Essay on The Importance of Male Characters to Kate Chopin

The Importance of Male Characters to Kate Chopin Why and how does she use them? Kate Chopin is an author who examines the position of women in 19th century Louisiana. She describes their plight, living in a society designed by men, one that confines women’s behavior. It was imperative for Kate Chopin to highlight her male characters, as they ultimately are responsible for her heroines’ actions. The â€Å"Awakening† and â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† are two examples that deal with the issues resulting from a male dominant society, though the stories vary in their approach. Men and marriage are however the common factors that symbolize the obstacles that Kate Chopin’s women face. In â€Å"The Awakening† Edna, the main character enjoys being†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"He fell in love, as men are in habit of doing and pressed his suit with an earnestness and ardor which left nothing to be desired.† (p.31) Pontellier courts Edna with great love and passion, trying to win her heart. When Edna decided to regain control of her life she had â€Å"a feeling of exultation† which â€Å"overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul.† (p.43-44) Pushing her quest for independence to the limit â€Å"she grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.† (p. 43-44) Throughout â€Å"The Awakening† Edna longs to get away from her husband and attain total freedom of body and mind. She therefore, tries to escape her marriage through friends, music and love affairs. Reflecting on her life, Edna views her husband â€Å"like a person whom she married without love as an excuse.† (p.110). Furthermore, she looks at men as convincing and sly, who try to trap women with their love. In the end, as Edna feels that she has gained control of her life, she leans her head against the high-backed chair and spreads her arms like one whoShow MoreRelatedThe Unique Style Of Kate Chopin s Writing1603 Words   |  7 PagesThe unique style of Kate Chopin’s writing has influenced and paved the way for many female authors. Although not verbally, Kate Chopin aired political and social issues affecting women and challenging the validity of such restrictions through fiction. Kate Chopin, a feminist in her time, prevailed against the notion that a womanà ¢â‚¬â„¢s purpose was to only be a housewife and nothing more. Kate Chopin fortified the importance of women empowerment, self-expression, self-assertion, and female sexuality throughRead MoreFor centuries man has been considered to be the dominate species. Writings throughout history1100 Words   |  5 Pagessanity. Importance on being portrayed as the â€Å"perfect† women or housewife could have also been a factor. The late nineteenth century the author, Kate Chopin, brought to the surface truth underneath women with the use of her stories. Many considered this to be madness, because of the content in her writings. As Aristotle once said ‘â€Å"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.† (Goodreads) Madness is behavior or thinking that is very foolish or dangerous. (Mariam-Webster) Kate ChopinRead MoreThe Awakening By Kate Chopin And The House On Mango Street1732 Words   |  7 PagesAwakening by Kate Chopin and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, spearheaded movements for freedom by tackling the prejudice of gender roles, expressing through their novels’ characters and experiences the arguments for individual freedom and the challenges that must be conquered to achieve those goals for future generations. The Awakening by Kate Chopin was written at the end of the nineteenth century in a time where freedom was granted based off of a bias: only white males could trulyRead MoreThe Importance Of A Women And The Hierarchy Of A Male1639 Words   |  7 PagesOne famous author that has been able to gain a vast audience is Kate Chopin. She has publish many short stories such as â€Å"Story of an Hour†,† A Pair of Silt Stockings†, â€Å"A Respectable Women†, â€Å"Desiree s Baby† and â€Å"The Storm† . These stories causes people to question whether their assumptions of a novel is correct. Two major theme that Chopin promotes throughout most of her work, is the importance of a women and the hierarchy of a male. These stories all have different story lines but share a commonRead MoreThe Female Role in William Faulkners â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† Katherine Mansfields â€Å"Miss Brill,† and Kate Chopins â€Å"The Storm.†1329 Words   |à ‚  5 PagesReading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkners â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† Katherine Mansfields â€Å"Miss Brill,† and Kate Chopins â€Å"The Storm,† the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of them simply because of their gender. Curry believes that Faulkner displays the story of â€Å"A Rose for Emily† through scenes of gender differences. The beginning of the story shows the motivational split between men and women.Read MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1553 Words   |  7 Pagesevident throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Chopin uses contrasting characters such as Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle to further embody the differing aspects of feminism. Adele Ratignolle represents the ideal woman of the time period, a mindless housewife working to serve her family, whereas Edna signifies an independent and daring woman who does not conform to society’s beliefs. These two women’s differing characteristics and personalities allow Chopin to further compare and contrast theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Story Story Of An Hour 1388 Words   |  6 Pagesnever lived to their full potential. In the short story, â€Å"Story of an Hour† the main character; Mrs. Mallard displays the ongoi ng struggles of what women during the eighteenth century had to go through. Men often had patriarchal values and dictated what type of behavior and traditional roles women had to follow that was deemed acceptable during this time. A patriarchal society is as follows, â€Å" consists of a male-dominated power structure throughout organized society and in individual relationshipsRead More The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper2395 Words   |  10 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopins story The Awakening and Charlotte Perkins Gilmans story The Yellow Wallpaper draw their power from two truths: First, each work stands as a political cry against injustice and at the socio/political genesis of the modern feminist movement. Second, each text is a gatekeeper of a new literary history. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman seem to initiate a new phase in textual history where literary conventions are revised to serve an ideology representative of theRead MoreThe Awakening : Evaluating The Core Values Of The Nineteenth Century1203 Words   |  5 PagesThe Awakening: Evaluating The Core Values of the Nineteenth Century In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier exists as the embodiment of the feminist ideas that stand as outliers in the midst of the more traditional nineteenth century beliefs. Set in 1899 near the end of this generation, Chopin’s work explores the shared attitudes of most of the novel’s cast as they respond to Edna’s search for independence and freedom, an action that challenges her conservativeRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1875 Words   |  8 Pagessocial, and economic equality to men.† The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, was written in 1890 during the height of the women s suffrage movement, and essentially the public felt that the author â€Å"went too far† due to â€Å"the sensuality† of the protagonist (Toth 1). The â€Å"male gatekeepers† that scrutinized her work saw her piece as a statement that â€Å"the husband is a drag†, and that traditional American values should be forgot ten (Toth 1). In truth, Chopin did not think that American values, such as motherhood