Kate Chopin's The Awakening is brimming with feminisim from beginning to end. In this story of love and lust, an argument for women's rights is suggested mainly through a fictional spirit of feminine independence and freedom of choice.
The first stages of feminism in this novel begin with conflicts between Edna and Leonce, her husband. Chopin illustrates Leonce's view of Edna as a piece of his property. She writes, "'You are burnt beyond recognition,' he [Leonce] added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage" (7). This indicates a sense of dominance that Leonce has over Edna, as most husbands had over their wives. Later, Leonce returns home from a night out at the Klein's hotel. After checking on his children, he scolds Edna because Raoul has a high fever and believes that she should be looking after him while he walks outside to smoke a cigar.
Edna begins to battle her husband's dominance, a sign of feminism developing in chapter eleven. Leonce invites her to join him inside, and Edna tells him to go to bed. In chapter seventeen, Edna responds to Mr. Pontellier's criticism of her cooking and unwomanliness by breaking a glass and stomping on her wedding ring. Upon reluctantly returning the ring to her finger after a maid presented it to her, the narrator less commonly refers to Edna as "Mrs. Pontellier" for the rest of the novel. .
After standing up to her husband for the first few times, Edna develops a greater sense of independence.another feminist characteristic. She more commonly ignores Leonce's wishes and acts only according to her own personal desires. This includes venturing outside on her own as well as visiting friends by herself, which Leonce considers an issue because she is never home when visitors stop by that are expecting her. Mr. Pontellier is so concerned with Edna seeming to have become mentally unstable that seeks the help of the family doctor, Dr.
