"The Awakening"

Paper Summary:

This paper details the oppressive lives that women led in the 1800's and tells the tale of one married woman and how she coped. In "The Awakening", the protagonist discovers her sense of individuality and her sexual passions and has an affair in order to fulfill these needs. She becomes awakened and more aware of herself and leaves her husband. This paper also includes a critique of "The Awakening" by Woman's Rights movements.

From the Paper:

"The Awakening, which might have been more aptly titled, The Sexual Awakening shocked the delicate and rigid sensibilities of Kate Chopin's contemporaries of 1899, although many of those contemporaries were slowly experiencing awakenings of their own. In telling the story of a married woman who begins to realize that she is an individual human being, rather than a nonentity made up of female roles assigned by a male-dominated society, Chopin immediately struck resonant chords and rocked an already unbalanced boat. Rarely is such extreme reaction achieved unless the subject matter has deep roots tapping into the unspoken truth, and in this situation, the truth being dealt with was that of female oppression."

More papers on "The Awakening":

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• Analytical Essay # 8142 : "The Awakening" and Women's Suffrage"

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