The AwakeningKate Chopin

“The voice of the sea speaks to the soul.”

Biographical Information: Kate Chopin

American author

1850-1904 (Victorian era)

Creole roots on her mother’s side

Married Oscar Chopin, bore six children, widowed at 32

Chose not to remarry (despite opportunities)

Turned to writing; The Awakening was well received by female readers, but condemned by male critics

The 1890s

“The 1890s in America was a decade of social change and social tension.”

The machine age; industrialization

Darwinism

Legal segregation (Jim Crow laws) in the South

The “Women’s Movement” Final push for the vote

(which was still 30 years away)

Attending college Setting up organizations

Setting: Creole Society Creoles: born in Louisiana but

descended from the French

In New Orleans, the area north of Canal Street is referred to as the French Quarter, originally the center of wealth and refinement

Creoles imported wine, books, clothing from France, spoke in French

Catholicism figured predominantly in the Creole culture

Setting: Grand Isle Resort Resorts were becoming

more popular

During the hotter months of summer, crowded cities such as New Orleans became breeding grounds for disease and epidemics

Developers of Grand Isle targeted French Creoles for their clientele

Setting: Grand Isle Resort Grand Isle was developed

as a “home resort” – families remained for the entire summer, patriarchs joined them on weekends

Women were the principal occupants, which afforded them opportunities for independence

During the week, “surf-bathing” was the major pastime; on weekends, there were dances, gambling

Literary Realism (1850-1914)

Deals with ordinary people and situations

Focuses on the thoughts & feelings of ordinary people

Examines social problems/institutions with the aim of reforming them (morality)

Depicts people’s politically & psychologically oppressive environments

The Role of Women

The Role of WomenWomen of the

Victorian era

were idealized as the

helpmate of man,

the keeper of the

home, and the were

known as “weaker

sex.”

The Role of Women, cont’d

Women, like children, were best

“seen, but not heard,”

or as Seymour-Smith observes,

“The Victorian

middle-class wife ...

was admired upon her

pedestal of moral superiority

only so long as

she remained there

silently.”

Legal Status of Women in Victorian Society

Married women were the legal property of their husbands

The wife, by law, was bound to “live with her husband and follow him wherever he [chose] to reside”

Divorce was a scandalous and rather rare occurrence (23 per 100,000 people in 1890)

Women who did divorce were ostracized by polite society.

Legal Status of Women, cont’d

In custody disputes,

courts routinely

granted

permanent custody

of children

to the father.

Coverture(sometimes spelled couverture)

A legal doctrine whereby, upon marriage, a woman's legal rights and obligations were subsumed by those of her husband.

Coverture prohibited a married woman from being a party in a lawsuit, sitting on a jury, holding property in her own name, or writing a will.

Excerpts from “Decorum: A Practical Treatise on Etiquette and Dress of the

Best American Society” (1886)

“Never let your husband have cause to complain that you are more agreeable abroad than at home”

“A lady walks quietly through the streets, seeing and hearing nothing that she ought not to see and hear . . . she never talks loudly, or does anything to attract the attention of passers-by.”

“Do not accept an invitation to visit any place of public amusement with a gentleman . . . unless there is another lady also invited.”

Excerpt from “Hill’s Manual of Social and

Business Forms” (1888)

“Whatever have been the cares of the day, greet your husband with a smile when he returns. Make your personal appearance just as beautiful as possible. Let him enter rooms so attractive and sunny that all the recollections of his home, when away from the same, shall attract him back.”

Chopin’s Signature Style

Controlled, perceptive, precise

Emphasis on character rather than plot

Attention to food, costume, reading, visiting, entertaining, leisure activities, the details of everyday life

Presumption that reader will understand to what extent Edna Pontellier repeatedly flouts social convention

What is Literary Criticism?Literary criticism is the discipline of

interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating works of literature

Interpreting: What does this work of literature mean?

Analyzing: How does this piece of literature work?

Evaluating: Is this work of literature effective?

What’s a Literary Theory? In literary criticism, a theory is the

specific method, approach, or viewpoint that a reader uses in reading and evaluating literature

Each theory serves as a sort of lens through which a reader approaches a work.

Purposeful reading and decoding according to a specific lens, viewpoint, approach; identifying particular elements and meanings that emerge based on that lens, view, perspective

Just as there are many types of lenses, there are many types of literary theories.

Common Literary TheoriesReader Response Criticism

Historical Criticism

Psychological Criticism

Archetypal Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Political Criticism

Formalist Criticism

Feminist CriticismOverview

The main goal of feminist criticism is to promote equality by ensuring the fair representation of women in texts (arguable, much of our literary record reflects a masculine bias and consists of texts written by males with male protagonists and concerns)

Men have defined literature and the “masterpieces”

Women, constrained by social and economic limitations, have been excluded from the literary canon

Feminist CriticismTypical feminist criticism questions

What stereotypes of women are present? Are female characters oversimplified? Weak? Foolish? Excessively naive?

Do the female characters play major or minor roles in the action of the work? Are they powerless or strong? Subservient or in control?

If the female characters have any power, what kind is it? Political? Economic? Social? Psychological? Are women represented fairly and fully in this literary work?

Does any gender stereotyping or ‘silencing’ affect the overall effectiveness of the text?

How does the text’s treatment of sexual roles and relationships perpetrate or subvert our ideas of what is masculine and what is feminine?