Samadrita's Reviews > The Awakening
The Awakening
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Samadrita's review
bookshelves: in-by-about-america, feminism-feminist-undertones, timeless-classics, 1001-and-more, by-women-who-matter, cherished, adoration, 500gbbw, gender-studies-sexuality
Jan 23, 2013
bookshelves: in-by-about-america, feminism-feminist-undertones, timeless-classics, 1001-and-more, by-women-who-matter, cherished, adoration, 500gbbw, gender-studies-sexuality
Often I have witnessed women, who proceed to talk about misogyny, sexism, or state their views on a piece of feminist literature, starting their discourse with something along the lines of 'I'm not much of a feminist...but'. As if it is best to put a considerable distance between themselves and this feared word at the onset and deny any possible links whatsoever. As if calling herself a feminist automatically degrades a woman to the position of a venom-spewing, uncouth, unfeminine, violent creature from hell whose predilections include despising all males on the planet with a passion and shouting from the rooftops about women's rights at the first opportunity.
Attention ladies and gentlemen! Feminism is not so cool anymore, at least not in the way it was in the 80s or 90s.
Don't ask what set off that particular rant but yes I suppose the numerous 1-star reviews of this one could have been a likely trigger.
So Edna's story gets a 1 star because she is a 'selfish bitch' who falls in love with another man who is not her husband, doesn't sacrifice her life for her children and feels the stirrings of sexual attraction for someone she doesn't love in a romantic way. Edna gets a 1 star because she dares to put herself as an individual first before her gender specific roles as wife and mother.
But so many other New Adult and erotica novels (IF one can be generous enough to call them 'novels' for lack of a more suitable alternative term) virtually brimming with sexism, misogyny and chock full of all the obnoxious stereotypes that reinforce society's stunted, retrogressive view of the relationship dynamics between a man and woman, get 5 glorious stars from innumerable reviewers (majority of whom are women) on this site.
This makes me lose my faith in humanity and women in particular.
Edna Pontellier acknowledges her awakening and her urge to break away from compulsions imposed on her by society. She embraces her 'deviance' and tries to come to terms with this new knowledge of her own self. She desires to go through the entire gamut of human actions and emotions, regardless of how 'morally' ambiguous, unjustified or self-centered each one of them maybe.
And isn't THAT the whole point of this feminism business?
A woman needs to be recognized and accepted as a human being first - imperfect, flawed, egocentric, and possibly even as a bad mother and an irresponsible wife, just like the way society accepts a bad husband as a bad husband, a bad father as a bad father and moves on after uttering a few words of negative criticism. Somehow being a bad father is reasonably acceptable, but being a bad mother constitutes a sacrilegious act.
Edna's husband is equally responsible for abandoning their children as she is. He limits his role as a father to performing minor tasks like buying them bonbons, peanuts and gifts and lecturing his wife on how they should be raised without bothering to shoulder some of her burden. As if the task of raising children requires the sole expertise of the mother and the father can nonchalantly evade all responsibility while maintaining a lingering presence in their lives.
I have seen readers being empathetic to unfaithful fictional husbands and their existential dilemmas (case in point being Tomas and Franz in 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' which I am currently reading) and even trying to rationalize their incapability of staying in monogamous relationships. But oh heaven forbid if it's a woman in the place of a man! Women are denied entrance into the world of infidelity or casual sex (and in the rare case that they are allowed, they are given labels like 'slut', 'whore', 'tart' and so on). They need to be absolute models of perfection without fail - angelic, compassionate, thoughtful, always subservient, forever ready to be at your service as a good mother and a good wife and languish in a perpetual state of self-denial with that forced sweet smile stuck on their faces. Double standards much?
Edna is a little flawed and, hence, very humane. Edna is in all of us. And her cold refusal to let societal norms decide the course of her life, reduce her to the state of mere mother and wife only makes her brave in my eyes.
(view spoiler)
Attention ladies and gentlemen! Feminism is not so cool anymore, at least not in the way it was in the 80s or 90s.
Don't ask what set off that particular rant but yes I suppose the numerous 1-star reviews of this one could have been a likely trigger.
So Edna's story gets a 1 star because she is a 'selfish bitch' who falls in love with another man who is not her husband, doesn't sacrifice her life for her children and feels the stirrings of sexual attraction for someone she doesn't love in a romantic way. Edna gets a 1 star because she dares to put herself as an individual first before her gender specific roles as wife and mother.
But so many other New Adult and erotica novels (IF one can be generous enough to call them 'novels' for lack of a more suitable alternative term) virtually brimming with sexism, misogyny and chock full of all the obnoxious stereotypes that reinforce society's stunted, retrogressive view of the relationship dynamics between a man and woman, get 5 glorious stars from innumerable reviewers (majority of whom are women) on this site.
This makes me lose my faith in humanity and women in particular.
Edna Pontellier acknowledges her awakening and her urge to break away from compulsions imposed on her by society. She embraces her 'deviance' and tries to come to terms with this new knowledge of her own self. She desires to go through the entire gamut of human actions and emotions, regardless of how 'morally' ambiguous, unjustified or self-centered each one of them maybe.
And isn't THAT the whole point of this feminism business?
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." - Rebecca West
A woman needs to be recognized and accepted as a human being first - imperfect, flawed, egocentric, and possibly even as a bad mother and an irresponsible wife, just like the way society accepts a bad husband as a bad husband, a bad father as a bad father and moves on after uttering a few words of negative criticism. Somehow being a bad father is reasonably acceptable, but being a bad mother constitutes a sacrilegious act.
Edna's husband is equally responsible for abandoning their children as she is. He limits his role as a father to performing minor tasks like buying them bonbons, peanuts and gifts and lecturing his wife on how they should be raised without bothering to shoulder some of her burden. As if the task of raising children requires the sole expertise of the mother and the father can nonchalantly evade all responsibility while maintaining a lingering presence in their lives.
I have seen readers being empathetic to unfaithful fictional husbands and their existential dilemmas (case in point being Tomas and Franz in 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' which I am currently reading) and even trying to rationalize their incapability of staying in monogamous relationships. But oh heaven forbid if it's a woman in the place of a man! Women are denied entrance into the world of infidelity or casual sex (and in the rare case that they are allowed, they are given labels like 'slut', 'whore', 'tart' and so on). They need to be absolute models of perfection without fail - angelic, compassionate, thoughtful, always subservient, forever ready to be at your service as a good mother and a good wife and languish in a perpetual state of self-denial with that forced sweet smile stuck on their faces. Double standards much?
Edna is a little flawed and, hence, very humane. Edna is in all of us. And her cold refusal to let societal norms decide the course of her life, reduce her to the state of mere mother and wife only makes her brave in my eyes.
(view spoiler)
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Quotes Samadrita Liked
“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.”
― The Awakening
― The Awakening
“She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.”
― The Awakening
― The Awakening
Reading Progress
January 23, 2013
– Shelved
January 23, 2013
– Shelved as:
in-by-about-america
January 23, 2013
– Shelved as:
feminism-feminist-undertones
January 23, 2013
– Shelved as:
timeless-classics
February 19, 2013
– Shelved as:
1001-and-more
April 20, 2013
– Shelved as:
by-women-who-matter
September 8, 2013
– Shelved as:
cherished
September 8, 2013
– Shelved as:
adoration
September 9, 2013
–
Started Reading
September 9, 2013
–
Finished Reading
July 31, 2014
– Shelved as:
500gbbw
September 3, 2014
– Shelved as:
gender-studies-sexuality
Comments Showing 1-50 of 78 (78 new)
message 1:
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Luke
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 09, 2013 08:57AM
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Always. :)
You express yourself eloquently. I will think of you when these attitudes get me down too much.
NOTE: this is a personal opinion not backed by research or hard evidence, just personal experience.
Great review, Samadrita. I actually had this book in my hand a couple of days ago in the library then put it back to read another time. I'll try to get to it soon, I'm totally curious now :)
@Karen:-I know right? It's weird how women themselves sometimes see feminism as an evil concept. I also have a problem with 'feminism' being associated with misandry or the tendency to be radically anti-male. That is so not true.
@Kall:-Glad you feel that way. Thank you!
Samir wrote: ""This makes me lose my faith in humanity and women in particular." - I do think this is because most of humanity is indoctrinated and/or follows institutions (schools of thought, religion, science ..."
I understand what you are saying. It's hard to escape the social conditioning we have been subjected to since the dawn of civilization. You totally should read this, Samir. I think I'll be curious to know what you make of it. And thank you!
@Garima:-Yes I'll be impatiently waiting for your own reaction to this. Needless to mention, this book needs more 3/4/5 star reviews. And those reviews infuriated me too. Talk about giving a book 1 star because the main character annoyed them.
I can't imagine any tale greater than yours.
When I first read the book upon recommendation from a friend of mine, I was just awed. Though the story is simple, yet the fact that it was the cause for Chopin's literary career to come to halt because this work was considered controversial then, just shocked me. I rate this book highly also because if this is what was needed for people to think differently of woman protagonists in literature, then this was not merely a work of fiction, but a work of necessity.
And after finishing the book, to come on goodreads to read some reviews that were so lame in their reason for disliking this book, that just pissed me off.
Thank you for writing this review. It is so important for ideas like these to be expressed , shared, understood .
My experience with The Awakening is similar to yours, except when I read it I was nowhere near as eloquent in my rebuttal to others' idiotic criticisms. I read it in high school for an American Lit class and my own teacher (a woman, for shame) focused our discussion not on the sociohistorical constructs that precipitated Edna's behavior but on what an awful/horrible/disgusting/insert unfairly negative adjective here mother Edna was. It was a preposterous use of class time, but it shows, just as you described in your review, how indoctrinated certain "feminine" ideals are. This book was probably the first feminist book I read (I believe it's a proto-feminist work in American Lit, hence why it was on the curriculum despite my teacher's hatred of it) and it is forever a 5 star favorite.
Anyway, perfect review. Long distance high five for its awesomeness.
@Gary:- Thank you so much for this wonderful comment, Gary.
@Rahul:- So glad to hear a man's views on this polarizing piece of work. I can very well imagine why this book was banned or why Chopin's literary career came to a halt after its publication. She was writing about such controversial subjects right at the dawn of the 20th century while misogyny remains such a relevant issue even today. She was way ahead of her time and was perhaps born in the wrong century. Good to know I'm not alone in being surprised by those 1-star reviews. You put it so succinctly by saying this was a work of necessity rather than a work of fiction.
I do have to confess though (I'll be now throwing stones to my own roof), that when I read this novel I couldn't empathise with Edna like the way I did, for example, with Mme. Bovary.
It's now reading your thoughts that I get it. You have managed to effectively depict how Edna's subversion of the traditional roles of the American Victorian society is a cry to defend women as individuals, women who tried to discern how much freedom they could carve out for themselves in the only world they knew (and that spoiler is priceless).
I think I need to re-read this novel. Triumphant review.
@Jill:- I'm so happy to know you liked reading this so much. I just hope more people read this book, understand it for what it really is, what Chopin's purpose was when she set about writing it and do not misunderstand. I guess your teacher like so many others only saw Mother Edna or Wife Edna but failed to notice the Woman Edna. I hope you post your own review of this some day just so I can read another terrific argument in favor of the message this book contains. *long distance high-fives back*
@Diane:-Thank you Diane. That's kind of you to say.
I do have to confess though (I'll be now throwing stones to my ow..."
Whoops you commented while I was busy framing really lengthy responses to other people's comments. I am glad my review has inspired you to re-read this one, Dolors. I'm very certain you will write something fantastic in your own reaction. It's high time we discuss this book's literary merits and the prose, aside from the content. The controversies over the issues this book raises have raged way too long now. And thank you for reminding me about Madame Bovary which I am ashamed to admit I am yet to read. *sigh*
Just thought of sharing it here.
People love the notion of a male anti-hero, but not a female - hell, I don't want to get started on it, I'll be ranting then - when people say "You seem to be a feminist", I no longer know if they mean it as a compliment or sarcasm.
Anyway, I am going to read it soon - thanks to your review :)
@Lit Bug:- Exactly. Most people seem to think 'feminists' are fire-breathing monsters from hell and what pisses me off the most is the association of feminism with a compulsive hatred of all men, which is so wrong. It's like a feminist authoress from China (Xiaolu Guo) writes - “They think there are only two kinds of young women in China: good girls or prostitutes.”
I am glad you liked the review and hope to know of your own experiences with the book when you do read it.
I think the issue is three-fold: one is that of ingrained attitude among women - they are themselves sexist, due to the culture they are raised in, that has psychologically conditioned their minds without their realizing it.
Second is that many feminists, like Radical Feminism of the '70s take it too far - by rejecting any traces of feminity, including marriage, motherhood, make-up, dresses, among other gender-specific markers. Being a feminist MUST NOT mean being masculine or rejecting feminine things - naturally many women do not resonate with this and reject feminism under the impression that being a feminist means bashing feminity and any man who encourages feminity and also being male-haters simultaneously.
The third, and perhaps very crucial factor is that of guilt - our cultures have a peculiar way of inspiring guilt in women for being themselves - in case you find that baffling, please see this (Samadrita, if you have issues with my link being put here, please delete it and let me know, I have absolutely no issues with that and no hard feelings would EVER prevail) - http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...
I think women succumb to this guilt despite loathing their weakness/inability to overcome it.
Keep the faith, my sister. Edna is brave and so are you.
The problem faced by feminism is that it is not necessarily easy to understand all of the concepts and ideas that underlie the different arguments and ideologies it embraces, and it's easier for male-dominated society to sell the idea that everything is as it should be - because it's easier to understand and easier not to rock the boat - and it's ultimately harder to convince people that the status quo ought to be changed.
Equality is not a dream that most uneducated people aspire to. The capitalist dream is what most aspire to, the seductive desire to get rich quick and be to be more successful than everybody else. There's too big a pull between the idea of seeking self-gratification and caring that your fellow woman might have a harder life because she's a woman.
@Lit Bug:- On the contrary, thank you for sharing the link. I'd take a look at that. Must be insightful and well-written like all your other works I am sure.
@Steve:-Thank you for this wonderful comment, Steve. I try to have faith, but sometimes it becomes difficult in the light of all the instances of misogyny one gets to witness everywhere.
@Clara:-Thank you for sharing such incisive comments. I am tempted to make a few points here but I feel Lit Bug has already done that for me in the space above.
@Arnie:-With respect to this book, Edna doesn't really abandon her children, she abandons her life altogether the moment she realizes she won't be able to take control of it.
Karen, thank YOU for these lovely, heart-felt words of yours. I am glad there are people who read and appreciate what I write.
Just fantastic.
That I believe is the best thing about Goodreads. :)
Thanks so much for reading, Steve. (Seems like I've said that before too.)
Haha nope. Endless repetitions of thank-yous and variants of well-said, well-written can never become redundant.
Thanks, Lynne. Glad you liked it.
Thanks for this excellent review... I'm now eagerly looking forward to the book
Thanks for this excellent review... I'm now eagerly looking forward..."
A demon indeed! I look forward to knowing your thoughts on this one, Zanna.
I've yet to read the novel but please permit me to give you a standing ovation. I'm enthused to read it now with your review as a frame of reference.
This in particular speaks to me:
So Edna's story gets a 1 star because she is a 'selfish bitch' who falls in love with another man who is not her husband, doesn't sacrifice her life for her children and feels the stirrings of sexual attraction for someone she doesn't love in a romantic way. Edna gets a 1 star because she dares to put herself as an individual first before her gender specific roles as wife and mother.
But so many other New Adult and erotica novels (IF one can be generous enough to call them 'novels' for lack of a more suitable alternative term) virtually brimming with sexism, misogyny and chock full of all the obnoxious stereotypes that reinforce society's stunted, retrogressive view of the relationship dynamics between a man and woman, get 5 glorious stars from innumerable reviewers (majority of whom are women) on this site.
YES. A MILLION TIMES YES. I am so dismayed to see this happen again and again. It's women who write and read that regressive sexist crap. It's women who perpetuate misogyny and double standards on each other in romance fiction.
It reminds me of the Dear Author discussion on why women are so critical of other women: http://dearauthor.com/features/letter...
Internalized misogyny, cultural misogyny, projection, self-doubt, etc. all play roles.
It's so depressing to look around and seemingly see this everywhere in romance fiction. It's depressing to see feminism distorted by women themselves into a byword for man-hating fringe lunacy. God, it's all so depressing. Thanks for this review, though. It's a bright little candle that gives me hope.
I've yet to read the novel but please permit me to give you a standing ovation. I'm enthused to read it now with your review as a frame of reference.
This in particular speaks t..."
Thank you so much Leah, for taking time out to read and post such a thoughtful comment. It's incredibly heartening to see you, as a representative of women NA writers, acknowledging the importance of writing books free of noxious stereotypes. You give me hope.
I've yet to read the novel but please permit me to give you a standing ovation. I'm enthused to read it now with your review as a frame of reference.
This in partic..."
Thank you, Nina. Glad to come across another female author and reader agreeing with my views on this book.