A subjetividade da mulher: a descoberta do "eu" em O despertar

Abstract

The novel The awakening (1899) written by the American Kate Chopin portrays the woman's condition in the end of the XIX century, a period in which the patriarchal system was toughly dominant. In order to attempt to break away with the male control the protagonist of the novel, Edna, searches for her own subjectivity. Through Edna, Chopin deeply exposes women's need for self-assertion within that patriarchal universe limited by strict social rules. Thus, the protagonist, who in the beginning of the novel was passive and behaved like "an angel in the house" rebels against society, and against her condition of woman inside marriage structure, and looks for self-assertion as gender, as becomes aware of her personality, as well as moving away from her husband's house to a smaller one without asking for permission as a way of showing to him and to society that she did not need anyone to consult with in order to make a decision. However, Edna is aware that her attitudes are limited by society. Despite showing a trajectory of female fight in search of freedom from male oppression, the novel was written by a woman that also went through many difficulties in order to achieve her own space and identity. Due to that, this monographic work has the objective of analyzing the discovery of the "SELF" from a feminist perspective.