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

The Importance of Male Characters to Kate Chopin Why and how does she use them? Kate Chopin is an author who examines the position of women in 19th century Louisiana. She describes their plight, living in a society designed by men, one that confines women’s behavior. It was imperative for Kate Chopin to highlight her male characters, as they ultimately are responsible for her heroines’ actions. The â€Å"Awakening† and â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† are two examples that deal with the issues resulting from a male dominant society, though the stories vary in their approach. Men and marriage are however the common factors that symbolize the obstacles that Kate Chopin’s women face. In â€Å"The Awakening† Edna, the main character enjoys being married at first but later she finds it to be very limiting and oppressive. A free spirit by nature, she rebels against her husband and the life that he stands for. She hates the implications that women in her society â€Å"belong† to men, and that their place is at home doing domestic chores and raising children. This impression is reinforced when Kate Chopin lets the reader view the situation through Edna’s eyes, saying that women are regarded â€Å"as one looks at a valuable piece of property†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.11) Furthermore, men decide women’s role in life declaring that â€Å"if it is not a (woman’s) 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 their families. Marriage was the process by which men gained total control over women. The author indicates that a marriage at that period of time was not always carefully planned but was rather a spontaneous and passionate act. For example, Edna’s â€Å"ma... ... was arrogant and overconfident of himself and his heritage, and was sure that the fault was Desiree’s never questioning his own ancestry. By jumping to conclusions he never gave her a chance to explain herself to him. At the end, Desiree who had been overwhelmed and desperate drowned herself and her baby. Kate Chopin developed her female characters as reaction to male attitudes. She used men, marriage and the rules by which women were confined to demonstrate her point. She described men as the ones who placed obstacles in women’s way, created social rules and put restrictions that confined their lives. These boundaries were at times physical but almost always emotional, and eliciting defiant behavior and reactions from the women involved. Placed by men, these limitations helped in shaping the female character of Kate Chopin’s heroines in her stories.