Socialist Feminism in Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin, and it was published in ۱۸۹۹. It was created at the end of the nineteenth century, and that is an important fact for understanding this work because it was a time of social tension and changes. The setting is New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast. The whole story is about a female protagonist Edna Pontellier, a twenty-eight-year-old woman, and her awakening, which can be interpreted as a struggle for self-awareness. Kate Chopin wrote about the actual lives of women in her time, and in this novel, Edna Pontellier's life represents an example of the usual woman's position in late nineteenth society. As a matter of fact, the whole novel is based on the experiences which provoked the awakening of that female protagonist's imagination and sexual desire. In addition, Socialist feminism rose in the ۱۹۶۰s and ۱۹۷۰s as an offshoot of the feminist movement and New Left that focuses upon the interconnectivity of the patriarchy and capitalism. Socialist feminists are of the opinion that the financial dependence of many women with respect to men remains a great obstacle to their freedom. Edna is confined by a cage of marriage that restricts her to the rules of society and to an existence that only appreciates her beauty. She is supposed to perform her mother’s role without any salary to bring up and raise children and do her domestic duties to satisfy her husband's needs. Otherwise, society rejects and neglects her and she faces total solitude and indifference given her irresponsibility and independence. Edna, the rebellion of the story, fights against the patriarchal society and social limitations and admits the consequences of her freedom and emancipation.

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Naturalism: Naturalism was a literary movement that suggests that social conditions , heredity , and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character Socialist feminism: Socialist feminism is a branch of feminism that gained popularity in the women's movement during the ۱۹۶۰s and ۱۹۷۰s.Oppression: when someone treats a group of people unfairly or cruelly and prevents them from having the same rights as other people have Patriarchal society: ruled or controlled only by men Independence: the freedom and ability to make your own decisions in life , without having to ask other people for permission , help , or money Possession: if something is in your possession , you own it , or you have obtained it from somewhere