Research Paper on Kate Chopin and the Feminism in Her Works
Licano 1
Maria Licano
Mrs. Hummel
Ap English 08
27 April 2012
Kate Chopin: Feminism in Her Works
“Love and passion, marriage and independence, freedom and restraint.” These are the themes that are represented and worked with throughout Kate Chopin’s works. Kate Chopin, who was born on February 8, 1851, in St. Louis, was an American acclaimed writer of short stories and novels. She was also a poet, essayist, and a memoirist. Chopin grew up around many women; intellectual women that is. Chopin said herself that she was neither a feminist nor a suffragist; she was simply a woman who took other women intensely seriously. Chopin believed women had the ability to be strong, individual, and free-spirited. She herself reached out, in hopes for freedom, and the freedom to explore and express ideas. (Fox-Genovese). Today, Chopin is best known in the literary world as author of the novel, The Awakening. The Awakening was highly controversial in its time due to the way it dealt with “the condition of the nineteenth century woman in marriage”. It is now seen and recognized as an overtly feminist text. (Le Marquand). Other of Chopin’s feminist texts include; Athenaise, A Pair of Silk Stockings, and The Story of an Hour. Although Chopin claimed that she herself was not a feminist, she would drink, smoke, and be her own woman (which were considered feminist acts of her time). “Kate’s writings provided her with the means to live how she wanted- both mentally and physically- rather than play the role society expected of her” (Deter). The heroine in The Awakening, Edna, comes to find that she is “dissatisfied with her marriage and the limited, conservative lifestyle that it allows”. Edna wanted change, change the way women were seen and thought of. “She wanted something to happen- something, anything: she did not know what” (Chopin). As the novel develops, Edna becomes a desperately independent woman, who lives disconnected from her husband and children. From there, the
Maria Licano
Mrs. Hummel
Ap English 08
27 April 2012
Kate Chopin: Feminism in Her Works
“Love and passion, marriage and independence, freedom and restraint.” These are the themes that are represented and worked with throughout Kate Chopin’s works. Kate Chopin, who was born on February 8, 1851, in St. Louis, was an American acclaimed writer of short stories and novels. She was also a poet, essayist, and a memoirist. Chopin grew up around many women; intellectual women that is. Chopin said herself that she was neither a feminist nor a suffragist; she was simply a woman who took other women intensely seriously. Chopin believed women had the ability to be strong, individual, and free-spirited. She herself reached out, in hopes for freedom, and the freedom to explore and express ideas. (Fox-Genovese). Today, Chopin is best known in the literary world as author of the novel, The Awakening. The Awakening was highly controversial in its time due to the way it dealt with “the condition of the nineteenth century woman in marriage”. It is now seen and recognized as an overtly feminist text. (Le Marquand). Other of Chopin’s feminist texts include; Athenaise, A Pair of Silk Stockings, and The Story of an Hour. Although Chopin claimed that she herself was not a feminist, she would drink, smoke, and be her own woman (which were considered feminist acts of her time). “Kate’s writings provided her with the means to live how she wanted- both mentally and physically- rather than play the role society expected of her” (Deter). The heroine in The Awakening, Edna, comes to find that she is “dissatisfied with her marriage and the limited, conservative lifestyle that it allows”. Edna wanted change, change the way women were seen and thought of. “She wanted something to happen- something, anything: she did not know what” (Chopin). As the novel develops, Edna becomes a desperately independent woman, who lives disconnected from her husband and children. From there, the