Social Background of The Awakening
Social Background of The Awakening by Kate Chopin Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf Coast at the end of the 19th century, The Awakening has been described as a case study of 19th-century feminism. The central theme of the novel is self-ownership. Self-ownership signified a woman’s right to have control over her own body and identity. The heroine of The Awakening longs for this kind of bodily autonomy. The Significance of 1899 The Awakening takes place during a time when a woman was still considered her husband's property. Louisiana, where the novel takes place, was a largely Catholic state and governed by Napoleonic law. And the Napoleonic law robbed women of all their rights. Napoleonic Code The Code stated, “A husband owes protection to his wife, a wife obedience to her husband,” An adulterous wife got two years in prison while an adulterous husband got a modest fine. A wife could only sue for divorce if the husband attempted to include his mistress in the family hous...