...Concept of liberty and femininity in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening I decided to examine the concept of femininity and liberty in a short story “The Yellow Wall-paper” from the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman and in the book “The Awakening” from Kate Chopin. I chose these two books in order to demonstrate how society in the nineteenth century treated woman and how those woman were trying to escape from this concept. Femininity refers to set of behaviours and roles which are appropriate for women and judged by certain culture. In the nineteenth century were women expected to stay at home and wait for their husbands´ return each evening. Women should have these four attributes: piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. (Rula Quawas,2006) Women who had these attributes were considered happy and satisfied. It was also believed that there is a sharp line between home, the woman sanctuary, and the economic world because it is a hard world only for men. The Yellow Wallpaper The story begun with moving of the main hero and her husband to the colonial mansion. Her husband´s name is John and he is a high standing physician. They moved for a while because she had to undergo a rest-cure. This method of treatment of the main hero of The Yellow Wallpaper is Dr. Mitchell´s rest-cure for women which included no intellectual stimulation and no writing. Her brother is a physician as well and agrees with her husband, but she doesn’t think that the way they cure her is...
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...It has been around since before the civil rights movement and before the suffragettes. The woman’s plight to be seen just as serious and strong as men and assume more prominent roles in society transcends time and place. We can see examples of it in classic literature like The Awakening by Kate Chopin and in short stories like “The Yellow Wall Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Both works, written in the late 1800s, carry examples of the age old struggle for equality. Women historically have been trivialized and seen as having “a slight hysterical tendency,” (Gilman, 1892). In “The Yellow Wall Paper”, the narrator goes mad while her husband insists that she rest all day in bed, while in The Awakening, Edna struggles to find and identity outside of her role as a mother and wife. Both women are tied to their house by the expectations of men, but this is not meant to villainize the men. Rather, it is meant to draw attention to and criticize the idea that men and women should each play into these dangerous gender roles. While some may say that this is an issue of the past, today women are still expected to fulfill those same duties as a mother and wife and those who deviate from this norm are looked down upon. One can say that they...
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...Heinrich-Heine-Universität Wintersemester 2010/11 Vertiefungsmodul Kurs: American Realism and Naturalism - Short Stories Seminarleiter: Georg Schiller Datum der Abgabe: 16.04.2011 Female Empowerment in Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” Anjana Dhir BA Englisch KF, Geschichte NF 3. Semester Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. The French – Creole society of Louisiana 4 2.1 Cultural background 4 2.2 French-Creole women 5 3. The Role of Women 6 4.1 Edna vs. Madame Ratignolle 7 3.1.1 “A Valuable Piece of Property” 7 3.1.2 Edna – The Unusual Woman 9 3.1.3 Adèle Ratignolle – The Archetype Woman 14 3.2 “Mother Woman” – The Patriarchal Ideology 16 4. Chopin’s Imagery 18 5. Conclusion - Edna’s Suicide 19 6. Bibliography 21 1. Introduction A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her. But that night she was like a little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over confidence. […] A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She...
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...In her daring novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin bravely exposes an unfamiliar attitude of feminism to an unprepared society in the form of Edna Pontellier. At the time, her work of fiction was not yet recognized as being respectable or even credible—due to the fact that the idea of feminism had not yet become popular. Since then, Edna Pontellier’s “awakening” has been viewed in a positive light by many modern feminist critics and described as an “intellectual and social” maturation or liberation of the self. However, while some of the symbols in which Edna’s “awakening”, overall progression, and personality may seem to exemplify and commendatory of classic feministic ideals and qualities—of freedom, independence, and equality, —a great many of them portray Edna and her egocentric doings as little more than selfish delusions causing her to lose a valuable, if conventional, life. Ultimately, the perverse behavior and deviant disposition exhibited by Edna—especially considering the standards of the time period she lived in—belie the very femininity attributed to her and, in my opinion, is the very antithesis of feminism. The term ‘feminism’ has many different uses and its meanings are often contested and changed throughout history. In the mid-to-late 1800’s, the time period in which the novel is set, feminism was used to refer to the “qualities of a woman”. Thus, with this definition and the context of the novel in mind, the analysis of Edna’s “qualities of a woman” becomes easier...
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...political unrest surrounding the Vietnam Conflict during the 1960s and 70s. However, equally important in this era are the women who pushed for gender role and publicly rebelled against the established social norm of a woman's "place." Although Alice Munro may not have been burning her bra on the courthouse steps, threads of a feminist influence can be found in "Boys and Girls." Munro's main character, a girl probably modeled after Munro's own childhood experiences on an Ontario farm, faces her awakening body and the challenge of developing her social identity in a man's world. "The girl," an unnamed character, acts as a universal symbol for the initiation of a girl into womanhood. Through first-person narrative, Munro shoes the girl's views of her budding femininity and social identity by describing the girl's conceptions of her parents' work, her parallel to the wild mare Flora, and the "mysterious alterations" (Munro 474) in her personal nightly stories. As if to forsake her femininity and forego a life of confinement and housework, the girl reveres her father's work and condemns her mother's duties. The sum of the girl's respect seems to lie with her father, as is evident in her reference to his work outdoors as "ritualistically important" (468). On the other hand, while the girl recognizes that her mother is busy, she still considers her mother's "work in the house [to be] [·] endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing" (468). The division between her parents' tasks is especially...
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...A Journey for the Lost Soul The Awakening by Kate Chopin was written during the 1800’s and was published in the year of 1899. During this time, the novel struck controversial subjects using a strong feminist tone, which underlined Chopin’s views on sex, marriage, and women of that period. In this novel, it is evident that freedom and feminism are used as interrelations of each other to express her feelings towards each subject. Some characters in The Awakening served as an encouraging force pushing Edna to go forth with her self-discoveries. In her journey, Edna travels through many stages of freedom to find herself; from exploring her creativity, to being freely aware of her sexually desires in the novel. Chopin uses the self-defining journey of Edna Pontellier to reveal her views of freedom as it relates to women, through a feminist lens during the 1800’s. According to Annetta Kelley, author of The Sparkle of Diamonds: Kate Chopin's Usage of Subtext in Stories and Novels, "The novel's most stirring poetic semblance is its continuous subliminal whispering of "the seductive, murmuring sea" (Kelley 334). Chopin uses Edna Pontellier to represent independence and free will, and the sea to represent Edna. She uses this character as a tool to exemplify her own thoughts on subjects such as sex, marriage, and what it is to be a free woman. The freedom Edna Pontellier desires so much throughout the novel becomes apparent to her primarily when she is at the beach with her...
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...ENGL 1102 26 November 2013 The Birds In Kate Chopin’s book, The Awakening, she expresses the account of a youthful woman who begins to live her life for herself, breaking out of the numerous obstacles set by humanity and her family during the Victorian Era. When Chopin wrote The Awakening in the 1890s, a variety of social differences and tensions, which brought women’s rights into public conversation that prompted Chopin’s narrative. In Louisiana, which is the setting for The Awakening, most women at the time were their husbands' legitimate property. In addition, this was a prominently Catholic state meaning divorce was tremendously uncommon, and women expected to stay loyal and faithful to their husbands. This explains some reactions The Awakening received in after its publication in 1899. Chopin uses symbolism as an excellent device to insert her personal views to the reader giving them a foretaste into the life of this young woman at a time when women had no political rights and many restraints. In Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” she uses a variety of birds as symbols to illuminate Edna’s journey through life. The essential significance throughout the story is the desire to break away from the traditional views of women during the Victorian Era. However, Edna struggles with the backlash she would receive if she chose to fulfill her own desires, signifying what she...
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...In her feminist novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin criticizes the sexist ideals of society. By drawing attention to the objectifying nature of 19th century marriage and romance, the confines of motherhood, and the negative reception of women’s self expression and individualism, Chopin advances her argument of the adversity women face. Throughout the novel, Chopin uses the Pontellier’s marriage- a thing of obligation to Edna, and an institution of control to Mr. Pontellier- to criticize marriage and the idea that women belong to their husbands. Chopin establishes early on that Edna, revealed to have married Mr. Pontellier to rebel against her family, feels no real love for her husband and only cares for her children somewhat despondently; she has no interest in being a tradition “mother woman.” Mr. Pontellier loves Edna,...
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...question that we most commonly ask ourselves, even in this day and age. The concept of who we are is so closely linked with what we do, that sometimes it is hard to distinguish one from the other. Motherhood from the “Realistic” point of view seems horrible! If someone were to ask me who I am, there is a whole list of words that I could use to describe myself, such as housewife, student, and caregiver. The social commentary of the late 19th century time period is just starting to look past the ideal woman, who was described as the “mother-woman,” to the version of femininity that is trying to be more of an equal with men. The definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” (MW 236). Nothing in that definition leads me to conclude, as Edna seems to believe, that motherhood is the one thing that will retard her individual growth. Although feminists claim that The Awakening by Kate Chopin portrays a woman stifled by a society controlled by men, ultimately the decision to act selfishly or selflessly belongs to Edna. There is more than one choice given in the text of who and what Edna could be. Edna could become the selfless “mother woman” that society is looking for, or the more selfishly motivated single woman who makes her own way in the world, but what Edna also fails to realize is that every individual has their own way of fulfilling each role. Edna has a concrete example of each of these roles to follow in her life, in...
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...Feminism and The Awakening Gender discrimination and feminism played a great role in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin. This novel was highly controversial when it was first published. “The Awakening deals with the condition of the nineteenth century woman in marriage, and has been more recently rediscovered and recognized as an overtly feminist text for these same reasons.” (Marquand) This novel was written during a time where a women’s place in society was at home taking care of the children and providing for the husband. This novel, contains the obstructions, the victories and the defeats that Edna dealt due to the demanding requirements of society. Society placed a lot of emphasis on women and in Edna’s case she was expected to be the perfect wife, perfect mother and bow her husband’s every need. Some women in The Awakening are complying with what society expects of women, characters such as Adele plays right into what society believes women should be. Adele is a woman who embodies what society all the qualities of what a woman-mother should be. Edna defies the expectations of society to find her own freedom. Although Edna's suicide seems to be a waste of her time and energy for her tussle against society and the status quo. The Awakening by Chopin is known as one the first feminist novels and it led the way for future feminist novelist. The Awakening lays the foundation and inspires women to take charge of their lives to get whatever they want out of life...
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...development of Janie's ideals of love and independence. As a child, Janie sees a bee pollinating a flower in the pear tree of her backyard and from there becomes determined to find true everlasting love. According to Robert Solomon, “This "traditionalist" definition of sexual identity has sometimes been associated with one or more of the following additional positions: that certain specific and "complementary" psychological attributes and social roles, specifically those of masculinity and femininity, correspond to each of these distinct biological types; that a "natural" sexual attraction exists between these two biological types; that this attraction is most naturally satisfied through the act of intercourse; and that the act of intercourse, while naturally motivated by attraction, should also be motivated by other concerns, most importantly by love and by the desire to have children within the context of marriage”(Solomon, 2434). Their Eyes are Watching God is a work of art about Janie’s sexual awakening. In the beginning, Janie is fascinated by the blossoming pear tree and begins spending ample amount of time there. The tree can be looked upon as a representation of blossoming love. The pear tree is of importance first, when Janie is only sixteen years old. Janie bases her perspective of love off of the pear tree and the relationship it has with nature. However, Nanny, Janie’s grandmother, sees Janie kiss Johnny under the pear tree and in that very second on she spent an abundance...
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...Even though the cult in this book proves to be very extraordinary, the events that transpired has proven to be an irreplaceable event in our nation’s society, because of how it has affected Americans as a whole and the uniqueness of Prophet Matthias’ imprint gives us a glimpse of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening that transpired...
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...INTRODUCTION Fifty years of ever-broadening commerce! Fifty years of ever- brightening science! Fifty years of ever-widening Empire! (Lord Tennyson, On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria) The age that followed the Romantic Age, the age of Queen Victoria, that spanned almost the whole of the nineteenth century was an age consolidation in many respects. Increase of wealth, the general prosperity of England as a whole an account of its colonial hold over other countries, immense growth in scientific and industrial development, are some of the clearly noticeable characteristics of this age. Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate of Victorian era glorifies the reign of Queen Victorian through his ode On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. On the other side of this picture of commercial and scientific expansion we see the appalling social condition of new industrial cities, the squalid slums, and the exploitation of cheap labour ,the painful fight by the enlightened to introduce social legislation and Victorians were caught between materialism and spiritualism, between realism and romanticism, peace and unrest, science and religion, mechanism and humanism .They could not give up the conventional morality or religious practices...
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...Feminist Movement Firstly, we would like to talk about the causes and the beginning of feminist movement. the About two centuries ago, human society has many changes and movements; the occurrence of human right and its acceptability, the attention of the importance of democracy, the change of production to industry, instead of agriculture, and the advance of technology. These changes and movements cause some women getting the chance of education as same as almost men, and make women working outdoor instead of doing household work. These phenomena cause people questioning about the original belief that proposes women are inferior to men, and the difference between men and women is natural matter which is unchangeable. People tried to find the reason why this belief occurred and has still endured for a long time. In addition, there is a social movement which tried to change this belief, including the condition of the inequality between men and women. This social movement is called feminism. This social phenomenon began, in 19th century, in the western side of the world, because women didn’t accept the original culture, their role in society, the inequality of gender, and the oppression of men. However, this contradiction in terms of gender has been argued up to the beginning of 20th century. Feminism has rapidly grown since the last forty years of 20th century. People become awakened to study about women in several measurements, especially in the study of the relationship...
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...Page – 02 Company Overview Tanishq is India's largest, most desirable and fastest growing jewellery brand in India. Started in 1995, Tanishq is the jewellery business group of Titan Industries Ltd - promoted by the TATA group, India's most respected and widely diversified business conglomerate. With retail sales of over Rs. 3000 crores last financial year, Tanishq has delivered value to its customers and shareholders. It is a story of a successful Indian enterprise, which has delivered value to its customers and shareholders in a complex category, marked by its completely localized front end as well as back end. Tanishq offers traditional as well as trendy designs in gold, diamond and platinum. The production and sourcing units of Tanishq create exquisite designs with faultless finish. Located at Hosur (Tamil Nadu) and Dehradun (Uttarakhand)) the 1,35,000 sq. ft. manufacturing unit is equipped with the latest and most up-to-date technology and tools. The unit also complies with the labour and environmental standards. Stringent quality standards ensure that every product at Tanishq is crafted to perfection with unmatched finish. With innovations like the karatmeter - the only non-destructive means to check the purity of gold - Tanishq introduced technology-backed challenge in the category completely governed by individual trust. The brand propagates ethical practices and provides the customer a certification of purity of material and reselling policies. Following the line of...
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