Ctlli- The Awakening - Nota: 8 PDF

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Ejemplo de comentario de texto de "The Awakening"...

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COMENTARIO DE TEXTOS LITERARIOS EN LENGUA INGLESA

Text 3 – “The Awakening”- Kate Chopin. 1899

1. CONTEXT The author of this novella is Kate Chopin, an american writer born in St. Louis, Missouri. It belongs to the modernism literary period. This is the story about a woman herself, her thoughts and feelings about her life. Separating her role as wife or mother, her story is not about marriage or motherhood.

2. CONTEXT Kate Chopin finished writing this novel in January 1898 and was first published in 1899.

FORM AND CONTENT.

3. GENRE The Awakening belongs to the genre of novel.

4. POETIC SPEAKER/VOICE/PERSONA Most of the story is told through the point of view of Edna Pontellier. Using a narrative voice as a very observant and sensitive woman. 5. VISUAL ELEMENTS We observe symbolism: birds, caged – parrot (Edna´s unspoken feelings towards her husband), broken wing – breaking away The ocean: learning to swimm – taste of freedom, Edna becoming more rebelious. Death – ironic maybe. Edna kills herself to free herself of the society perhaps. Syntax: The novel is divided in 39 short chapters, of a single scene each.

THEORY AND CRITICISM Friendship versus patriarchy. Edna making her own choices in life and love. Not sleeping wiht her husband one night, leaving the kids with the paternal grand mother, moving out to a rented house, etc. Defies her supposed role as a wife and mother given by society. The Awakening points out the idea yet unexplored in English literature of “patriarcal society” letting us see through the lens of feminist criticism. Feminist criticism focuses on the patriarchal language and masculine ideology, examining power realtions with a view to break them down. Reading seen as a political act, showing the extent of patriarchy. At the time the novel was first published, 1899, the idea of a feminist theory of literature did not exist. Literature was male dominated. Kate Chopin wrote during the first wave of feminism and her writing influenced the movement greatly ( suffrage movement) Mrs Pontellier is a very powerfull character because Chopin gave her a voice. This novel is a classic of feminist literature in sexual awakening and women´s right of freedom of choice in matters of love.

“LESBIAN CONTINUUM” The concept of “lesbian cotinuum” designates a wide variety of female behaviour and experiencies shared by women. In the case of Edna and Adele is only a supportive female friendship against male opression. However as Pauline Palmer points out, seeing lesbianism this way has the effect of de-sexualising so almost becomes a wholy political act. Therefore the consequence of this position is a moral condemnation of female heterosexuality with the implication that women can only achieve integrity thorugh lesbianism....