FREE ESSAY ON OPPRESSION FROM MALE DOMINANCE

OPPRESSION FROM MALE DOMINANCE

ENC1102-Currin
Paper #3
Oppression from Male Dominance
The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel that focuses on a female heroine. Unlike many
female heroines, Edna Pontellier does not allow her life to be surrounded by male
control. Many novels of this time allow a female to be the main character but ultimately
the men that surround her decide upon her fate. Rebecca Dickson wrote "With Mrs.
Pontellier, Chopin rejects assessing women according to their sexual status (38)."
Chopin's novel focuses on the "awakening" of Edna Pontellier from oppression from male
dominance.
Edna Pontellier was a victim of male dominance from an early age. Her father, a colonel,
was the head of her household throughout childhood. It is obvious that he made a majority
of the decisions for Edna and her mother. As a child, Edna was unable to visualize a life
without this oppression. It was normal, a way of life. Edna's "awakening" begins in her
early adulthood. When she decides to marry Leonce, her father disapproves. By marrying
Leonce against his wishes, she begins to break from this oppression. Little does she know
that this is only a taste of what is yet to come. 
Edna is able to settle with Mr. Pontellier for a while before her need for freedom
strikes again. She lets Leonce work while she had the children and maintains the
household. While on vacation for the summer, she starts to "awaken" again. She begins to
stop following her husband's orders. For example, Edna refuses to come inside when Leonce
asks her to. He gives many reasons for her to come inside (temperature, insects) but she
kindly refuses. Then, when he decides to join her outside, she goes into the house
(30-31). "Edna began to feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious,
grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul (31-32)."
Chopin uses this passage to convey how Edna is feeling. She is getting a second taste of
breaking from this male dominance oppression that surrounds her. The reader is left with
the impression that Edna now understands what she wants. This "awakening" is the initial
clue given to the reader that the men that surround her will no longer oppress Edna.
Once the summer comes to a close, Edna's "awakening" is in full bloom. She liberates
herself financially by starting to paint. Leonce sees this change in her behavior but
knows that there is nothing he can do to change it. When he leaves for business, Edna
goes so far as to move out of their house. She informs Leonce in letter which does not
ask for his permission, but simply states what her plans are and that he can be sure that
she will follow through with them. The oppression that she once felt form her husband is
now shattered. She has stepped up toward liberation from his male dominance, which has
now controlled her life for so many years. Barbara C. Ewell wrote "Edna's central
insistence on her "own way" exposes intolerable constrictions on southern places for
women (35)."
As Edna is breaking away from the male control of her husband, she is also entering the
possibility of more male dominance from Robert. As she is also setting herself up for the
possibility that the whole cycle may repeat. While Robert is gone, Edna is able to keep
breaking away from male dominance by wanting to be with him. She fantasizes how she could
be with Robert and not her husband, which draws into the central part of the story, her
"awakening" from this oppression.
When Robert returns, though, she makes it quite known that he will not control her
either. Edna and Robert are talking in their second meeting (at the coffee house) about
why Robert never made any effort to see or write Edna. His justification is that she is
still "owned" by Leonce. She makes him aware of her new found liberation by stating,
"You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things
when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's
possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'Here,
Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both."
His face grew a little white. "What do you mean?" he asked (108).
Robert is rather surprised by this comment. He is unaware of how free Edna has become
since he left for Mexico. When she explains to him that neither he nor Mr. Pontellier can
control her, he gets his first taste of Mrs. Pontellier's "awakening." Rebecca Dickson
and I shared the same response to this passage. In her literary journal, she wrote,
"Certainly Robert should go pale, for this woman wants to control not only her story, but
his as well, which is contrary to everything he has learned about the known universe. It
is hardly surprising that he disappears after Edna's announcement that she is no longer a
possession (42)." 
Mrs. Pontellier has now completely broken away from male dominance. Her husband has been
left uncontrollable with all of her decisions. She undermines his authority in every way
possible: painting, selling the house, falling in love with another man, no longer having
visitors on Tuesdays, etc. She also has realized the mistakes she has made in the past.
Therefore, she will not make these same mistakes with Robert. She is sure to tell him
upfront that men will no longer control her. Her "awakening" has taken over every aspect
of her life. 
There is another man in her life, though, that also attempts to take control of her.
Alcee Arobin, a practiced womanizer, tries to dominate Edna through illicit liaisons
rather than marital proprieties. While Edna is exploring her own character and potential
to be set free from this oppression, Alcee tries to reduce their relationship to a mere
adulterous affair that he manipulates through shallow compliments, practiced sensuality,
and oily devotion. But he fails and is often frustrated when Edna's attention wanders.
Edna so firmly maintains control of their affair that Alcee becomes passive and the roles
actually reverse. While she is moving out of Leonce's house, we find Alcee in a dust cap
almost acting as if he were one of her servants. 
Chopin uses Alcee as a character to show the reader how Edna's new "awakening" is taking
control of her life. Instead of a man telling her what to do, she is now instructing men.
Her new freedom is now proven. She may come and go as she pleases. When Robert tries to
tell her to stay with him instead of going over to Madame Ratignolle's house for the
birth of her baby, she defies his wishes and goes anyway. She is not allowing a man to
take control of any situation in her life, even if she loves him. All of these actions
that Chopin decided Edna should take are repeatedly proving that Edna is "awoken." She is
no longer a subject to the oppression she once felt from the male gender.
Dr. Mandelet also tries to intervene in Edna's life. Although he is only trying to give
her advice, she refuses to let him have anything to do with her life. Also, she is
probably aware that Leonce has spoken to the doctor about her behavior and letting him
intervene would not only allow the doctor to make her decisions but it would also give
Leonce the control in which he desires. After the baby is born, he tries to interrupt
Edna's narrative, gently convincing her to confide in him. But Edna will not cooperate.
She is wary of the doctor's efforts and will not allow Dr. Mandelet to advise her on how
to handle her marriage or her children, however well intentioned he may be. 
Chopin puts the doctor in the story to reiterate the fact that Edna has broken free of
this male dominated world. He symbolizes that even the most well intentioned, harmless
males will never have a say in her life again. It doesn't even really have to do with
what he is trying to help her with. All it concerns is the fact that he has male
genitalia. She has been suppressed for so long that she will not chance loosing this
freedom in which the whole novel is focused on.
Chopin uses every encounter that Edna has with a man in this book to prove that she has
"awoken" from oppression from male dominance. Through Edna's father, Leonce, Robert,
Alcee, and Dr. Mandelet there is no doubt left in the readers mind that Edna will no
longer be oppressed. She steps up to every male in different ways proving her newfound
liberation. Through out the story, the reader may watch Edna grow and watch her become
more and more "awake." When the book is coming to a close, Chopin writes, "She looked
into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again (116)."
This passage gives the reader the knowledge that Edna is going into this final seen of
her life with open eyes. She is "awake" and aware of her actions. She realizes that she
will drown because of her, not Leonce or the children will she turn back for. Sadly the
oppression is gone, and so is her life.