Essay Instructions: Hi,
Thank you for your help!
This paper should be a literary and theoretical analysis of the different feminisms presented by Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in terms of the sociability of female emancipation. By this I mean the extent to which these writer's believe female emancipation to be in conflict (or harmony) with the social status quo, how plausible female liberation is in the context of each of these writer's contemporary panorama, how the justifications and aims of each of these feminists "arguments" correspond or contradict ideals of social duty, whether the emancipated woman can be seen as a constructive reformer of the social space or a self-isolating figure, etc. Chopin's novel can be read as arguing that female emancipation is impossible for the Victorian wife and mother, and that its pursuit is an isolating journey that puts a woman at odds with society and often ends in tragedy. Wollstonecraft, on the other hand, grounds much of her argument for female emancipation on a consequentialist logic of social utility, and often alludes to the idea of women being the mothers of the nation. In fact, family and nation--the private and the public--seem to blur on occasion as she argues for a different kind of treatment and education for women with the aim of them being able to fulfill traditional roles better.
Put these two primary texts in discussion: what would Wollstonecraft think of Edna? (probably that her narcissism and childishness is a consequence of patriarchal oppression...) What would Edna think of Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication"?
The paper should have a clear thesis and seek to prove it throughout the paper. It should discuss (or even focus) on the example of motherhood: the extent to which motherhood and maternal instincts are natural to women (in Chopin, discuss the concept of the "mother-woman," Edna's admiration of/contempt for of Adele, Edna's relationship with her children, etc); the importance of the maternal figure in the social panorama; the extent to which feminism is at odds (or not, as in Wollstonecraft) with the traditional role of woman as nurturer and edifier of her children/future citizens.
Things that might have to be mentioned: first wave and second wave (?) feminism, arguments of equality and of difference, Wollstonecraft's call for a "revolution in female manners," "New Woman" literature... And sentimentality: is it escapist (and if so, is it condemnable?), is it the only relief for women trapped in unfulfilling roles? Is it a deplorable and socially harmful consequence of the oppression of women's rationality (as Wollstonecraft believes) or is it an aspect female individuality (this is an argument of difference) that is not allowed to be expressed at its fullest?
Why does Chopin focus so much on Edna's sensory experience? Does it indicate self-indulgence or her final awakening to her self-discovery?
Please read all the documents I upload: most of them will be summaries/analyses of the primary texts (sparknotes and such), but there will also be a document with some citable essays, and a document with my notes and selected quotes from the primary sources and these essays. The discussion of The Awakening should keep in mind the entire novel; the discussion of A Vindication should focus on chapters 1-4, .
The Awakening and A Vindication should be available in any library, but they are also on Google Books:
http://books.google.cl/books?id=awYRAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://books.google.cl/books?id=qhcFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
I don't need 9 sources cited, but please read everything I upload.
Thanks again and please send me this as soon as possible!
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Possible titles...
Two Models of Feminism: Wollstonecraft and Chopin on the Social Dynamics of Female Emancipation
Two Models of Feminism: Wollstonecraft and Chopin on the Sociability of the Emancipated Woman
The Awakening (1899) 19th/20th - Victorian
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) 18th/19th
Original paragraphs/ideas/brainstorming:
Woolstonecraft’s early feminism is limited by her belief that all women are “by nature” mother-women, and that those who fail to live up to the standards of motherhood do so because their moral and intellectual development has been stunted by a patriarchal culture that poses infantile, narcissistic and vain behavior as cornerstones of femininity. Thus both the neglectful mother and the over-stiflingly over-protective one represent two extreme possible outcomes of the masculine oppression of the female psyche.
Woolstonecraft imagines the emancipation of woman in service to the social body, and??"to an extent??"justifiable because of its presumably constructive effects on women’s abilities to fulfill their roles as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and citizens. Chopin, on the other hand, views these social roles as impositions of a patriarchal order that is antithetical to female creativity and self-possession. Consequently, Chopin’s model of the emancipated woman is one tinged by loneliness and social alienation. While such a life can be bearable to women of strong characters such as Mademoiselle Reisz, it can prove too difficult for those of weaker wings…
The burden is especially difficult for women after marriage and motherhood, for the are pulled in different directions.
On the other hand, Woolstonecraft sees isolation, sentimentality, etc… as feminine dispositions caused by men’s very imposition of restricted education, etc.. on their…
Chopin: Solitude is the consequence of a search for independence.
Mary W:
First duty “to themselves as rational creatures”
Then, role as mothers in virtue of being good citizens
Relegation of women to private sphere renders them “foolish or vicious”
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