Awakening

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Awakening

In The Awakening, Kate Chopin brings out the essence of through the characters
of her novel. In this novel Edna Pontellier faces many problems because she is
an outcast from society. As a result of her isolation from society she has to
learn to fit in and deal with her problems. This situation causes her to go
through a series of awakenings that help her find herself, but this also causes
problems with her husband because she loses respect for him and the society she
lives in. Throughout the novel she is faced with unfavorable circumstances which
confuse and eventually kill her. Kate Chopin uses Creole Society in the 1890s as
a basis for her novel and expresses it through Creole women, personal
relationships, and etiquette. The Awakening is a book based on French Creoles
and their lifestyle which is expressed throughout the novel. Creoles were French
Creole Society descendents of French and Spanish Colonists of the 1700s. They
had strong family ties because of Catholicism and were a tight community because
they where considered outcasts of Anglo- American society. Clement Eaton says
that “the Creoles, to a greater degree then Anglo-Americans, lived a life of
sensation and careless enjoyment. They loved to dance, gamble, fish, attend
feasts, play on the fiddle and to live without much thought of the morrow.”
Eaton 252 Creoles were very lively outgoing people because of their comfortable
tight society. Activities such as Mardi Gras and Sunday afternoon Mass holiday
spirits contribute the liveliness of these people (Walker 252). A large reason
for their comfort and “live for the moment” attitude was that Creoles did
not move west like most other colonists to claim land. Instead they stayed in
relatively the same area and just grew in population without consumption of
other lands . This caused a shortage of land so it had to be repeatedly divided
among the families and it also made it difficult for the plantation system to
operate successfully (Walker 253). Background of Creoles: Until 1888 the husband
was legal guardian and was given custody of the children when in a divorce. In
the 1890 segregation was legalized (Jim Crow laws), but blacks horizons were
expanding also. “In Louisiana after the Civil War, African American men had
voted in large numbers, held public office, served on juries, and worked on the
railroad“(Culley 119). In Creole society people are generally very warm and
open, having plentiful long relationships. A mother’s relationship...

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