Gender Roles In The Awakening By Kate Chopin

In the 1800s women’s roles were mainly seen as domestic. Their only jobs were to cook, clean, and care for the children. The problem with this viewpoint is that women are more than housewives. Women should have jobs and hobbies. If women stay at home all day they will get bored. Women need to stand up for themselves and break through the gender barriers that are put in place. Kate Chopin uses many symbols in her novel, The Awakening, to portray the theme that women are subject to specific gender roles, and when they do not defy them they lose their identity and become trapped. Edna Pontellier becomes trapped in her marriage with Léonce. One way Chopin signifies entrapment is with birds. The first line of the novel states, “A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door…” (Chopin 5). The parrot is trapped inside it’s cage just like Edna is stuck in her marriage. Throughout the novel Edna longs to be free and independent, but she cannot because she is imprisoned in her marriage. Since Edna is a woman she is supposed to be a housewife who cares
In the beginning of the novel she is afraid to swim, afraid to leave her husband. Through the help of her friends she works up the courage to enter the water, the courage to free herself of the gender roles placed upon her by society. Once Edna breaks the surface of the water she, “wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (47). This symbolises that Edna is finally ready to jump through society’s hoop and go out on her own. She finally becomes a free woman by running into the sea, and moving into her own house. By doing so, Edna has broken her gender role and become independent.
The theme of The Awakening is that rules are meant to be broken. Women should break free from their gender roles and become independent. Kate Chopin uses symbolism in her novel to portray this theme. Just like Edna broke the rules and became independent so should other