing.

      She went back to boarding school and became the top student and won medals. She was elected into the elite children of Mary Society where she held a commencement speech. She graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1868. During these years, she has experienced unhappy incidents that had caused her to have doubts on religion. Many of her family members passed at a young age including her father, siblings, and the death of her grandmother affected her the most. Her family was the most important thing to her. 

     Creole culture is a person descended from early French or Spanish settlers in the United States, which they preserve their speech and culture. The Creole culture was very wealthy and they had imported goods from all over the world. Kate’s mother was part of a prominent French Creole Family. At the age of twenty-five, she got married to Oscar Chopin who was also a Creole cotton trader and from prominent French Creole Family. She was greatly influenced by her background. Her husband and her moved to New Orleans where Creole heritage was celebrated. With her appreciation to her creole background, she mentions it in her book, but instead of French creole, she mostly mentioned the Louisiana creole. She talked about the liberty, art, and music. She was very proud of her heritage and writing about it made her feel great. 

     Kate Chopin lived during the Civil war and St. Louis were pro-North. The creole population decreased during this time and many had to moved to small communities. Liberty was removed, so the Creole didn't have anything like they used to. Everything changed when the perspectives of society suddenly change. They were treated as slaves and many were forced to work to survive. Her husband died from malaria and had to raise their seven kids on her own. She moved back with her mother, but she later died and Kate was left alone was again. She was in poverty and needed a way to support her children. She began to write which was intended as a therapeutic healing against her depression. She immediately reach success and she found a source of income. She published her first story in 1890 called “At Fault”. She was well known as both the local colorist and woman writer. She then published “The Awakening” in 1899, which was received negatively. This has denied her access to St. Louis Fine Art Club and was rejected as an author. She was downgraded and after that incident, she only wrote short stories. Two short stories that were received greatly was Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). She still wrote in her last few years and she passed away on August 22, 1902 due to cerebral hemorrhage.

     Kate has explored women’s independence and incorporated this into her writing. She became known as the “woman who were born before her time”. She wrote short stories, articles, translations, etc. Kate is considered as one of the first feminist authors of the 19th and 20th century. She has paved a way for future feminist writers in the world of writing. It is said that she wrote her stories based on the people of St. Louis and her Creole background also included her style of writing. Kate Chopin is not only a feminist writer, but indeed an intelligent and a great writer. 

Words count: 679

Work Cited

"Biography." The Kate Chopin International Society, 9 Feb. 2016. Web. <http://www.katechopin.org/biography/>.

Gilbert. "Creoles." Kate Chopin. 2002. Web. <http://www.loyno.edu/~kchopin/new/culture/creoles2.html>.

"Kate Chopin." American Literature. Web.

<https://americanliterature.com/author/kate-chopin/bio-books-stories>

Wyatt, Neal. "Biography of Kate Chopin." VCU, 1955. Web. <http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/katebio.html>.