Selfhood and Its Relationship to Power, Gender, Freedom and Oppression in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening 2001 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year))Student thesis

Abstract [en]

The main subject iof this essay is selfhood and its relationship to power, gender, freedom and oppression in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. In the introduction, the idea of woman as the ‘other’ is explored, as well as Beauvoir’s definition of what a woman is, which is helpful in illustrating that a woman cannot simply be defined by her gender. In addition, I discuss other possible feminist issues in Chopin’s work. A comparison is then made between the female protagonist and other female characters in order to uncover the options open to a woman in a traditional patriarchal society. This analysis shows that the alternatives are limited. The protagonist has two choices, she can remain a mother/wife or she can become a lonely artist. As she is unable to embrace either of these roles she ends her life. My conclusion is that this is an act of defiance.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages

2001.

Keywords [en]

selfhood, power, gender, freedom, oppression, woman as other, feminist issues, options, patriarchal society, roles, defiance

Identifiers

URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-9666Local ID: U4295OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-9666DiVA, id: diva2:364770

Uppsok

Humanities, Theology

Note

Denna uppsats kan beställas från arkivet / This paper can be ordered from the archive. Kontakta / Contact: arkivet@hh.seAvailable from: 2010-11-09 Created: 2010-11-09Bibliographically approved

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