Stephen Greene
English 48B
March 3, 2011
Journal #23, Emily Toth
" --but neither one could ever expect to have a profession. St. Louis had few women's clubs or opportunities; there were no abolitionist or suffrage activities like those that occupied women in the East; and women were not allowed to attend law or medical school or St. Louis University. Kate and Kitty knew intellectual and well-educated and capable teachers and administrators among the Sacred Heart nuns--but those women were cloistered. They had taken the veil, and given up the world"(17).
"Even today, much of the criticism of Chopin's most famous work centers on Edna Pontillier's morals-- is she a fallen woman, a bad mother, a selfish human being? Why does the character still, in an era where sexual openness is not totally condemned, point us toward a discussion of what makes a woman "bad?" What does the novel say about constrictions and constructions of the feminine role, today and during the time it was written? What does the novel say about human consciousness, and conscience?"(Kate Chopin, womenwriters.net).
This passage comes from a description of Kate Chopin's early childhood growing up in St. Louis. Her best friend Kitty was from similar social and economic status, although her father was still alive and the harmony seemed intact within their family's structure. The young girls have few figures of women in high positions. There is little attention given in their community to the growing tide of feminism and the only women of any intellectual prowess or freedom that the girls seem to exposed to are nuns at Sacred Heart.
I found this quote particularly interesting because of its relation to the woman in black from "The Awakening". There is a mysterious woman in black, never introduced or fully described to the reader, that follows from a distance or tags along in various meaningful scenes. This woman counts her rosary beads and seems almost devoid of personality or character, but still significantly ominous as a figure in the background. Throughout the novel, the woman in black is often also placed alongside the two, in-described and un-introduced lovers that seem to follow Edna around in a similar manner.
Their places next to each other, the woman in black and the lovers, could be seen as either to highlight their differences and point to different paths that Edna could fallow, or, perhaps more likely, to show the almost conflicting extremes of citizens in this strict society.
If the woman in black in "The Awakening" can be seen as a religious figure and a nun, not much of a stretch since she counts rosary beads, then Edna could be seen as influenced strongly by religion. There is an undercurrent of religious themes throughout the book once read like this, and, as Kate probably discovered and felt as a child, there are points that define the figure of religion as a both a role model and something to avoid, both examples of individual freedom despite society's limitations, and as the results of someone desiring to be free, but stuck within the iron cage of society.
I feel that Kate probably took both of these messages away from observing the nuns when she was a child. She at once saw them as something to look up to; a woman that has cast aside society's shackles and devoted themselves entirely to the quest for truth and freedom, separating themselves from both social and economic pressures and constraints. However, this means that the free woman must be chaste. Something that Chopin obviously did not agree with. Her rejection of isolation from society in favor of defiance of society is clear in "The Awakening" in which Edna commits suicide as a direct result of her solitude and isolation. The pervading sexuality of the story also speaks to Kate's own opinions of what a 'free' and 'proper' woman are supposed to be. Religion does not play a huge role in either case, the story or her life, but a background one of both reproach and warning, and of encouragement and exampled success, excluding sexuality to fit into a religious theme, and not meshing well in this respect with Chopin's own attitudes.
I found this quote particularly interesting because of its relation to the woman in black from "The Awakening". There is a mysterious woman in black, never introduced or fully described to the reader, that follows from a distance or tags along in various meaningful scenes. This woman counts her rosary beads and seems almost devoid of personality or character, but still significantly ominous as a figure in the background. Throughout the novel, the woman in black is often also placed alongside the two, in-described and un-introduced lovers that seem to follow Edna around in a similar manner.
Their places next to each other, the woman in black and the lovers, could be seen as either to highlight their differences and point to different paths that Edna could fallow, or, perhaps more likely, to show the almost conflicting extremes of citizens in this strict society.
If the woman in black in "The Awakening" can be seen as a religious figure and a nun, not much of a stretch since she counts rosary beads, then Edna could be seen as influenced strongly by religion. There is an undercurrent of religious themes throughout the book once read like this, and, as Kate probably discovered and felt as a child, there are points that define the figure of religion as a both a role model and something to avoid, both examples of individual freedom despite society's limitations, and as the results of someone desiring to be free, but stuck within the iron cage of society.
I feel that Kate probably took both of these messages away from observing the nuns when she was a child. She at once saw them as something to look up to; a woman that has cast aside society's shackles and devoted themselves entirely to the quest for truth and freedom, separating themselves from both social and economic pressures and constraints. However, this means that the free woman must be chaste. Something that Chopin obviously did not agree with. Her rejection of isolation from society in favor of defiance of society is clear in "The Awakening" in which Edna commits suicide as a direct result of her solitude and isolation. The pervading sexuality of the story also speaks to Kate's own opinions of what a 'free' and 'proper' woman are supposed to be. Religion does not play a huge role in either case, the story or her life, but a background one of both reproach and warning, and of encouragement and exampled success, excluding sexuality to fit into a religious theme, and not meshing well in this respect with Chopin's own attitudes.
20/20 What an interesting idea..."I feel that Kate probably took both of these messages away from observing the nuns when she was a child. She at once saw them as something to look up to; a woman that has cast aside society's shackles and devoted themselves entirely to the quest for truth and freedom, separating themselves from both social and economic pressures and constraints."
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