A comparative study on the theme of woman's initiation in Kate Chopin's the awakening and Doris Lessing's the summer before the dark

Abstract

This study offers some insight into the rise and development of feminist movement, with special focus on a comparative analysis of two novels, Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Doris Lessing's The Summer Before the Dark – products of the late nineteenth-century American Literature and the late twentieth-century English Literature, respectively. Although these two authors lived in different ages and societies, the female protagonists they portrayed in these two novels have some common features and live through similar problems and follow similar paths to cope with these problems. Undoubtedly, women in the late twentieth century enjoyed greater freedom and better opportunities than those who lived in the previous century. However, it is clear that not much has changed in terms of women's emotional response to their position in society and the kind of problems they were confronted with. For all their differences, what remains the same is women's sense of dissatisfaction with their own lives and their determination to break out of the chains in family and society. Women's familial and social responsibilities prevent them from becoming aware of their own capabilities, realizing their potential, and accomplishing their ideals. In the novels under discussion, two female protagonists -Kate and Edna- go through a process of awakening and self-discovery after a long period of suffering as wives and mothers. Unwilling to follow the established norms of society, the female protagonists, refuse to fulfill the traditional roles of wifehood and motherhood assigned to them by the patriarchal society. They set out on a journey (both physical and spiritual) in their attempt to achieve autonomy and identity. In the end, Kate (in The Summer Before the Dark) decides to return to her family with a heightened sense of confidence and greater feeling of fulfillment, while Edna (in The Awakening), who has lost all her hopes for a better life, ends up committing suicide.This study offers some insight into the rise and development of feminist movement, with special focus on a comparative analysis of two novels, Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Doris Lessing's The Summer Before the Dark – products of the late nineteenth-century American Literature and the late twentieth-century English Literature, respectively. Although these two authors lived in different ages and societies, the female protagonists they portrayed in these two novels have some common features and live through similar problems and follow similar paths to cope with these problems. Undoubtedly, women in the late twentieth century enjoyed greater freedom and better opportunities than those who lived in the previous century. However, it is clear that not much has changed in terms of women's emotional response to their position in society and the kind of problems they were confronted with. For all their differences, what remains the same is women's sense of dissatisfaction with their own lives and their determination to break out of the chains in family and society. Women's familial and social responsibilities prevent them from becoming aware of their own capabilities, realizing their potential, and accomplishing their ideals. In the novels under discussion, two female protagonists -Kate and Edna- go through a process of awakening and self-discovery after a long period of suffering as wives and mothers. Unwilling to follow the established norms of society, the female protagonists, refuse to fulfill the traditional roles of wifehood and motherhood assigned to them by the patriarchal society. They set out on a journey (both physical and spiritual) in their attempt to achieve autonomy and identity. In the end, Kate (in The Summer Before the Dark) decides to return to her family with a heightened sense of confidence and greater feeling of fulfillment, while Edna (in The Awakening), who has lost all her hopes for a better life, ends up committing suicide.