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Progression And Regression In Chopin's The Awakening

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Progression And Regression In Chopin's The Awakening
The Awakening is a novel about gender relations which brings into sharp focus the stifling effect of society’s expectations on a woman’s growth as a person. The novel opens in the late 1800’s in Grand Isle, a summer holiday resort popular with the wealthy inhabitants of nearby New Orleans. The Awakening continues in the tradition of the local colonists with it’s references to Creole culture. The feminist ideas presented in The Awakening begin as mild sentiments, but as the story progresses, these suggestions of women’s empowerment become full-blown declarations, especially as Edna begins to awaken. To make her point about the role of women in Victorian society, Chopin often presents a model of a certain ideal of the Victorian age and then offers …show more content…
This excerpt argues that Edna has a “ personal immaturity” that cause her to regress as a character. I’m going to use this excerpt in my essay to supports the essay’s thesis in that Edna’s longing for unreachable loves in her life lead her to a dangerous fantasy which causes a regression as she escapes the institutional context of female life.

Jules Chametzky’s excerpt, Edna and the “ Woman Questions” analyzes how Edna Pontellier grows in self-awareness and autonomy. Chametzky discusses how Edna goes through a struggle to free herself from being an object or possession defined in her her functions, or owned, by others. I’m going to use this text in my Feminism Critical Essay to show that Edna feels oppressed because she is only appreciated because of her physical appearance, which results in Edna questioning her identity.

Chametzky, Jules. “Our Decentralized Literature: A Consideration of Regional, Ethnic, Racial, and Sexual Factors.” A paper delivered before the German American Studies Association in Heidelberg, June 5, 1971.
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