Feminist Revision

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that works about women written by men are frequently compared to later works written by women. There is a clear line of reasoning in many cases that the later works are attempts by women to seek redress for the manner in which their gender was depicted in the earlier work. The writer points out that there is a clear sense that two works that deserve comparison on this theme are Gustave Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' and the much shorter novella Kate Chopin's 'The Awakening'. In both works the point of view and lead character are that of a woman, seeking redress in a provincial world for a life that did not meet the expectations she had set for herself or her life in her youth. The writer maintains that to argue that 'The Awakening' is a feminist revision of 'Madame Bovary', requires a deeper analysis of plot and scenes within the works as well as narrative style and method and lastly the representation of the heroine in each work.

From the Paper:

"Her last moments of life are spent in fear, as she sees an old blind poet, from her past standing near her window. Her death scene is then followed closely by funereal preparations and many descriptive details, described to her husband of the vast level of degradation she had experienced prior to her death. The point of view, switches contemptuously from Emma to her husband who unravels her infidelity and lack of providence, bit by bit, changing the perception of her death and her life accordingly.
"In comparison, Edna, in The Awakening takes her life by swimming into the gulf to far for any chance of return, has a clean introspective death, where she discovers herself and challenges her roles. She came to the realization that she no longer had longing fro her own life, and she had been unable to fulfill her desires as an independent artist."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chopin, Kate. The Awakening, (Norton Critical Edition). 2nd edition. New York: Norton, 1993.
• Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary: Life in a Country Town. Trans. Gerard Hopkins. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

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