Did The 1800's Influence The Awakening

Devon Roarick
Mrs. Paquette
APE
14 April 2011
Did the 1800’s Influence The Awakening?: During the 1800’s Creole society was very influential upon its population. Creole families lived in a high-class neighborhood and owned expensive houses that were admired by many. The husband supported the family while the wife was expected to be a stay at home mother as well as an accomplished artist or musician. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is influenced by these norms of Creole society, which is realized with “artist woman” Mademoiselle Reisz, “mother woman” Adele Ratignolle, the protagonist Edna Pontellier, and her marriage to Leonce. The Pontellier’s marriage and its aspects reflects the societal norms of Creole culture in the 1800‘s. Mansions
Adele Ratignolle meets Edna for the first time at Grand Isle. Even though they don’t see eye to eye, they still become friends. Edna admires Adele because she is the ultimate family woman. She is a loving and trustworthy wife who lives solely for her children and the sake of having children, which she does every two years (Chopin). The Awakening helps to reveal the amount of emphasis that this society has placed on a woman as a mother and a wife (“How does the...”). With Adele magnifying the stereotypical qualities of a mother, she represents the demands of society on women (Streater 408). Instead of being independent and living her own life, such as Mademoiselle Reisz, she “conforms to these societal standards” (Green). Chopin uses Adele to reveal the life of a Creole woman who is being taken over by her stereotypical role. Even though Adele wants this lifestyle, she has grown up exposed to the mother-woman role unlike Edna. Edna cannot deal with that fact that to be the mother woman means a sacrifice is needed in order to care for the children. Adele realizes Edna will not sacrifice herself although she wants to be a loving mother. Mademoiselle Reisz represents the artist-woman within Creole society. She is a good friend of Edna’s and represents the independent woman that Edna wants to be. She is a non-married, practiced musician and artist who has strong beliefs, in which Edna is the only one
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