Plight of Women in Chopin\'s Works Kate

Plight of Women in Chopin's Works

Kate Chopin was master at creating female characters that lived out of their own time. Chopin was not what we may truly call a feminist by modern standards but she did attempt to give the women in her fiction the freedom they did not have in her time. Two stories that emphasize the female character and her lack are "The Story of an Hour" and "The Awakening." Louise and Edna are victims of society and, in the end, they never seek the freedom they deserve. These women are portraits of a time gone by that we would do well to remember lest we repeat similar mistakes.

Chopin knew what women went through and she used fiction to bring attention to it. She was writing to an audience that was not quite ready to read what she wanted to say but her message was important because she was speaking for a group of women that had no voice. Per Seyersted states that Chopin felt women "largely had the same drives as man and therefore also should have his 'rights'"(Seyersted). Women in the nineteenth century were not expected to be much than mothers and wives. We see this demonstrated in "The Awakening" with Edna suffering from depression. Her freedom comes second to her family and she realizes that with a family, she cannot achieve the kind of life she wants. Edna is not strong enough to overthrow the constraints of society, so they are bound to crush her. when she discovers this, she is sees no way out but suicide. Interestingly, as she wades into the water, she does not feel compelled by love to go back to her family. She means "to think of them; that determination had driven into her soul like a death wound -- but not tonight. To-morrow would be the time to think of everything" (Chopin Awakening 148). In short, she does not want the life she has with them.

In "The Story of an Hour," Louise is in a similar situation because she is not free to experience the kind of life she wants. She cannot even go outside her home. Brentley keeps her in their home under lock and key while he goes to work and runs errands. All of her life occurs in this house. She goes to her room to digest the news of Brentley's death. The small room in which she lives her entire life represents the oppression of women in her day and age. The excitement Louise feels when she realizes she is free is a symbol of freedom. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, she sees a chance to live a different life. She sees a life without an overbearing man in it and she is excited. She realizes love is not worth the "possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being" (636). She has a bright future and she cannot wait to get to it. The vision of Brentley walking thourgh the door is nothing but a knife through her heart because it kills her dreams and her passion all at once.