Kate Chopin

Melanie Freeman
English 48B
March 4, 2009
Kate Chopin: The Awakening

Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis in 1851 into an aristocratic family. Upon her wedding to Oscar Chopin, Kate moved to New Orleans and became a member of the Louisiana Creole social scene. She did not begin to her writing career until after her husband's sudden death in the early 1880s. With a plantation to run and six children to take care of, Kate often wrote very quickly and efficiently. Kate Chopin is often described as a regional writer who recreates and memorializes the Old South and Creole culture. Her most famous work, The Awakening, not only describes the Creole culture but tells the story of a woman's series of self discoveries. Although The Awakening was harshly criticized for being vulgar upon its first publication in 1899, it is now a staple in many English classes for its depiction of the changing definition of what a woman is.

"At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life- that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions" (15).

Summary:
At this point in the novel, the reader has been introduced to Edna Pointellier as the wife of a wealthy, Creole businessman who is spending the summer on vacationing at the Grand Isle, a celebrated Creole resort. From the very beginning of the novel, Edna has experienced emotional distress but cannot pin point the source. She has been attempting to self examine her own feelings but is yet to see things clearly. Although she has been enjoying her time at the Grand Isle, she senses that she is on the verge of an emotional breakdown or a major change in her own feelings.

Response:
In one session of examination, Edna experiences one of many self realizations. Edna ponders on the idea of a dual life, which she feels she has always led. On the outside, she has conformed to society's expectations of a woman. She has married a wealthy man and maintained a comfortable existence and given birth to several children. However, this role Edna has been forced to play is far from who she truly is.

This double life Edna describes in context of "the woman question" is very similar to the double consciousness W.E.B. Du Bois describes regarding "the negro question". It seems that when groups of people are opressed by others due to stereotypes are prejudice, a double consciousness forms in response. On one hand, these women or blacks must act as society expects in order to be accepted at all. However, internally they know they are not being true to themselves. Society does not allow them to express their true feelings and therefore must keep these feelings hidden within.

Although Edna does not suffer economically as much as the black populations from this time, her opression takes a different form. The requirement she feels to represent a certain image becomes emotionally damaging and leads Edna to a point of breakdown. I predict the "awakening" Edna will experience will be once she is able to shed her dual life and live her one life honestly.