Document Type
Senior Honorable Mention
Award Date
Spring 2010
Course Name
Idea of the Individual
Teacher
Dr. Adam Kotlarczyk
Abstract
Both The Awakening by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman present female main characters pursuing individual autonomy. At first, it would appear that both of these characters gain their freedom in the course of their respective stories. In The Awakening, Edna is able to escape from her husband into a new house, and pursue romantic interests with other men, and at the end of “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” the protagonist exclaims, “I’ve got out at last!” (Gilman 20). However, there are several elements in each piece which hint that liberation is not truly achievable. In actuality, societal norms and constraints severely restricted the possibility of individual autonomy for the main characters in these works, as evidenced in the cage symbolism used by the authors, the representation of male-female relationships as owner-property relationships, and the dismal endings of both pieces.
Recommended Citation
Nicklaus, Liana '10, "The Possibility of Female Autonomy in The Awakening and “The Yellow Wall-Paper”" (2010). 2010 Spring Semester. 1.
https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/spring2010/1