Chopin's Redefining Of Gender In The Awakening

This paper examines Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, from the gender perspective. It proposes that Chopin redefines stereotypical Victorian gender ideology through characters in her work. It analyzes Chopin's characterizing of female characters and male characters respectively to prove her reconstruction of gender. These characters are instable, fractured beings whose multiply gendered identities shift as they undergo personal growth. Female characters are no longer victims of male power under the patriarchal society. They are independent, intellectual, and rational. The protagonist Edna Ponteliier even exhibits sexual awakening. Male characters are not hegemonic men. Chopin emphasizes men's meekness, passivity, and subordination.She reconstructs the gender ideology, denying the traditional feminine ideology as being passive and dependent, the masculine ideology as being hegemonic and commanding. The re-visionary stance of the novel towards gender suggests that polarized thinking of gender may not be proper. Chopin presents reconstituted gender ideology in the form of femininity and masculinity interacting with one another both distinctly and identically, and feminine gender roles and masculine gender roles exchanging with each other. Such redefining by Chopin indicates that gender ideology moves toward a harmonious system in which feminine attributes and masculine attributes are related to one another but not always opposing to each other. Sometimes they exist distinctly, and sometimes they exist identically. Chopin's redefinition is enrichment of gender ideology by endowing the feminine side with masculine characteristics and the masculine with feminine ones. Therefore, her redefinition focuses on integration not opposition. This shows the interchangeability between the feminine and the masculine in the gender ideology.