Abstract

The following thesis is an analysis of the ideal of Southem womanhood in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. I argue that the ideal of Southem womanhood is the primary factor in Edna Pontellier's suicide. Chapter One begins with a biographical sketch of Chopin and presents an overview of the critical work done on The Awakening in the past one hundred years. Chapter Two defines the ideal of Southern womanhood and analyzes its contradictions and deceptions. Finally, Chapter Three illustrates how the ideal of Southern womanhood operates in The Awakening.