Feminist Perspective of The Awakening by Kate Chopin - Essay Example

Her interest in art is portrayed as one that directly corresponds to her lifestyle. The changes described in the novel relate to the confusion of her function as a female artist. Her ideas have made her confused resulting to the decay of her relationships and ultimately, her own death. The novel has three perspectives. The feminist perspective, historical perspective and the psychoanalytical perspective, however, we get to discuss the feminist in detail using Edna as its symbol. The feminist perspective will be discussed to portray the plight of women in the setting of this novel.

Other characters are incorporated in brief discussion to define some norms in the society. The Awakening is a novel written during a time that marriage was perceived to be a traditional rite of passage. The rules that applied then do not apply at the moment as people have evolved. Women at that time were forced to marry someone that was arranged for them. This way, the woman had no opinion on who she would marry. The father of the girl child would select a suitable husband for the girl and the girl had no alternative other than to marry the person selected for her (Chopin, 1994).

Contrary, in today’s society, women can marry whoever they want to as they have a choice. Women then were forced into loveless marriages and Edna became a victim. This was carried out to create a good picture to the society. The novel outlines the plights that the women faced. Marriage was something that suffocated them and Edna felt it was too much and that she needed to be more than just a mother and a wife. Edna did not want to settle and be like the rest of the women. She chose a different path, one that would not be restrictive to her.

This led to her denial of her role to be a mother and a wife. She portrays this rejection slowly by slowly by being against the societal and natural beliefs of motherhood that existed in her society. Edna refuses to be identified as the