The Brave Souls That Defy On A Room With A View And The Awakening

E. M. Forster's 1908 novel A Room with a View and Kate Chopin's 1899 novel The Awakening seem to be quite different novels regarding the writers, the motif and the theme. But a close reading reveals that both novels recognize and explore the timeless conflict between individual autonomy and social conformity. As put by Kate Chopin, "[t]o succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul, the brave soul, the soul that dares and defies." Though living in different countries and culture, Lucy in A Room with a View and Edna in The Awakening face similar repressive forces and theyare confined or enslaved to similar social norms which combine patriarchy and Puritanism. With great courage and effort, they choose to seek their selfhood andindividuality when they are awakened sexually, intellectually and emotionally. Interestingly enough, we can observe the theme of "awakening" in A Room with a View and likewise we can discern the theme of "room" and "view" in The Awakening.The thesis aims to make an analysis of the two novels using corresponding theories about the society and the individual and to examine the ideologies or thoughts which influence Forster and Chopin. A Room with a View and The Awakening are much more than female stories. It is more about how one establishes his /her social construct within his/her life experience and how he/she copes with the contradiction between the individual and the society .Confronted with the conflict between social conformity and individual autonomy, Lucy and Edna voice the ethos of individual liberty; the awakened soul cease to comply with other's expectations and follow the promptings of their own nature. They transcend the conventional social bondage before making the conscious strive for self-autonomy. They both possess the brave souls that dare and defy.