Did the 1800’s Influence The Awakening?

Devon Roarick Mrs. Paquette APE 14 April 2011 Did the 1800’s Influence The Awakening? : During the 1800’s Creole society was very influential upon its population.

Creole families lived in a high-class neighborhood and owned expensive houses that were admired by many. The husband supported the family while the wife was expected to be a stay at home mother as well as an accomplished artist or musician. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is influenced by these norms of Creole society, which is realized with “artist woman” Mademoiselle Reisz, “mother woman” Adele Ratignolle, the protagonist Edna Pontellier, and her marriage to Leonce.The Pontellier’s marriage and its aspects reflects the societal norms of Creole culture in the 1800‘s. Mansions are representative of Creole culture, men used to brag about their possessions because the amount of money and expensive things they owned, was their reputation (Bauman).

In order to support his household and wealth, Leonce goes to the big city for weeks on end. Leonce and Edna have been married for six years and they still can not seem to understand eachother (Chopin).Leonce thinks that Edna has mental issues while she is just purely annoyed by him and only wants to be independent. This supports the fact that Edna and Leonce do not spend that much time together and just “use silence to communicate” (Streater 410). The Pontellier’s marriage is a perfect example of two people marrying each other just for the acceptance from society and security.

Within a Creole marriage, the husband was the boss and was “not always faithful” as well (“Creole Culture”). Edna is not receiving the physical and emotional piece of the so called “marriage. Even though this was not a common thing among Creole relationships, it is still needed in order to have a successful marriage. The mother-woman image is another stereotypical image of Creole society. Adele Ratignolle meets Edna for the first time at Grand Isle.

Even though they don’t see eye to eye, they still become friends. Edna admires Adele because she is the ultimate family woman. She is a loving and trustworthy wife who lives solely for her children and the sake of having children, which she does every two years (Chopin).The Awakening helps to reveal the amount of emphasis that this society has placed on a woman as a mother and a wife (“How does the.

.. ”). With Adele magnifying the stereotypical qualities of a mother, she represents the demands of society on women (Streater 408). Instead of being independent and living her own life, such as Mademoiselle Reisz, she “conforms to these societal standards” (Green). Chopin uses Adele to reveal the life of a Creole woman who is being taken over by her stereotypical role.

Even though Adele wants this lifestyle, she has grown up exposed to the mother-woman role unlike Edna.Edna cannot deal with that fact that to be the mother woman means a sacrifice is needed in order to care for the children. Adele realizes Edna will not sacrifice herself although she wants to be a loving mother. Mademoiselle Reisz represents the artist-woman within Creole society.

She is a good friend of Edna’s and represents the independent woman that Edna wants to be. She is a non-married, practiced musician and artist who has strong beliefs, in which Edna is the only one who is worth playing music for (Chopin 45).Mademoiselle Reisz knows that Edna understands the meaning of her music and appreciates it the most, unlike society who might take her music for granted. Many women within the 1800’s worked hard to be accomplished painters or musicians because of the pressure that society had placed on them (Walker). Mademoiselle Reisz exposes many women to the fact that you can do things for yourself and because you love to, not because of societal demands.

“Music was an important part of the city’s cultural life” (Walker).Therefore being an accomplished and dedicated artist is a good trait of Mademoiselle Reisz’s, but she is still not married and has no children (Stone). She chose this lifestyle and will always be looked down upon within society, but because of her independent character and personality, this does not bother her. Edna Pontellier is stuck in between the two most influenced roles of Creole society: the artist-woman and the mother-woman. Throughout the story Edna seeks happiness and independence, but only in death learns that she cannot posses happiness and independence simultaneously because of her lifestyle.

She attempts to break free from her life by seeking the independence that Mademoiselle Reisz possesses, but wants to be a good mother such as Adele. These women expose her to the different lifestyles that she has the ability to pursue although she is uncertain of what she wants to achieve with her life. Therefore her search for something beyond the societal norms of Creole culture, is perceived as unnatural (“How does the...

”). Influence from Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele are symbolic of the different demands of society, which Edna proves to be insufferable.In order to find independence Edna forgets her responsibilities as a wife and a mother and strives for the many social ideals of the 1800‘s, such as being an accomplished artist (Sprinkle). Because of her desire to, Edna is made a role model for thousands of women during the time period (Sprinkle). Women during the 1800’s gained their own sense of support and attempted to break free of all financial dependency on men and started to do things just for themselves not to please society (Sprinkle).

Edna finds what she is searching for, but understands that her wish for a happy and independent life is unattainable. With Edna’s character, Chopin proves that society’s pressure to be an ideal woman, can cause someone to become overwhelmed to the breaking point. When Kate Chopin wrote this novel, she was influenced by the 1800’s Creole society. If the novel were set in modern time, the characters’ actions and society’s reactions would be significantly different. These characters show how important the time period was to the development of this novel and how much it influences both Chopin and her characters.Without the societal standards of a stay at home mother or a dedicated artist, Adele Ratignole and Mademoiselle Reisz would not have been the people they were.

They contribute to Edna’s dynamic character by exposing her to the different opportunities that she can pursue within her life. Edna realizes these possibilities but notices that she cannot be fully happy while pursuing both of them. She then quickly changes from her old self into a new independent woman who is not afraid to stand up to society and do what she believes in.Without this strict Creole society, Edna’s life story would not have had such an impact to the 1800’s. Chopin is using these characters to prove that society can either make or break a person, while at the same time influence them from the very beginning.

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