A study of the female protagonists in Chopin’s The Awakening, The Storm, and At the ‘Cadian Ball; and how they rejected the boundaries set for them by patriarchy, reversed gender roles and were strong female characters.
“Our demand is not for equality. Who wants to be like men! We are trying as women to define ourselves. We not only reject the definitions that men have given us, but reject becoming like men.” –NY Radical Women. Most are well aware that Kate Chopin is associated with the canon of feminist literature; however the extent of her revolutionary thought is mainly concerned with her female protagonist breaking free from her stereotype as created by society. Chopin dethroned the male head of patriarchy by creating women that took control of their own lives. The interaction between literature and politics is evident when Chopin’s controversial stories are published and receive a wide array of criticism. Although it was written in 1898, the same year as The Awakening, Chopin did not even attempt to have the risqué short story The Storm published in her lifetime as a result of her understanding that the conflict between society and literature would be problematic. By observing feminism in Kate Chopin’s writing in a historical context to determine to what extent feminism is present and endorsed; one can achieve better understanding in how the issues of feminism are addressed, received, and the issues’ effects and consequences in a patriarchal setting, within and without Chopin’s writing. It evidently causes the need for reevaluation of the female gender by society. Chopin has presented feminism in a manner in which its reception is questionable and supporting certain stances which her characters took in her writing that weren’t in accordance with societal expectations of women which addresses feminism in her time, created characters that reject and defy the boundaries set by the confining system of patriarchy; furthermore, the reversal of gender role in her writing as a political statement in addition to a literary device causes the validity of the perception of the female gender to be put in question. If Chopin’s writing is understood to be revolutionary, her works can be read in a more appropriate contextual manner and the intended meaning in relationship to feminism and criticisms of society can be inferred by the reader. As a result of Chopin’s portrayal of women, this began to cast the sex in a different light than patriarchy had wanted to perceive them and blurred the lines of the female gender that had been established. Chopin mixes support with criticisms for her character’s actions; however, the nature of the actions causes her writing to encounter difficulty in its reception by patriarchy. If it is understood what is occurring in Chopin’s writing, specifically The Awakening, The Storm and At The ‘Cadian Ball, then new significance in how Chopin herself had affected feminism by addressing issues that patriarchy refused to acknowledge existed.
Relationship of Patriarchy and Feminism Within and Without Chopin A patriarchal base is laid in ‘The Awakening’ in the very beginning of the novel when Mr. Pontellier looks at her as if she were a “piece of personal property that had been damaged in some way” and at the mention of Edna’s wedding bands in his possession. This reflects the mindset of the patriarchal male, in this case, the protagonist’s husband, an important recognition into realizing the reasons behind Edna’s feeling stifled and bound. Chopin undermines the patriarchy that is presented in her own writings, either by creating a cunning female protagonist or portraying patriarchy as a negative concept through the actions of her characters. In ‘The Awakening,’ Chopin’s protagonist Edna undermines the patriarchal belief system which surrounds her. The ideals of patriarchy regarding woman is that she is a cold, passionless creature, who is incapable of many emotions and thoughts that men may have. Edna Pontellier, is Chopin’s response to this ideology, showing that a woman can be everything that a man can: deceptive, independent, passionate, vulgar, distraught and burdened. The personality which Edna was given shows the multifaceted identity of women that men did not want to acknowledge existed. The mere character of Edna undermines patriarchy in ‘The Awakening;’ however, she cannot escape from its existence, and recognizing that she will be forever trapped, she commits suicide. By killing herself, Edna either ultimately defies the patriarchy, and yet it has defeated her. The character ‘Edna’ reflects the experience of extraordinary women in a time when males dominated the culture. A key difference between Chopin and her creation Edna is the factor of success versus failure. Chopin’s career can be considered as successful, but only after her death; her works now featured as contemporary canon of ante bellum American literature. Edna however, mirrors the outcome of many women who attempted to surmount patriarchy, ending in failure to overcome society. The Awakening is considered as feminist theory because Edna’s journey is contingent solely upon her gender, the events occurring as they did only as a result of Edna’s being female. Edna experiences isolation from society, however finds solace in nature. Ecofeminism incorporates a woman’s close tie to nature and its ability to provide spiritual empowerment to women. Nature’s appearance in The Awakening is in Edna’s connection to the sea which provides her empowerment to begin her self discovery. Edna relates to nature through the sea, which can be explained by ecofeminist beliefs that both woman and nature are reduced to object status under a patriarchal system. Klein supports her ecofeminist argument by claiming that a “parallel between the condition of women and nature under patriarchy” exists. (Paragraph: 7) Edna and the sea are both equally disregarded in her society; therefore it is sensible that the sea would lead her into her awakening. Ecofeminism can also explain the choice to use a storm as a symbol of Calixta’s adultery. A parallel between the actions of Calixta and height of her passion are conveyed by the violence and changing nature of the storm. The sea is speaking to Edna, and its voice that seemingly only Edna hears has a sensual quality. The sensuality can be explained as the allure of emancipation from patriarchal confinement. Edna has a relationship with the sea in that their discourse initiates her awakening, and her awakening ends in the sea. It is what excites Edna, a similar objectified item that is seemingly living and whispers to her, and tempts her into finding the freedom that the objectified woman desires. Calixta has a relationship with nature, however not as correspondent as that of Edna with the sea. Calixta does not interact with the storm; rather her actions imitate the storm. As the storm intensifies Calixta’s desire for Alcee re-emerges and becomes uncontainable. The level of passion between the adulterers increases as does the violence of the storm, shown best when a lightning bolt pushes them together and the longing is consummated in action. At the peak of the sexual act the storm similarly peaks. Although it is not the primary focus of the short story, Chopin is displaying a relationship between woman and nature. Ecofeminism asserts that a woman’s strength is in nature, and to establish her own inner strength, a woman must shed the confines of patriarchy. In order to discover herself, each protagonist must realize that she is surrounded by something that will not allow her growth; and that that thing which inhibits her must also be eliminated, or destroyed. Calixta and Edna are both confined women in the sense that the patriarchal system in which they live disregards and discounts their humanity as a result of their genetic sex, and the gender role which they chose to fit. In Chopin’s writings, each woman must deconstruct what she knows to find a different part of herself. That deconstruction is either methodical like Edna’s, or spontaneous like Calixta’s. Jehlen states that a woman must “destroy in order to create.” (82) In order to “create” herself, both Edna and Calixta must deconstruct the values that surround the patriarchal system in order to experience awakening or a different reality. Although the reality into which both women emerge is one that they have created for themselves, and one that only works exclusively for them. The Awakening is unique in that it features a woman engaged in an adult emotional relationship. Edna is also set out to be unique in the text she is described as ‘stand(ing) alone.’ Edna recognizes that she is in fact different, revealed in her thoughts and specifically in a dialogue with Alcee Arobin where she tells him that she is a ‘wicked specimen of the species.’ Despite her uniqueness, Edna still falls prey to fantasy. The romanticized French Creole society around her bathes women in fantasy of domesticity; however, Edna chooses her own fantasy of freedom and emancipation.
Rejection of Patriarchy by the Protagonists of “The Storm” and “The Awakening” It was not only through her subject matter that Kate Chopin differed from her peers and predecessors: she wrote in a stylistic language of her own, distinctly woman, separating her from her male contemporaries. Chopin could easily write about her character’s struggles against patriarchy, for she battled it herself throughout her career as an author. As a female author in a predominately male field Chopin’s ideas were difficult to acknowledge, or even be respected. To believe that a female was in the same sexual standing as men was incomprehensible, thus hindering her career. Being a woman and writing about female interests caused Chopin hardship during her lifetime creating a respectable career. Men, and some women, were not prepared to accept the material presented by Chopin. According to Gubar and Gilbert, the female author’s conflict with patriarchy was “seemingly futile” and viewed being female as a “painful obstacle.” (49-50) Chopin created characters which defied the patriarchal system in which they lived, similarly, Chopin set her self apart from the patriarchal world of writing. Chopin was also isolated for her subject material and the fact that she was a woman. Fortunately, she did not need the money, for her and her husband (deceased when she began writing) had created a modest income. Like Chopin, Edna Pontellier futilely struggled against the patriarchal society in which she lived, and her character may be an expression of Chopin’s struggles in her career. Both Calixta and Edna reject the roles given them by the societies around them, through similar and dissimilar means: Calixta rebels solely by committing adultery, whereas Edna commits adultery in addition to several other acts which reject the definition of womanhood as defined for her by society. According to Phyllis Chesler, this would constitute both women falling subject to madness as defined by the patriarch of society - “Madness is the rejection, either partial or total of one’s sex role stereotype.” Calixta and Edna both defy the conception of woman as silent and subordinate, for they are neither. By purchasing a separate home, and having the audacity to host dinner parties within, Edna is flagrantly insubordinate; and her insubordination is therefore far from silent. Calixta, similarly is insubordinate; however, her insubordination is through a covert act, making the act itself ‘silent’ to cognizance. Felman states that the woman has been reduced by man to the status of a “silent and subordinate object” (7) Generally, characterized as outcast type characters in literature and society, ‘madwomen’ are featured as the protagonists in Chopin’s writing. The sociological sexism predominant to the patriarchal societies in which Calixta and Edna lived established their characters as being unique; however the uniqueness was not correlated as a positive attribute to their personage, but as a waywardness to be pitied. Madam Ragtinolle, the portrayal of the ideal patriarchal woman of society in ‘The Awakening’ coddles Edna, and is concerned for her well being and her children as if Edna were not capable of doing so herself. Mdm. Ragtinolle is the narrative device to sympathetically portray a direct interaction of patriarchy with the characters it perceives as helpless and naïve, like Edna. Although Edna is seemingly satisfied in her progressive rebirth; the systematic viewing of patriarchy would be that of Edna as a deprived individual, for she is not indulging herself in the provisions which it (patriarchy) has set forth and offered. Chopin varies from the principles of patriarchy in that men are not the possessors. Men do not direct the destinies of neither Edna nor Calixta. Edna and Calixta both have a man who holds influence, but by their own willingness to allow that element of control. Edna is influenced by Robert, whom she believes she is in love with, and his reactions to her, including his rejection of allowing her to love him affect Edna. This effect on Edna is not the application of patriarchy, for Robert was neither her husband, nor a lover. Calixta’s destiny is influenced by Alcee merely by his presence during the time of the storm. The passions resulting between them were from a previous romantic encounter which was initiated by both wills. Neither woman succumbs to patriarchy in their acts of rebellion; however both realize that they cannot escape it. Calixta, in the end of ‘The Storm’ reverts to the acceptance of patriarchy as dominant of her lifestyle in that she, in subconscious compensation for her adultery, performs the domesticated acts of cooking for her husband and son. Calixta before the affair is portrayed as a figure of domesticity in that Bobinot refers to her keeping the house in dialogue with Bibi at the store, she is sewing before the storm, and that she is rushing to tend to Bobinot’s clothing prior to the storm’s arrival. She is silently insubordinate; outside, the picture of patriarchal womanhood, but internally Calixta houses ideals which conflict with society’s image of her definition. This internalized rebellion has caused Calixta to create for herself a new dimension of her life inside her own mind that is real; however, because it conflicts with the external reality of how patriarchy, her husband, perceives her, she must keep her new reality privatized to herself and her lover. Calixta’s new reality completely disregards the values of patriarchy which is that of a married woman carrying out passionate sexual relations with another man and brings Calixta into a new era of being. This is considered a reality in that it is in fact real, and happening to the character. Edna similarly creates the death of patriarchy in her own life by disregarding and disengaging from that society and its beliefs and exchanging them for her own. By having women creating for themselves their own realities, it portrays a strengthened side of woman that men did not want to acknowledge, much less accept. Man’s refute and rejection therefore reinforce Chopin’s ideology that women, especially those who are unique, are oppressed by the society in which they live. Marriage was the main patriarchal institution which Chopin wrote her characters to be confined by and to defy. Edna Pontellier of ‘The Awakening’ was not a traditional woman of 19th century Creole society, and defies the patriarchal belief system of having a man at the center point and control of her life by making a life of her own, daringly separate of her husband. A main concept of ‘The Awakening’ is the confinement that Edna experiences through her marriage. Edna Pontellier too greatly loved the idea of a non-patriarchal life, and being impossible while having association with society of any kind, even friendships, the recognition of the incapability to attain her desire drove her to her death. LeMarquand claims that which we love too violently ends by killing us and ‘The Awakening’ explores that very notion. (paragraph: 27) By classifying marriage as confining in 1898, Chopin was breaking revolutionary and controversial grounds in a patriarchal dominated society. In addition to her rejection of marriage, another separation of Edna from the other women of her time is characterized in her role as a mother. Mostly growing up without her mother, who died when Edna was young, Edna herself does not understand the role of a true maternal figure. Her lack of concern for her children, who are mentioned less and less as Edna experiences rebirth, shows a lack of emphasis on motherhood as a priority in Edna’s life. By moving out of her husband’s house, Edna is taking an action that is almost unfathomable: for all women lived with their children, in the house provided for them by their husband. Although it is her husband’s money which provides for Edna’s separate house, that is not the home in which her and Mr. Pontellier and made for themselves. The new residence does not even include the presence of her husband or children; therefore Edna’s separate house is completely severed from the roles of her domestic life as a wife and mother. Although she had already consciously determined to reject society, Edna’s acts were so emboldened that a level of spontaneity and lack of consideration were necessary for her to perform them. Edna is highly impulsive and wants no way other than her own; her way is such that she refuses to accept the social norms. By allowing herself to awaken and seemingly wander in her thought processes without holding any specific objective in mind Edna is setting herself up for destruction. She recognizes it at points, particularly when describing a childhood memory of wandering in a field on impulse. Although she recognizes the fallacies in her thought processes and herself as a specimen that society will never accept, she continues onward in her endeavors. According to Sullivan and Smith, Edna is not to be admired for acting upon her artistic and sexual impulses. The reinforcement of Edna’s liberation is not found in her suicide at the end of the novel, however displays her “wanton self-destructiveness.” (148) A level of disappointment is experienced when it is understood that Edna’s actions are more impulsive than methodical, however seriousness and depth of Edna’s thoughts of awakening and her emotions tied to it are an aspect of her that is distinguishing and admirable. In spite of the heroine aspect of Edna’s character, she ultimately fails to overcome patriarchy as a lack of methodical thinking being applied to her awakening. Although the tendencies of patriarchy are likely to blame for Edna’s downfall, her lack of organized thought was also a contributor. According to Thornton, the society in which Edna lived only gave enough freedom to women to tempt them or satisfy them. Society did not meet the needs of Edna, but rather confined them; therefore, Edna Pontellier turned to inward contemplation as a source of personal satisfaction which led her into conflict with her French Creole society, and would eventually conflict with her own contentedness of existence. In general women were satisfied, however, Edna was a unique individual of her society and isolated in many ways, ultimately physically and socially. The society being ‘solidly conventional’ reveals the existence of patriarchy in that the society is following traditional gender roles. The deception of Creole Society which seems to accord women with greater latitude than it is willing to grant. That women could smoke cigarettes, listen to men tell risqué stories, and read French novels soon appears as only a veneer covering a solidly conventional society that titillated itself with flourishes of libertinism. (86) Gender Roles present themselves in the Awakening in the form of being the initiation of need to rebel. The realization by Edna as being ‘personal property’ caused her to feel an oppression and a need to rebel against the society which condoned that oppression. Ironically, the gender role is not escaped despite Edna’s attempts in that Robert is how Edna first discovers her need to rebel. Edna later determines that she is her only source of liberation, and swims out into the ocean, the ultimate reversal of gender role. Edna continues reaching for it herself; however she cannot find the satisfaction that her romantic illusion has created for her therefore her act of swimming out into the sea is the recognition that society has no place for her. (88) By creating a character which provides Edna with support (Mme. Reisz), Chopin is advocating the free spirit of Edna’s new self which she is discovering by giving a characterized support. Mme. Reisz is the confidant of Edna which plays her the music where she temporarily finds her escape. The ultimate point to which Edna is driven, she goes alone, without a friendship supporting her, and thus Chopin’s statement that suicide as escape of society induced gender oppression is not the proper response. As Edna reaches to develop herself, she becomes increasingly detached from reality. As Edna attempts to get away from the romanticism of her Creole society, she falls into another form created by herself. By defying society, Edna recognizes who she is as defined by herself and society, and she is temporarily set free by it; however because there is no place for her, her awakening becomes a burdensome fact which makes her miserable to the point of death. Chopin conveys the benefits of the liberated woman along with the personal detriments especially if the liberation is against the societal norms. By overly depending on the world which liberation provides and detaching from reality, Edna had created for herself something that was unattainable and therefore unbearable.
Sexuality and the Strong Female Protagonist The strong female protagonist can be viewed as either revolutionary and heroine, or as foolish and immoral. Although Calixta may seem to be a character with endorsed actions because of her boldness, she is criticized by Chopin. In ‘The Awakening,’ the quantity of Edna’s friendships throughout her journey of self discovery reflects the amount of support which is given her actions. As Edna grows as a character, she is eventually narrowed down to a single friendship and then left to herself. Chopin presents an indefensible moral position that she portrays in her prose, seemingly a proponent of the act, but with in depth reading, the action is criticized and weakened. Berkove believes that Chopin’s extraordinary skill is her ability to subtly undercut bold but morally untenable positions that she has sympathetically represented. (188) The stories of ‘The Storm’ and ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ involve dynamic characters which Chopin uses in order to embrace and contrastingly criticize the actions of impulsive sexuality; whereas other stories, such as ‘The Awakening’ embrace the exploration of a woman’s sexuality. “Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright….the generous abundance of her passion without guile or trickery was like a white flame.” (Chopin, Page 284) Chopin is saying that a pure passion is like a ‘white flame’; and a woman’s sexuality is referred to as her birthright. Chopin uses the subtleties to imply her criticism or support of the protagonist’s sexuality as presented in the text. In ‘The Storm,’ Chopin mainly criticizes the actions and results which originate from impulsive thinking. From a feminist standpoint, she is criticizing the overly liberal ideal that encourages extramarital affairs; however, during the scene in which Alcee and Calixta are committing adultery, Chopin calls the experiencing of passionate sexual affairs the ‘birthright’ of Calixta’s flesh. It may seem that Chopin is contradicting herself; however, this is the “sympathetic representation” to which Berkove refers. The main concept of the passage is her disapproval of the affair-then the subtle placement of a woman’s right to enjoy sexuality. Chopin is conveying the support of a sexually liberated woman, but within a certain means. Chopin’s diction to describe how Calixta desired Alcee is also important. White flames are those of the hottest fire, which also consume and destroy everything around it. Calling Calixta’s passion a ‘white flame’ is denoting how deeply and with how much impact a desire can burn. By using this image, Chopin is showing the duality of the situation in which Calixta and Alcee spontaneously placed themselves. This duality shows the support of a liberated woman, and the criticism of an adulterous woman. Although Chopin believed in the mentally liberated woman, she did agree with some societal boundaries that were placed, such as the sanctity of marriage. In ‘The Storm’ Calixta and Alcee violate this sacred relationship, and Chopin uses their adultery to convey the limits of a liberated woman. Two main images can be referenced for this criticism. The first is taking place when the storm is about to hit and Calixta realizes she needs to take in the clothing. “She had hung Bobinot’s Sunday clothes to air and she hastened out to gather them before the rain fell.” The second is Bobinot admonishing Bibi, his son, for getting dirty during the storm. “’You ought to be ashame’. An’ that mud on yo’ collar! How you got that mud on yo’ collar Bibi?’ ...Bibi was the picture of pathetic resignation.” (Chopin, Page 282, 285) The true criticism of the extramarital affair comes in through the dialogue and actions of the characters in ‘The Storm.’ Using implications from both selections, Chopin advocates the sanctity of marriage. Primarily, the storm that is taking place in The Storm must be recognized as a symbol of the sexual infidelity. It, through various means, violates every aspect of Bobinot and Calixta’s home physically as would the knowledge of an affair would violate emotionally; and reaches its most violent stages at the peak of the sexual act itself. The affair and the storm are inextricably intertwined. The first quote, by specifically indicating that the clothes were those worn on a Sunday denotes to them a level of sacredness associated with the day of worship, which is about to be ruined by the approaching storm. Following the adulterous act, the son of Calixta and Bobinot, Bibi is dirty. In this case, Chopin is using Bibi himself as a symbol of the marriage, where two symbolically become one, and Bibi being the literal biological semblance of two becoming one flesh. The purity of Bobinot and Calixta’s marriage has been dirtied, and to demonstrate the relevance of this fact, Chopin enforces it by using a symbol to convey it. Chopin thus summarizes the marriage as ‘reduced to pathetic resignation.’ The importance that is placed on showing the damage and impurity following the extramarital sex is purporting Chopin’s personal views of the limits of a woman’s liberation. ‘The Awakening’ was written in the same year as ‘The Storm,’ and displays some similarly sensual content such as Edna’s relations with Alcee Arobin and her longing for Robert LeBrun. The main difference in character is that Calixta’s adultery is not premeditated; and Edna, although spontaneous in her own right, clearly intended for something to take place during her encounters; Edna therefore, possesses more control and strength in her rebellion against patriarchy. In the primary incident in which Calixta is shown to be lacking in strength, Clarisse seizes control from Calixta in ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ by bidding Alcee Laballiere come with her. In ‘The Storm,’ Calixta’s strength as a character is actually undermined when she defies the confines of her marriage through sexual infidelity in that she gave herself up in a moment of passion without premeditation. Calixta merely has enough power to commit the affair, but is not strong enough to reject systematic patriarchal practice by deserting her family. Calixta chooses to deceive her family into believing that normalcy continues. The act was not the result of love originating between Calixta and Alcee, but of intense lust; therefore they are able to continue unchanged as a result of the lack of emotion involved. Calixta, although seemingly in control and strong is fundamentally lacking in strength because of the absence of intent. Contrastingly, Edna is a character that intentionally ventures out on her own to find what she wants rather than stumbling upon it. Both women defy their husbands. Ironically, Edna’s journey seems to be supported by the narrative idealistically more so than Calixta’s. This may be the result of the multifaceted nature of Edna’s development and the contrast of the single nature of Calixta’s affair. Both women experience subtle criticism from the author for the amoral action. Edna is a strong character, stronger than Calixta in that she controls her own journey on several levels of consciousness. The ideals of feminism are not undermined by a strong female character because the bold actions of Calixta do not originate in strength, and those actions of the strong Edna are for the majority supported and reasonable. Conclusion Through observing Kate Chopin’s writing in respect to feminist ideology, one can be further enlightened to the issues which her writing addresses in a historical context to determine how the presentation and endorsement of the protagonists’ actions were boldly addressed in a patriarchal setting which was reluctant to acknowledge, let alone accept the notions of Chopin’s ideas concerning gender. New significance can therefore be attributed to the addressing of feminist issues by Chopin and her contribution to the modern conception of the female gender and to feminist literature is grasped in a more educated light concerning its function in modern canon and secondary feminism. As a result of Chopin’s portrayal of women, this began to cast the sex in a different light than patriarchy had wanted to perceive them and blurred the lines of the female gender that had been established. Chopin mixes support with criticisms for her character’s actions; however, the nature of the actions causes her writing to encounter difficulty in its reception by patriarchy. Further investigation into the feminist movement that was in existence in Chopin’s time could display a parallel relationship between the attempted social progress and the stances of Chopin’s writing. Also looking at the movement as it developed after Chopin’s writings were widely published and brought into critical observation would show the immediate effects and consequences to feminism and gender identity by Chopin’s works on the society whose mindset she disrupted. “Our identities can no more be kept separate from how our bodies look than they can be kept separate from the shadow selves of the female stereotype.” - Sandra Bartky
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Feminism in Kate Chopin:
A study of the female protagonists in Chopin’s The Awakening, The Storm, and At the ‘Cadian Ball; and how they rejected the boundaries set for them by patriarchy, reversed gender roles and were strong female characters.
“Our demand is not for equality. Who wants to be like men! We are trying as women to define ourselves. We not only reject the definitions that men have given us, but reject becoming like men.” –NY Radical Women. Most are well aware that Kate Chopin is associated with the canon of feminist literature; however the extent of her revolutionary thought is mainly concerned with her female protagonist breaking free from her stereotype as created by society. Chopin dethroned the male head of patriarchy by creating women that took control of their own lives. The interaction between literature and politics is evident when Chopin’s controversial stories are published and receive a wide array of criticism. Although it was written in 1898, the same year as The Awakening, Chopin did not even attempt to have the risqué short story The Storm published in her lifetime as a result of her understanding that the conflict between society and literature would be problematic.
By observing feminism in Kate Chopin’s writing in a historical context to determine to what extent feminism is present and endorsed; one can achieve better understanding in how the issues of feminism are addressed, received, and the issues’ effects and consequences in a patriarchal setting, within and without Chopin’s writing. It evidently causes the need for reevaluation of the female gender by society. Chopin has presented feminism in a manner in which its reception is questionable and supporting certain stances which her characters took in her writing that weren’t in accordance with societal expectations of women which addresses feminism in her time, created characters that reject and defy the boundaries set by the confining system of patriarchy; furthermore, the reversal of gender role in her writing as a political statement in addition to a literary device causes the validity of the perception of the female gender to be put in question. If Chopin’s writing is understood to be revolutionary, her works can be read in a more appropriate contextual manner and the intended meaning in relationship to feminism and criticisms of society can be inferred by the reader.
As a result of Chopin’s portrayal of women, this began to cast the sex in a different light than patriarchy had wanted to perceive them and blurred the lines of the female gender that had been established. Chopin mixes support with criticisms for her character’s actions; however, the nature of the actions causes her writing to encounter difficulty in its reception by patriarchy. If it is understood what is occurring in Chopin’s writing, specifically The Awakening, The Storm and At The ‘Cadian Ball, then new significance in how Chopin herself had affected feminism by addressing issues that patriarchy refused to acknowledge existed.
Relationship of Patriarchy and Feminism Within and Without Chopin
A patriarchal base is laid in ‘The Awakening’ in the very beginning of the novel when Mr. Pontellier looks at her as if she were a “piece of personal property that had been damaged in some way” and at the mention of Edna’s wedding bands in his possession. This reflects the mindset of the patriarchal male, in this case, the protagonist’s husband, an important recognition into realizing the reasons behind Edna’s feeling stifled and bound. Chopin undermines the patriarchy that is presented in her own writings, either by creating a cunning female protagonist or portraying patriarchy as a negative concept through the actions of her characters. In ‘The Awakening,’ Chopin’s protagonist Edna undermines the patriarchal belief system which surrounds her. The ideals of patriarchy regarding woman is that she is a cold, passionless creature, who is incapable of many emotions and thoughts that men may have. Edna Pontellier, is Chopin’s response to this ideology, showing that a woman can be everything that a man can: deceptive, independent, passionate, vulgar, distraught and burdened. The personality which Edna was given shows the multifaceted identity of women that men did not want to acknowledge existed. The mere character of Edna undermines patriarchy in ‘The Awakening;’ however, she cannot escape from its existence, and recognizing that she will be forever trapped, she commits suicide. By killing herself, Edna either ultimately defies the patriarchy, and yet it has defeated her.
The character ‘Edna’ reflects the experience of extraordinary women in a time when males dominated the culture. A key difference between Chopin and her creation Edna is the factor of success versus failure. Chopin’s career can be considered as successful, but only after her death; her works now featured as contemporary canon of ante bellum American literature. Edna however, mirrors the outcome of many women who attempted to surmount patriarchy, ending in failure to overcome society. The Awakening is considered as feminist theory because Edna’s journey is contingent solely upon her gender, the events occurring as they did only as a result of Edna’s being female. Edna experiences isolation from society, however finds solace in nature.
Ecofeminism incorporates a woman’s close tie to nature and its ability to provide spiritual empowerment to women. Nature’s appearance in The Awakening is in Edna’s connection to the sea which provides her empowerment to begin her self discovery. Edna relates to nature through the sea, which can be explained by ecofeminist beliefs that both woman and nature are reduced to object status under a patriarchal system. Klein supports her ecofeminist argument by claiming that a “parallel between the condition of women and nature under patriarchy” exists. (Paragraph: 7) Edna and the sea are both equally disregarded in her society; therefore it is sensible that the sea would lead her into her awakening. Ecofeminism can also explain the choice to use a storm as a symbol of Calixta’s adultery. A parallel between the actions of Calixta and height of her passion are conveyed by the violence and changing nature of the storm. The sea is speaking to Edna, and its voice that seemingly only Edna hears has a sensual quality. The sensuality can be explained as the allure of emancipation from patriarchal confinement. Edna has a relationship with the sea in that their discourse initiates her awakening, and her awakening ends in the sea. It is what excites Edna, a similar objectified item that is seemingly living and whispers to her, and tempts her into finding the freedom that the objectified woman desires.
Calixta has a relationship with nature, however not as correspondent as that of Edna with the sea. Calixta does not interact with the storm; rather her actions imitate the storm. As the storm intensifies Calixta’s desire for Alcee re-emerges and becomes uncontainable. The level of passion between the adulterers increases as does the violence of the storm, shown best when a lightning bolt pushes them together and the longing is consummated in action. At the peak of the sexual act the storm similarly peaks. Although it is not the primary focus of the short story, Chopin is displaying a relationship between woman and nature. Ecofeminism asserts that a woman’s strength is in nature, and to establish her own inner strength, a woman must shed the confines of patriarchy.
In order to discover herself, each protagonist must realize that she is surrounded by something that will not allow her growth; and that that thing which inhibits her must also be eliminated, or destroyed. Calixta and Edna are both confined women in the sense that the patriarchal system in which they live disregards and discounts their humanity as a result of their genetic sex, and the gender role which they chose to fit. In Chopin’s writings, each woman must deconstruct what she knows to find a different part of herself. That deconstruction is either methodical like Edna’s, or spontaneous like Calixta’s. Jehlen states that a woman must “destroy in order to create.” (82) In order to “create” herself, both Edna and Calixta must deconstruct the values that surround the patriarchal system in order to experience awakening or a different reality. Although the reality into which both women emerge is one that they have created for themselves, and one that only works exclusively for them.
The Awakening is unique in that it features a woman engaged in an adult emotional relationship. Edna is also set out to be unique in the text she is described as ‘stand(ing) alone.’ Edna recognizes that she is in fact different, revealed in her thoughts and specifically in a dialogue with Alcee Arobin where she tells him that she is a ‘wicked specimen of the species.’ Despite her uniqueness, Edna still falls prey to fantasy. The romanticized French Creole society around her bathes women in fantasy of domesticity; however, Edna chooses her own fantasy of freedom and emancipation.
Rejection of Patriarchy by the Protagonists of “The Storm” and “The Awakening”
It was not only through her subject matter that Kate Chopin differed from her peers and predecessors: she wrote in a stylistic language of her own, distinctly woman, separating her from her male contemporaries. Chopin could easily write about her character’s struggles against patriarchy, for she battled it herself throughout her career as an author. As a female author in a predominately male field Chopin’s ideas were difficult to acknowledge, or even be respected. To believe that a female was in the same sexual standing as men was incomprehensible, thus hindering her career. Being a woman and writing about female interests caused Chopin hardship during her lifetime creating a respectable career. Men, and some women, were not prepared to accept the material presented by Chopin. According to Gubar and Gilbert, the female author’s conflict with patriarchy was “seemingly futile” and viewed being female as a “painful obstacle.” (49-50) Chopin created characters which defied the patriarchal system in which they lived, similarly, Chopin set her self apart from the patriarchal world of writing. Chopin was also isolated for her subject material and the fact that she was a woman. Fortunately, she did not need the money, for her and her husband (deceased when she began writing) had created a modest income. Like Chopin, Edna Pontellier futilely struggled against the patriarchal society in which she lived, and her character may be an expression of Chopin’s struggles in her career.
Both Calixta and Edna reject the roles given them by the societies around them, through similar and dissimilar means: Calixta rebels solely by committing adultery, whereas Edna commits adultery in addition to several other acts which reject the definition of womanhood as defined for her by society. According to Phyllis Chesler, this would constitute both women falling subject to madness as defined by the patriarch of society - “Madness is the rejection, either partial or total of one’s sex role stereotype.”
Calixta and Edna both defy the conception of woman as silent and subordinate, for they are neither. By purchasing a separate home, and having the audacity to host dinner parties within, Edna is flagrantly insubordinate; and her insubordination is therefore far from silent. Calixta, similarly is insubordinate; however, her insubordination is through a covert act, making the act itself ‘silent’ to cognizance. Felman states that the woman has been reduced by man to the status of a “silent and subordinate object” (7) Generally, characterized as outcast type characters in literature and society, ‘madwomen’ are featured as the protagonists in Chopin’s writing.
The sociological sexism predominant to the patriarchal societies in which Calixta and Edna lived established their characters as being unique; however the uniqueness was not correlated as a positive attribute to their personage, but as a waywardness to be pitied. Madam Ragtinolle, the portrayal of the ideal patriarchal woman of society in ‘The Awakening’ coddles Edna, and is concerned for her well being and her children as if Edna were not capable of doing so herself. Mdm. Ragtinolle is the narrative device to sympathetically portray a direct interaction of patriarchy with the characters it perceives as helpless and naïve, like Edna. Although Edna is seemingly satisfied in her progressive rebirth; the systematic viewing of patriarchy would be that of Edna as a deprived individual, for she is not indulging herself in the provisions which it (patriarchy) has set forth and offered. Chopin varies from the principles of patriarchy in that men are not the possessors. Men do not direct the destinies of neither Edna nor Calixta.
Edna and Calixta both have a man who holds influence, but by their own willingness to allow that element of control. Edna is influenced by Robert, whom she believes she is in love with, and his reactions to her, including his rejection of allowing her to love him affect Edna. This effect on Edna is not the application of patriarchy, for Robert was neither her husband, nor a lover. Calixta’s destiny is influenced by Alcee merely by his presence during the time of the storm. The passions resulting between them were from a previous romantic encounter which was initiated by both wills. Neither woman succumbs to patriarchy in their acts of rebellion; however both realize that they cannot escape it.
Calixta, in the end of ‘The Storm’ reverts to the acceptance of patriarchy as dominant of her lifestyle in that she, in subconscious compensation for her adultery, performs the domesticated acts of cooking for her husband and son. Calixta before the affair is portrayed as a figure of domesticity in that Bobinot refers to her keeping the house in dialogue with Bibi at the store, she is sewing before the storm, and that she is rushing to tend to Bobinot’s clothing prior to the storm’s arrival. She is silently insubordinate; outside, the picture of patriarchal womanhood, but internally Calixta houses ideals which conflict with society’s image of her definition. This internalized rebellion has caused Calixta to create for herself a new dimension of her life inside her own mind that is real; however, because it conflicts with the external reality of how patriarchy, her husband, perceives her, she must keep her new reality privatized to herself and her lover.
Calixta’s new reality completely disregards the values of patriarchy which is that of a married woman carrying out passionate sexual relations with another man and brings Calixta into a new era of being. This is considered a reality in that it is in fact real, and happening to the character. Edna similarly creates the death of patriarchy in her own life by disregarding and disengaging from that society and its beliefs and exchanging them for her own. By having women creating for themselves their own realities, it portrays a strengthened side of woman that men did not want to acknowledge, much less accept. Man’s refute and rejection therefore reinforce Chopin’s ideology that women, especially those who are unique, are oppressed by the society in which they live. Marriage was the main patriarchal institution which Chopin wrote her characters to be confined by and to defy.
Edna Pontellier of ‘The Awakening’ was not a traditional woman of 19th century Creole society, and defies the patriarchal belief system of having a man at the center point and control of her life by making a life of her own, daringly separate of her husband. A main concept of ‘The Awakening’ is the confinement that Edna experiences through her marriage. Edna Pontellier too greatly loved the idea of a non-patriarchal life, and being impossible while having association with society of any kind, even friendships, the recognition of the incapability to attain her desire drove her to her death. LeMarquand claims that which we love too violently ends by killing us and ‘The Awakening’ explores that very notion. (paragraph: 27) By classifying marriage as confining in 1898, Chopin was breaking revolutionary and controversial grounds in a patriarchal dominated society.
In addition to her rejection of marriage, another separation of Edna from the other women of her time is characterized in her role as a mother. Mostly growing up without her mother, who died when Edna was young, Edna herself does not understand the role of a true maternal figure. Her lack of concern for her children, who are mentioned less and less as Edna experiences rebirth, shows a lack of emphasis on motherhood as a priority in Edna’s life. By moving out of her husband’s house, Edna is taking an action that is almost unfathomable: for all women lived with their children, in the house provided for them by their husband. Although it is her husband’s money which provides for Edna’s separate house, that is not the home in which her and Mr. Pontellier and made for themselves. The new residence does not even include the presence of her husband or children; therefore Edna’s separate house is completely severed from the roles of her domestic life as a wife and mother. Although she had already consciously determined to reject society, Edna’s acts were so emboldened that a level of spontaneity and lack of consideration were necessary for her to perform them.
Edna is highly impulsive and wants no way other than her own; her way is such that she refuses to accept the social norms. By allowing herself to awaken and seemingly wander in her thought processes without holding any specific objective in mind Edna is setting herself up for destruction. She recognizes it at points, particularly when describing a childhood memory of wandering in a field on impulse. Although she recognizes the fallacies in her thought processes and herself as a specimen that society will never accept, she continues onward in her endeavors. According to Sullivan and Smith, Edna is not to be admired for acting upon her artistic and sexual impulses. The reinforcement of Edna’s liberation is not found in her suicide at the end of the novel, however displays her “wanton self-destructiveness.” (148) A level of disappointment is experienced when it is understood that Edna’s actions are more impulsive than methodical, however seriousness and depth of Edna’s thoughts of awakening and her emotions tied to it are an aspect of her that is distinguishing and admirable. In spite of the heroine aspect of Edna’s character, she ultimately fails to overcome patriarchy as a lack of methodical thinking being applied to her awakening. Although the tendencies of patriarchy are likely to blame for Edna’s downfall, her lack of organized thought was also a contributor.
According to Thornton, the society in which Edna lived only gave enough freedom to women to tempt them or satisfy them. Society did not meet the needs of Edna, but rather confined them; therefore, Edna Pontellier turned to inward contemplation as a source of personal satisfaction which led her into conflict with her French Creole society, and would eventually conflict with her own contentedness of existence. In general women were satisfied, however, Edna was a unique individual of her society and isolated in many ways, ultimately physically and socially. The society being ‘solidly conventional’ reveals the existence of patriarchy in that the society is following traditional gender roles.
The deception of Creole Society which seems to accord women with greater latitude than it is willing to grant. That women could smoke cigarettes, listen to men tell risqué stories, and read French novels soon appears as only a veneer covering a solidly conventional society that titillated itself with flourishes of libertinism. (86)
Gender Roles present themselves in the Awakening in the form of being the initiation of need to rebel. The realization by Edna as being ‘personal property’ caused her to feel an oppression and a need to rebel against the society which condoned that oppression. Ironically, the gender role is not escaped despite Edna’s attempts in that Robert is how Edna first discovers her need to rebel. Edna later determines that she is her only source of liberation, and swims out into the ocean, the ultimate reversal of gender role. Edna continues reaching for it herself; however she cannot find the satisfaction that her romantic illusion has created for her therefore her act of swimming out into the sea is the recognition that society has no place for her. (88)
By creating a character which provides Edna with support (Mme. Reisz), Chopin is advocating the free spirit of Edna’s new self which she is discovering by giving a characterized support. Mme. Reisz is the confidant of Edna which plays her the music where she temporarily finds her escape. The ultimate point to which Edna is driven, she goes alone, without a friendship supporting her, and thus Chopin’s statement that suicide as escape of society induced gender oppression is not the proper response. As Edna reaches to develop herself, she becomes increasingly detached from reality. As Edna attempts to get away from the romanticism of her Creole society, she falls into another form created by herself. By defying society, Edna recognizes who she is as defined by herself and society, and she is temporarily set free by it; however because there is no place for her, her awakening becomes a burdensome fact which makes her miserable to the point of death. Chopin conveys the benefits of the liberated woman along with the personal detriments especially if the liberation is against the societal norms. By overly depending on the world which liberation provides and detaching from reality, Edna had created for herself something that was unattainable and therefore unbearable.
Sexuality and the Strong Female Protagonist
The strong female protagonist can be viewed as either revolutionary and heroine, or as foolish and immoral. Although Calixta may seem to be a character with endorsed actions because of her boldness, she is criticized by Chopin. In ‘The Awakening,’ the quantity of Edna’s friendships throughout her journey of self discovery reflects the amount of support which is given her actions. As Edna grows as a character, she is eventually narrowed down to a single friendship and then left to herself. Chopin presents an indefensible moral position that she portrays in her prose, seemingly a proponent of the act, but with in depth reading, the action is criticized and weakened. Berkove believes that Chopin’s extraordinary skill is her ability to subtly undercut bold but morally untenable positions that she has sympathetically represented. (188)
The stories of ‘The Storm’ and ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ involve dynamic characters which Chopin uses in order to embrace and contrastingly criticize the actions of impulsive sexuality; whereas other stories, such as ‘The Awakening’ embrace the exploration of a woman’s sexuality. “Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright….the generous abundance of her passion without guile or trickery was like a white flame.” (Chopin, Page 284) Chopin is saying that a pure passion is like a ‘white flame’; and a woman’s sexuality is referred to as her birthright.
Chopin uses the subtleties to imply her criticism or support of the protagonist’s sexuality as presented in the text. In ‘The Storm,’ Chopin mainly criticizes the actions and results which originate from impulsive thinking. From a feminist standpoint, she is criticizing the overly liberal ideal that encourages extramarital affairs; however, during the scene in which Alcee and Calixta are committing adultery, Chopin calls the experiencing of passionate sexual affairs the ‘birthright’ of Calixta’s flesh. It may seem that Chopin is contradicting herself; however, this is the “sympathetic representation” to which Berkove refers. The main concept of the passage is her disapproval of the affair-then the subtle placement of a woman’s right to enjoy sexuality. Chopin is conveying the support of a sexually liberated woman, but within a certain means. Chopin’s diction to describe how Calixta desired Alcee is also important. White flames are those of the hottest fire, which also consume and destroy everything around it. Calling Calixta’s passion a ‘white flame’ is denoting how deeply and with how much impact a desire can burn. By using this image, Chopin is showing the duality of the situation in which Calixta and Alcee spontaneously placed themselves. This duality shows the support of a liberated woman, and the criticism of an adulterous woman.
Although Chopin believed in the mentally liberated woman, she did agree with
some societal boundaries that were placed, such as the sanctity of marriage. In ‘The Storm’ Calixta and Alcee violate this sacred relationship, and Chopin uses their adultery to convey the limits of a liberated woman. Two main images can be referenced for this criticism. The first is taking place when the storm is about to hit and Calixta realizes she needs to take in the clothing. “She had hung Bobinot’s Sunday clothes to air and she hastened out to gather them before the rain fell.” The second is Bobinot admonishing Bibi, his son, for getting dirty during the storm. “’You ought to be ashame’. An’ that mud on yo’ collar! How you got that mud on yo’ collar Bibi?’ ...Bibi was the picture of pathetic resignation.” (Chopin, Page 282, 285) The true criticism of the extramarital affair comes in through the dialogue and actions of the characters in ‘The Storm.’ Using implications from both selections, Chopin advocates the sanctity of marriage.
Primarily, the storm that is taking place in The Storm must be recognized as a symbol of the sexual infidelity. It, through various means, violates every aspect of Bobinot and Calixta’s home physically as would the knowledge of an affair would violate emotionally; and reaches its most violent stages at the peak of the sexual act itself. The affair and the storm are inextricably intertwined. The first quote, by specifically indicating that the clothes were those worn on a Sunday denotes to them a level of sacredness associated with the day of worship, which is about to be ruined by the approaching storm. Following the adulterous act, the son of Calixta and Bobinot, Bibi is dirty. In this case, Chopin is using Bibi himself as a symbol of the marriage, where two symbolically become one, and Bibi being the literal biological semblance of two becoming one flesh. The purity of Bobinot and Calixta’s marriage has been dirtied, and to demonstrate the relevance of this fact, Chopin enforces it by using a symbol to convey it. Chopin thus summarizes the marriage as ‘reduced to pathetic resignation.’ The importance that is placed on showing the damage and impurity following the extramarital sex is purporting Chopin’s personal views of the limits of a woman’s liberation.
‘The Awakening’ was written in the same year as ‘The Storm,’ and displays some similarly sensual content such as Edna’s relations with Alcee Arobin and her longing for Robert LeBrun. The main difference in character is that Calixta’s adultery is not premeditated; and Edna, although spontaneous in her own right, clearly intended for something to take place during her encounters; Edna therefore, possesses more control and strength in her rebellion against patriarchy. In the primary incident in which Calixta is shown to be lacking in strength, Clarisse seizes control from Calixta in ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ by bidding Alcee Laballiere come with her. In ‘The Storm,’ Calixta’s strength as a character is actually undermined when she defies the confines of her marriage through sexual infidelity in that she gave herself up in a moment of passion without premeditation. Calixta merely has enough power to commit the affair, but is not strong enough to reject systematic patriarchal practice by deserting her family. Calixta chooses to deceive her family into believing that normalcy continues. The act was not the result of love originating between Calixta and Alcee, but of intense lust; therefore they are able to continue unchanged as a result of the lack of emotion involved.
Calixta, although seemingly in control and strong is fundamentally lacking in strength because of the absence of intent. Contrastingly, Edna is a character that intentionally ventures out on her own to find what she wants rather than stumbling upon it. Both women defy their husbands. Ironically, Edna’s journey seems to be supported by the narrative idealistically more so than Calixta’s. This may be the result of the multifaceted nature of Edna’s development and the contrast of the single nature of Calixta’s affair. Both women experience subtle criticism from the author for the amoral action. Edna is a strong character, stronger than Calixta in that she controls her own journey on several levels of consciousness. The ideals of feminism are not undermined by a strong female character because the bold actions of Calixta do not originate in strength, and those actions of the strong Edna are for the majority supported and reasonable.
Conclusion
Through observing Kate Chopin’s writing in respect to feminist ideology, one can be further enlightened to the issues which her writing addresses in a historical context to determine how the presentation and endorsement of the protagonists’ actions were boldly addressed in a patriarchal setting which was reluctant to acknowledge, let alone accept the notions of Chopin’s ideas concerning gender. New significance can therefore be attributed to the addressing of feminist issues by Chopin and her contribution to the modern conception of the female gender and to feminist literature is grasped in a more educated light concerning its function in modern canon and secondary feminism. As a result of Chopin’s portrayal of women, this began to cast the sex in a different light than patriarchy had wanted to perceive them and blurred the lines of the female gender that had been established. Chopin mixes support with criticisms for her character’s actions; however, the nature of the actions causes her writing to encounter difficulty in its reception by patriarchy. Further investigation into the feminist movement that was in existence in Chopin’s time could display a parallel relationship between the attempted social progress and the stances of Chopin’s writing. Also looking at the movement as it developed after Chopin’s writings were widely published and brought into critical observation would show the immediate effects and consequences to feminism and gender identity by Chopin’s works on the society whose mindset she disrupted. “Our identities can no more be kept separate from how our bodies look than they can be kept separate from the shadow selves of the female stereotype.” - Sandra Bartky
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