The Awakening Flashcards
What is Realism?
Stresses the actual as opposed to the imagined or fanciful. Authors try to write truthfully and objectively about ordinary characters in ordinary situations.
Naturalism
Traces the effects of heredity and environment on people helpless to change their situations; characters’ motivations are strongly influenced by their environment, frequently in negative ways
Regionalism
The tendency among certain authors to write about specific geographical areas, including the distinct culture of an area (speech, customs, beliefs, history)
Local-Color Writing
Authors want to convey the “quaintness” of a minority culture to mainstream American society
Romanticism (As in the Awakening)
Values the individual experience and wildness of nature over human-made order, reason, and logic
Existentialism
The philosophical belief that we are each responsible for creating purpose or meaning in our own lives; it’s not given to us by gods, governments, or authorities
Feminism
A philosophy that is aimed at understanding and challenging the oppression of women
The pigeon house represents for Edna…
a sense of freedom, but still somewhat caged by societal standards
The gulf and Grand Isle represent for Edna…
an escape from societal demands and expectations; freedom to explore desires
Edna’s big house in New Orleans represents for Edna…
being caged in the controlled and confining standards of the time
The caged parrot at the beginning of the novel represents…
Edna is like a caged bird who seeks freedom
What are the Themes discussed in The Awakening?
marriage and gender roles, isolation as a result of independence, self-expression
What are elements of Kate Chopin’s life that are seen in the novel?
1 ) her exposure to Creole life after her husband’s failed business moved them to Louisiana
2) the influence of the women in her family who raised her
How was The Awakening received by the public?
They called it “morbid,” “unhealthy,” and “poison.”
How did Kate Chopin die?
brain hemorrhage
