Achieving A New Femininity

Kate Chopin is an American writer in the late nineteenth century. Her main work The Awakening concentrates on a woman's (Edna's) needs to know and express her inner being, and her struggle to reject the chains imposed on her by convention and social morality. Chopin endeavors to uncover the realities of modern woman's aspirations and predicament, and her major theme is therefore the fulfillment of personhood.This thesis mainly deals with Edna's awakening to her inner self and her consciousness of the idea that a fully life can be achieved only when one's inner being is integral with one's outer roles and relationships. The first chapter is about Edna's growing awareness of the inadequacy of her existence. Through the intercourse with friends and exposition to the joy of music and swimming, Edna's formerly repressed self awakens. The happiness and freedom of being a completed person encourages her to a further exploration. Her revolutionary behavior and experiment are illustrated in the second chapter. She breaks through the conventional sphere of wifehood and motherhood to seek for a harmonious sexuality beyond marital life. She also develops the ability of speaking out her own feelings and ideas. It is truly revolutionary for women since they have been deprived of the right of discourse for centuries. The third chapter focuses on Edna's subversion of the social convention and her pursuit of independence through working and living by herself. In solitude, she comes to a thorough understanding of the reality she confronts and realizes that she can no longer purchase a balanced life in the conventional society. Therefore, she enters into the sea to fulfill her spiritual longing for a complete self.Chopin presents us an emancipating Edna who challenges and subverts the patriarchal dogmas. In the male-dominated society, it is quite difficult for women to obtain the freedom of living as authentic individuals. But Edna's awakening to the essential rights of women prophets the new lives women can achieve through their continuous struggles.