The Importance of Male Characters to Kate Chopin Essay -- Kate Chopin

The Importance of Male Characters to Kate ChopinWhy and how does she use them?Kate Chopin is an author who examines the position of women in 19thcentury Louisiana. She describes their plight, living in a societydesigned by men, one that confines womens behavior. It wasimperative for Kate Chopin to highlight her male characters, as theyultimately are responsible for her heroines actions. The Awakeningand Desirees Baby are two examples that deal with the issuesresulting from a male dominant society, though the stories vary intheir approach. Men and marriage are however the commonalty factors thatsymbolize the obstacles that Kate Chopins women face.In The Awakening Edna, the main character enjoys being married atfirst but later she finds it to be very confine and oppressive. Afree spirit by nature, she rebels against her husband and the lifethat he stands for. She hates the implications that women in hersociety belong to men, and that their place is at home doingdomestic chores and r aising children. This impression is reinforcedwhen Kate Chopin lets the reader view the situation through Ednaseyes, saying that women are regarded as one looks at a valuable memberof property (p.11) Furthermore, men decide womens fictitious character in lifedeclaring that if it is not a (womans) place to look after children,who on earth was it? (p.15) This role is so precisely defined,ensuring that women will stay within the walls of the house with theirfamilies.Marriage was the process by which men gained total control over women.The author indicates that a marriage at that period of time was notalways carefully planned but was rather a spontaneous and passionateact. For example, Ednas ma... ... was irresponsible and overconfident of himselfand his heritage, and was sure that the fault was Desirees neverquestioning his own ancestry. By jumping to conclusions he never gaveher a chance to explain herself to him. At the end, Desiree who hadbeen overwhelmed and desperate drowned h erself and her baby.Kate Chopin developed her female characters as reaction to maleattitudes. She used men, marriage and the rules by which women wereconfined to demonstrate her point. She described men as the ones who laid obstacles in womens way, created social rules and putrestrictions that confined their lives. These boundaries were at timesphysical but almost always emotional, and eliciting defiant behaviorand reactions from the women involved. Placed by men, theselimitations helped in shaping the female character of Kate Chopinsheroines in her stories.