Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J40Mec2AnR8&feature=related

The Awakening – Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin

           Kate Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of Thomas O'Flaherty, a successful businessman who had emigrated from Galway, Ireland. Her mother, Eliza Faris, was a well-connected member of the French community in St. Louis. In 1870, at the age of 20, she married Oscar Chopin and settled in New Orleans.

           “By the early 1890s, Kate Chopin was writing short stories, articles, and translations which appeared in periodicals, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was quite successful and placed many of her publications in literary magazines. But she became known only as a regional local color writer and her literary qualities were overlooked.

            In 1899, her second novel, The Awakening, was published, and the book was criticized because of its moral as well as its literary standards. This, her best-known work, is the story of a woman trapped in the confines of an oppressive society. Out of print for several decades, it is now widely available and critically acclaimed for its writing quality and importance as an early feminist work.

            Some of her writings, such as The Awakening, were too far ahead of their time and therefore not socially embraced. After almost 12 years in the public eye of the literary world and shattered by the lack of acceptance, Chopin was a virtually nonexistent author.

            Chopin, deeply discouraged by the criticism, turned to short story writing. In 1900 she wrote The Gentleman from New Orleans, and that same year she was listed in the first edition of Marquis Who's Who. However she never made much money from her writing, and depended on her investments in Louisiana and St. Louis to sustain her.

            While visiting the St. Louis World's Fair on August 20, 1904, Chopin suffered a brain hemorrhage and died two days later, at the age of 53. She was interred in the Calvary cemetery in St. Louis.” Wikipedia

Plot Summary

       The story begins in a summer holiday resort in the late 1800s in Grand Isle. The resort engaged a lot of wealthy residents of nearby New Orleans. Edna and her husband Leonce Pontellier were taking a vacation with their two sons. Leonce Pontellier was very busy with his work; therefore, he was not at home very often. As a result, Edna spent more time with her friend Adele Ratignolle. During the time they were in Grand Isle, Edna met Robert Lebrun. At first, the relationship between Edna and Robert were innocent. However, during the time they spent with each other, they fell in love. Robert taught Edna a lot of things: she learned to swim and also started to paint again as she did in her youth. These inspired Edna’s desire of being independent and having dreams. Later, Edna decided not to comply with her social responsibilities of being a traditional 19th century women. Edna left her husband and children and started her “awakening” trip. In the end, Robert finally expressed his feelings to Edna. Besides he admitted his love to Edna, he also warned her that they could not be together because she was married. However, Edna told him that now she is an independent woman, and that she can live with him happily. But Robert still could not deal with this adulterous affair. After returning back from the visit to Adele’s childbirth, Edna saw a farewell note left by Robert. After the leaving of Robert, Edna felt extremely sad because she finally realized that Robert regarded society’s viewpoints as more important than his love to her, she also felt regret about her children that she did not assume her responsibilities. As a result, Edna noticed that she could not accomplish her desires and dreams because of society’s limitations. She felt an irresistible sense of solitude. Finally, she swam into death.

Major Characters

        Edna Pontellier-- The protagonist of the story. She is a respectable woman who has the strength and courage to achieve her dream: own        

        self-definition. She refused to be like her friends who idolize their children and satisfied their husbands.

        Mademoiselle Reisz-- An unconventional and unpopular women who is expert in playing piano. She is ruled by her art and her passions instead

        of the society’s expectations. Therefore, Edna admires her in such attitude.

        Adele Ratignolle-- A dedicated traditional wife and mother, the model of niteenth- century womanhood.

        Robert Lebrun, an elder man who taught Edna to swim and inspired Edna to have dreams. In the story, he told Edna about his feelings to her.

        However, at the end of story, he left Edna because he still could not ignore the rules of society.

     Symbols: Birds and The Sea

 Birds

           The caged birds symbolize the limitations of Edna and the limitations of women have in that period of time. Like the birds, women’s movements and expressions are limited by society. Caged birds do not have freedom to fly just like women do not have freedom of being a self-definition person because they should devote themselves to their family, husbands and children. Before the end of story, Edna saw a bird “A bird with broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water.” This scene reminded Edna the words of Mademoiselle Reisz gave her before. Once she told Edna that if she wants to fly over the tradition, she should have strong wings in order to face the difficulties in which she may encounter in her way. She warns: “ The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is said spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.”

The Sea

            In “ The Awakening”, sea symbolizes freedom and escape. Edna was attracted by the sea is shown clearly in chapter six. Because sea can provide her the possibility of being independent, and also though swimming, Edna could prove herself to achieve the impossible things into possible. She could take this opportunity to relief the society’s expectations and no longer to live under the rules governed by he society. From Edna’s “awakening” until she learned how to swim, swimming stimulate her own potential abilities. She could swim to the places where other women could not. However, Edna also chose to finish her life in the sea. At the end of the story, before Edna swim to death, she took all her clothes off which symbolize her determination of freedom and the liberation of society’s ties. 

References:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Chopin

                    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/awakening/summary.html

                    <覺醒> The Awakening, 凱特 蕭邦 著，楊瑛美 譯。 女書出版

                   Bernad Koloski, "The Awakening: Approaches to Teaching Chopin's", published by the Modern Language Association          of America, New York, 1995. 

INTRODUCTION

Set in 1953, Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), a new young art history professor at Wellesley College, an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. Unfortunately for free-minded Berkeley grad Watson, her East Coast teaching stint comes during a less-progressive time that finds most of her students -- among them Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles), and Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) -- more interested in nabbing a good husband than achieving scholastic and intellectual growth. Watson challenges her students and the Wellesley faculty to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success; meanwhile, she tries to come to terms with her own heart's desires.

CHARACTERS

Katherine Watson--Julia Roberts

Betty Warren--Kirsten Dunst

Joan Brandwyn--Julia Stiles

Giselle Levy--Maggie Gyllenhaal 

Connie Baker--Ginnifer Goodwin

Bill Dunbar--Dominic West

Nancy Abbey--Marcia Gay Harden

Amanda Armstrong--Juliet Stevenson

Principal of College Wellesley--Marian Seldes

References: http://www.allmovie.com/movie/mona-lisa-smile-v283264/

Plot Summary

        In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson takes a position teaching "History of Art" at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college because she wants to make a difference and influence the next generation of women. At her first class, Katherine discovers that the girls have already memorized the entire syllabus from the textbook. Therefore, she uses the classes to introduce them to Modern Art and encourages spirited classroom discussions about topics such as what makes good art and what the Mona Lisa's smile means. This brings her into conflict with the conservative president of Wellesley College who warns Katherine to stick to the syllabus, or she will lose her job. Katherine comes to know many of the students in her class well and seeks to inspire them to seek more than marriage to eligible young men.

        Betty Warren is a conservative woman just like her mother. Betty doesn't understand why Katherine does not get married and try to change their thoughts. She writes an editorial for the college paper to attack Katherine for advocating that women should seek a career instead of just being wives and mothers as intended. Betty can't wait to marry Spencer as their parents have arranged and expects to get the traditional exemptions from attending class because she is married, but Katherine insists that she will failed Betty if she does not come to the class.   

        Joan Brandwyn wants to be a lawyer and enrolled as pre-law so Katherine encourages her to apply to Yale Law School. Joan, however, elopes with her fiancé Tommy and they feel very happy. She decides that what she wants most is to be a wife and mother after graduation and asks Katherine to respect her choice.

        Connie Baker is dating Betty's cousin, Charlie. Betty persuades her that he is only using her since it has been arranged by his parents for him to marry Deb, a girl more of his social standing. So, Connie ends the relationship. However, Charlie has already decided for himself that he is not going to marry Deb, so he and Connie get back together. Another student, Giselle Levy, has liberal views, and she supports Katherine because she sees her choosing what she wants in her life. Giselle brazenly has affairs with a professor and a married man.

        Katherine confides to the girls that she was engaged when she was younger, but that she and her fiancé were separated by the war. The relationship fizzled out, and she has since had several affairs. Katherine declines a proposal from her boyfriend because she doesn't love him enough.

        She begins dating with the Wellesley Italian professor, Bill Dunbar, who is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with many students (including Giselle). Katherine makes him promise that it will never happen again. When Katherine learns that Bill spent the entire war at the Army Languages Center on Long Island, she decides to break up with him because he is not trustworthy. Dunbar responds that Katherine didn't come to Wellesley to help the students, but to try to find herself.

        Betty's marriage fails miserably, as Spencer spends as much time as possible in New York on business. Giselle also catches Spencer having an affair. Betty's mother tries to ask Betty to remain her marriage, at least not to cause a scandal. At graduation, Betty tells Katherine that she is divorcing Spencer. She adds that she is going to New York and she is considering applying to Yale Law School.

        Because Katherine's course is highly popular, the college invites her to return, but the president impose conditions on Katherine—she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval, and not talk to the girls about other things that are not related to the class. Katherine decides to leave and go to Europe. In the ending scene, Betty dedicates her last editorial to her teacher Katherine Watson, claiming that Katherine is "an extraordinary woman who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes." As Katherine's taxi speeds up, all her students follow on their bicycles to keep up with the taxi to thank Katherine for changing their lives.

References:

http://movies.wn.com/movie/Mona_Lisa_Smile_2003.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa_Smile

Throughout the entire film, Katherine Watson contends with the theoretical adversaries of social convention and antiquated values. When she giving her lectures, she discovers her students thinking whatever anyone tells them to think, be it a textbook or society. She challenges her students through popular media advertisements to consider what future generations will think of what these women have made of themselves. Also, she denies through her own personal life that marriage, motherhood and home are honorable things to give your life to, and this is the bottom line of what she communicates to her students—following the traditional roles and simply doing what someone else tells you to do are not only restrictive, but also deny a woman her individual identity and personal fulfillment.

When Betty writes an editorial to attack Katherine, Katherine projects a series of images of American magazine advertising from the 1950s depicting women as appendages to men, children, homes and appliances. She includes a girdle advert that paradoxically restricts the body while promising freedom. In other words, she asks the students to consider if they are willing to conform to these dominant media stereotypes. It is also worth waiting to view the film’s final credits because they include a montage of clips from American television advertising and newsreels illustrating the restricted domestic role of women following World War II, when many had done men’s jobs in wartime factories.

What kind of role model does Watson provide? The character is an attractive, dedicated woman who loves her subject and wants to help her students as much as possible. One of her students characterizes her as “a seeker of truth beyond tradition, beyond the image”; consequently, she is a positive role model for today’s art history students— who are mostly female. At the same time, she is a rather sad individual because her teaching career takes precedence over her love life: in the film, relationships with two men fail and she leaves the College to travel to Europe alone rather than obey the management’s instructions to teach a standard syllabus and submit her lesson plans in advance for approval. Although she advises her students “you can bake your cake and eat it too” (that is, have a career, marriage, and children) it seems impossible as far as she is concerned.

Reference:

http://ambermonroe.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/mona-lisa-smile-character-analyses-my-take/

http://www.artdesigncafe.com/Mona-Lisa-Smile-film-review

Chapter 2 of The Feminine Mystique is an interesting compilation of stories showing the modern (1960′s) woman only wanted the hearth, home and husband. According to Friedan’s observation in Chapter 1, women had given-up their desire for independence and instead turned all their attention to:

. . . kissing their husbands goodbye in front of the picture window, depositing their statiowagonsful of children at school, and smiling as they ran the new electric waxer over the spotless kitchen floor.

Friedan continues to detail how women’s magazines would intentionally omit political issues or matters of national or international concern:

Our readers are housewives, full time. They’re not  interested in the broad issues of the day. They are not interested in national or international affairs. They are only interested in the family and the home. They aren’t interested in politics, unless it’s related to an immediate need in the home, like the price of coffee.

In all honesty, this does paint a troubling picture: women being totally oblivious to public affairs and matters of national and international concern. However, if one were to examine the women’s magazines of today, there are very few articles discussing matters of world concern. If you want to read about public affairs you don’t pick-up Harper’s Bazaar or Glamour, instead you read The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times.

According to Friedan, a new “feminine mystique” was emerging. A belief that women belonged at home and could only be fulfilled through their femininity:

And so the feminine mystique began to spread through the land, grafted onto old prejudices and comfortable conventions which so easily give the past a stranglehold on the future. Behind the new mystique were concepts and theories deceptive in their sophistication and their assumption of accepted truth.

The feminine mystique as explained by Friedan:

The feminine mystique says that the highest value and the only commitment for women is the fulfillment of their own femininity. It says that the great mistake of Western culture, through most of its history, has been the undervaluation of this femininity.

Chapter 2 closes with a great question, one I would like to pose to our readers:

The feminine mystique is so powerful that women grow up no longer knowing that they have the desires and capacities the mystique forbids. But such a mystique does not fasten itself on a whole nation in a few short years, reversing the trends of a century, without cause. What gives the mystique its power? Why did women go home again?

Second-wave feminism

Second-wave Feminism, also called The Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement, is a period of feminist activity. In the United States it began during the early 1960s and lasted through the late 1990s. In Turkey and Israel it began in the 1980s, and it began at other times in other countries.

Whereas first-wave feminism focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to gender equality (i.e. voting rights, property rights), second-wave feminism broadened the debate to a wide range of issues: sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, de facto inequalities, and official legal inequalities. Second-wave Feminism radically changed the face of western culture, leading to marital rape laws, establishment of rape crisis and battered women's shelters, significant changes in custody and divorce law, and widespread integration of women into sports activities and the workplace. It also tried and failed to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Many feminists view the second-wave feminist era as ending with the intra-feminism disputes of the Feminist Sex Wars over issues such as sexuality and pornography, which ushered in the era of third-wave feminism.

 

Overview

The second wave of feminism in North America came as a response to the experiences of women after World War II: the late 1940s post-war boom, which was an era characterized by an unprecedented economic growth, a baby boom, and a move to the suburbs encouraged companionate marriages. This life was clearly illustrated by the media of the time; for example television shows such as Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver idealized domesticity.

 

French writer Simone de Beauvoir had in the 1940s examined the notion of women being perceived as "other" in the patriarchal society. She went on to conclude that male-centered ideology was being accepted as a norm and enforced by the ongoing development of myths, and that the fact that women are capable of getting pregnant, lactating, and menstruating is in no way a valid cause or explanation to place them as the "second sex".

Beauvoir's book influenced Betty Friedan, who in her 1963 bestselling book The Feminine Mystique explicitly objected to the mainstream media image of women, stating that placing women at home limited their possibilities, and wasted talent and potential. The perfect nuclear family image depicted and strongly marketed at the time, she wrote, did not reflect happiness and was rather degrading for women.

This book is widely credited with having begun second-wave feminism.

Though it is widely accepted that the movement lasted from the 1960s into the late 1990s, the exact years of the movement are more difficult to pinpoint and are often disputed. The movement is usually believed to have begun in 1963, when "Mother of the Movement" Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, and President John F. Kennedy's Presidential Commission on the Status of Women released its report on gender inequality. The report, which revealed great discrimination against women in American life, along with Friedan's book, which spoke to the discontent of many women (especially housewives), led to the formation of many local, state, and federal government women's groups as well as many independent women's liberation organizations. Friedan was referencing a "movement" as early as 1964.

The movement grew with legal victories such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court ruling of 1965; in 1966 Friedan joined other women and men to found the National Organization for Women.

Amongst the most significant legal victories of the movement after the formation of NOW were a 1967 Executive Order extending full Affirmative Action rights to women, Title IX and the Women's Educational Equity Act (1972 and 1974, respectively, educational equality), Title X (1970, health and family planning), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (1974), the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the illegalization of marital rape (although not illegalized in all states until 1993), the legalization of no-fault divorce (although not allowed in all states until 2010), a 1975 law requiring the U.S. Military Academies to admit women, and many Supreme Court cases, perhaps most notably Reed v. Reed of 1971 and Roe v. Wade of 1973. However, the changing of social attitudes towards women is usually considered the greatest success of the women's movement.

By the early 1980s, it was largely perceived that women had met their goals and succeeded in changing social attitudes towards gender roles, repealing oppressive laws that were based on sex, integrating the "boys' clubs" such as Military academies, the United States armed forces, NASA, single-sex colleges, men's clubs, and the Supreme Court, and illegalizing gender discrimination. However, in 1982 adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution failed, three states short of ratification.

Second-wave feminism was largely successful, with the failure of the ratification of the ERA the only major legislative defeat. Efforts to ratify it have continued, and twenty-one states now have ERAs in their state constitutions. Furthermore, many women's groups are still active and are major political forces. As of 2011, more women earn bachelor's degrees than men, half of the Ivy League presidents are women, the numbers of women in government and traditionally male-dominated fields have dramatically increased, and in 2009 the percentage of women in the American workforce temporarily surpassed that of men. The salary of the average American woman has also increased over time, although as of 2008 it is only 77% of the average man's salary, a phenomenon often referred to as the Gender Pay Gap. Whether this is due to discrimination is very hotly disputed, however economists and sociologists have provided evidence to that effect.

 

View on popular culture

 

Second-wave feminists viewed popular culture as sexist, and created pop culture of their own to counteract this. Artist Helen Reddy’s song “I Am Woman” played a large role in popular culture and became a feminist anthem; Reddy came to be known as a "feminist poster girl" or a "feminist icon." “One project of second wave feminism was to create ‘positive’ images of women, to act as a counterweight to the dominant images circulating in popular culture and to raise women’s consciousness of their oppressions." (Arrow, Michelle. 2007).

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism

This is a film about what it can mean to be a woman in the United States, and in particular, a working class woman with few options in life. It is also about women who suddenly realize that they may have more potential and freedom that they ever thought was possible, particularly freedom from the male dominated society that has so badly mistreated them over the years.

At the beginning of the movie, when the two heroines appear on the stage, almost most of the scenes try to portray the social status of women at that time—Louise is a single woman who works as a waitress in a small restaurant, while Thelma is an ordinary housewife who got married at an early age. All the scenes follow the stereotype of the society: an obedient housewife, a chauvinistic husband, the husband supports the economy of the family, etc. Moreover, these scenes seem to be the “normal and right behavior” of women in daily life.

Actually, this movie focuses on the resistance of women toward men and the potential of women instead of the status of women in the family. However, we can discuss the women’s status in family in 20 century through the life of Thelma and the relationship between Thelma and her husband.

If either of the characters is a true feminist, it is Louise. Despite the fact that she arguably does require her boyfriend’s help, in order to wire her life savings to her, this money with which she plans to start her new life is her own, and she rejects his offer to renew their relationship, despite the fact that she still cares for him. As Schulman describes her, Louise is “authentic. She does what she wants. Louise smokes. She knows what good sex is. She is able to talk to her boyfriend as an intelligent equal,” and most importantly, is the one of them whose action was truly a direct response of outrage against male supremacy: the murder of Harlan. Thelma, on the other hand, is somewhat of a ditz, who had played the submissive wife to her domineering husband for years, who flirts with two shady men at different points in the narrative, who bears little to no emotional scarring after the near rape, and who leaves the envelope of Louise’s money alone in the hotel room with a man who had earlier admitted to being a convicted thief. Whereas Louise is consistently portrayed as a smart, strong female character fully capable of taking care of herself, Thelma relies on Louise for direction for most of the film, and when she does finally take control of the situation herself, such as in the store robbery, makes matters worse for both of them.

Reference:

http://www.eslnotes.com/movies/pdf/thelma-and-louise.pdf

http://www.robwillreview.com/?p=36

Author: Sarah Jewett; Genre: Regionalism; Realism; Collection of Short Stories

An 1896 short story sequence by Sarah Orne Jewett which is considered by some literary critics to be her finest work. Henry James described it as her "beautiful little quantum of achievement." Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. The novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship experienced by the inhabitants of the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.
Sarah Orne Jewett, who wrote the book when she was 47, was largely responsible for popularizing the regionalism genre with her sketches of the fictional Maine fishing village of Dunnet Landing. Like Jewett, the narrator is a woman, a writer, unattached, genteel in demeanor, intermittently feisty and zealously protective of her time to write. The narrator removes herself from her landlady's company and writes in an empty schoolhouse, but she also continues to spend a great deal of time with Mrs. Todd, befriending her hostess and her hostess's family and friends.




Themes of The Country of Pointed Firs

Life on the land vs. Life on the sea
-Captain Littlepage's demeanor change
-Mrs. Todd's being instructed by a voice offshore, during their travels to see her mother
-nobility of the sea

Nature and the environment
-lush descriptive passages detail the surroundings
-focal point for the opening to each plot sketch

Literature and language as representative of societal status
-Mari Harris and Captain Littlepage
-low language and a lack of literary knowledge points to relative inelegance


Storytelling as an avenue for human connection

The quiet life of women

Plot

The narrator returns after a brief visit a few summers prior, to the small coastal town of Dunnet, Maine, in order to finish writing her book. Upon arriving she settles in with Mrs. Todd, a local elderly apothecary, or homeopathic "herbalist." The narrator begins to work for Mrs. Todd when Mrs. Todd goes out, but this distracts the narrator from her writing.
She rents an empty schoolhouse, so she can concentrate on her writing. After a funeral, Captain Littlepage, an 80-year-old retired sailor, comes to the schoolhouse to visit the narrator because he knows Mrs. Todd. He tells a story about his time on the sea and she is noticeably bored so he begins to leave. She sees that she has offended him with her display of boredom, so she covers her tracks by asking him to tell her more of his story. The Captain's story cannot compare to the stories that Mrs. Todd, Mrs. Todd's brother and mother, and residents of Dunnet tell of their lives in Dunnet. The narrator's friendship with Mrs. Todd strengthens over the course of the summer, and the narrator's appreciation of the Maine coastal town increases each day.

Characters

Mrs. Almira (Almiry) Todd
Initial appearance: Chapter 2; "Mrs. Todd" p. 6 - first talks to the narrator "Well, dear, I took great advantage o' your bein' here. I ain't had such a season for years, but I have never had nobody I could so trust."
Final appearance: Chapter 24; "The Backward View" p. 128-129 - when the narrator is leaving "I lost sight of her as she slowly crossed an open space on one of the higher points of land, and disappeared again behind a dark clump of juniper and the pointed firs.
Captain Littlepage
Initial appearance: Chapter 4; "At the Schoolhouse Window" p. 12 - in the midst of a funeral procession "...I recognized the one strange and unrelated person in all the company, an old man who had always been mysterious to me."
Final appearance: Chapter 10 "The Great Expedition" p. 89 - sitting behind his closed window "There was a patient look on the old man's face, as if the world were a great mistake and he had nobody with whom to speak his own language or find companionship."
Mrs. Blackett
Initial appearance: Chapter 8 "Green Island" p. 35 - on land "I looked and could see a tiny flutter in the doorway, but a quicker signal had made its way from the heart on shore to the heart on sea."

references: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/american-19th-century.html

First-wave feminism