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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page research paper in which the wrier argues that in Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening and also in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, one finds the social paradigms of the Victorian era and how they were manifested in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries. In both cases, the authors pictured protagonists who cannot adjust to the role that society dictates for them. Their own sense of identity conflicts with the strict gender roles of that era, leaving both women frustrated and feeling lost as to who – exactly – they are and where they fit into the cultural scheme. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khchwhgi.rtf
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how they were manifested in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries. In both cases, the authors pictured protagonists who cannot adjust to the role that society dictates for
them. Their own sense of identity conflicts with the strict gender roles of that era, leaving both women frustrated and feeling lost as to who - exactly - they are
and where they fit into the cultural scheme. As this following examination shows, analysis of these novels shows how class and gender expectations keep both of these women
trapped within a velvet cage of social expectancy. In The Awakening, the subjective position of women as wives and mothers is taken for granted as a natural assumption (Muirhead
43). During this period, for the wife of an upper or even a middle-class woman to work was perceived as a threat to her husbands social status and self-esteem (Muirhead
43). The perception was that women who worked did so because they were compelled to by dire financial circumstance. To put the situation bluntly, and also in the racist
terms that reflect this era, black women worked, black women were domestics and cooks. Therefore, for a white woman to work threatened not only her husbands reputation, but also,
it threatened who she was as a member of the white race and the upper classes. Therefore, it can be seen that Ednas desire to paint and to be
serious about her painting is an issue of conflict between Edna and her husband. When Edna starts to question her subject position as wife and mother, as well, the conflict
escalates (Muirhead 43). Part of their problem is the lack of discourse with which to communicate their situation. An available discourse for the redefinition of womens role in society
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