AN ANALYSIS OF MAIN CHARACTER’S REJECTION AGAINST THE STEREOTYPES OF WOMEN IN KATE CHOPIN’S THE AWAKENING

Abstract

; "> The purpose of the research is to analyze the stereotypes of women in nineteenth century Louisiana America as reflected in the novel The Awakening written by Kate Chopin. The writer studies about the stereotypes of women through female main character and how she rejects women’s stereotypes. The analysis uses feminism theory. The technique applied is close reading. The results show that the women have four main stereotypes: 1) piety, such as attending
Sunday sermon, 2) purity, such as having the art skill in painting, 3)
submissiveness, such as receiving the guests, returning the visits of the guests and
writing letter to husband, and 4) domesticity, such as looking after the servants,
nurturing the children, preparing the meals for children and taking the children to
bed. All of the stereotypes result in oppression for the women because they get many responsibilities around the house, so the women reject these stereotypes.
The forms of rejections are earning money by gambling, having affairs with
another man, denying her marriage, having fun by swimming, disobeying her
husband’s command, denying the status as a mother and buying a new house. Her actions of rejections show that she wants to get the rights to be free to act, to have time for her own pleasure and becomes herself.
Keywords: the stereotypes of women, piety, purity, submissiveness, domesticity,
rejections