Discussion Topic
Criticism of "The Awakening" as "poison" for moral babes in 1899
Summary:
Criticism of The Awakening in 1899 labeled it as "poison" for moral babes due to its portrayal of a woman's quest for independence and self-discovery, which challenged the period's conventional gender roles and societal norms.
Why did critics in 1899 label The Awakening as "poison" for "moral babes"?
The reason behind the outrage caused by Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening may very well lie on the fact that Chopin breaks with every social rule of decorum as they were considered in the late 19th century Creole South. These rules include that the female role is to be that of wife and mother, that women should abstain themselves from self-satisfaction, that women should relinquish their role as secondary to the husband, and that sex is not to be explored beyond its role as the act of procreation.
Undoubtedly, Edna Pontellier's awakening leads her to question all of these senseless rules. First, she questions whether she even loves her husband. In his dull and loveless treatment of her, she wonders if marriage and love are even connected.
Second, she realizes that her maternal instinct is quite low. She never once thought of having children except when she got...
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married. Therefore, she had children as a task, and not as a wish. When she seems to lack the skills to be a nurturer and a nurse to her children, she begins to wonder what is the point of it, anyway. That certainly could have caused a scandal back in the day.
The fact that Edna acknowledges her love for Robert to herself, and accepts wholeheartedly that she would not mind engaging in a relationship with him is also a source for prudish shock. Imagine a woman who admits to loving someone other than her husband, and who cares very little about admitting it. Moreover, the fact that Edna happily allows her husband and children go somewhere else so that she can physically move out of her house into the "pigeon hole" is outrageous in the eyes of the women of her time.
Yet, it is the fact that Edna simply turns into someone completely different is what may have created the grudge among her social peers; women were just barely beginning to discover their independent needs in the early 1800's. As with every social change, these discoveries first stormed society, and then transformed it. Chopin was quite ahead of her time in creating a character that takes complete control of herself, and her life.
The last shocking event that surely sent society in a fury is the fact that, after discovering all these things, Edna chooses to commit suicide. A mortal sin declared by the Catholic Church, Edna may have been misinterpreted as submitting herself entirely to some evil ceremony. However, the modern reader can certainly understand that Edna simply intended to liberate herself from an oppressing world that points at her discoveries and calls them "sins". Her final choice is a submission, indeed, but one which sends her back to nature. Perhaps, she wishes to be reborn..who knows if in another time and place where she could have expressed her true self.
Why were critics outraged at "The Awakening" in 1899, calling it "poison"?
In addition to the point about sexual desires--something not openly talked about in the 19th century--Chopin creates a heroine who seems to abandon most of the attributes associated with an American female from the turn of the century. Edna dares to take up interests outside of the domestic realm such as swimming (this is, of course, in addition to her other exploits). She moves out of the house and "abandons" her children--a move that even today is considered more surprising and taboo for a woman that it is for a man. Most societies associate women with a nurturing spirit and believe it is unnatural when a woman gives up her parenting responsibilities. If we still have arguments in 2010 about whether a mother with small children should work outside of the home, imagine how scandalous Edna's choices would have been in 1899!
One other controversial factor is Edna's choice to commit suicide. While the Greeks and Shakespeare feature a myriad of suicides in their plays, Chopin's Edna would not have been viewed as a tragic heroine committing a noble act--at least not by an 1899 reader. Instead, many critics of the time characterized Edna as selfish and immoral and not a character whom they wanted influencing the minds of naive and innocent young ladies.
Chopin's The Awakening dared to suggest that women should be allowed the same sexual freedom that men have been allowed to have for, well, throughout history. Enough said?
The novel features a woman who refuses to fulfill societal expectations for women. In other words, she refuses to accept that being "barefoot and pregnant," as is said, is the only role a woman should be allowed to fulfill.
The novel features a woman who has a brain and acknowledges her sexual desires, and attempts to act on them. When the novel was published, Freud had already established the importance of sex in human existence. Though Freud's ideas have been heavily refined since, and though he, of course, went too far, the preeminence of sex in human motivation is a given. But these ideas were certainly not applied to women in Chopin's day. The novel dares to question America's puritanical ideas concerning sex.
Why this novel was condemned, labeled "poison," etc., is a no-brainer. It would have been a surprise if it weren't.