Realism in "The Awakening" and "The Story of an Hour"

Although Kate Chopin has quite often been considered a Regionalist writer, but when reading an excerpt of “The Awakening” and her short story "The Story of an Hour" it is clear that she is a strong Realist writer. "The Awakening" is all about the “awakening” of women from that state that they have been trapped in for such a long time. Both works present the feelings of women as a whole and is all about the social issue of women being stuck in the same position in life as wives and mothers. Even though none of this is directly addressed by the story, it is the underlying theme that Kate Chopin focused on in many of her works. Along with the subject of each story, the style used is another aspect of Realism. There is a strong emotional presence in the words which is how most of the women of the time were feeling and how they were writing.

This short excerpt of “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin literally is about a woman sitting alone in a house crying for no apparent reason. She states that the woman does not know why she is crying, but that it was not all that uncommon to her married life (Chopin "Awakening" 491). The woman is most likely crying because she is unhappy with her life. While she says that her husband is kind and not a bad person, she just does not feel that her life is complete (Chopin "Awakening" 491). In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin also presents ideas about a womans unhappiness and want of independence (Chopin "Story" 554) This is the idea that Kate Chopin tried to get across during her time writing. She felt that women had to realize that there was more to life than only being someone’s wife or a mother. This type of literature became more popular as the movement for women’s rights began and started its takeoff. The fact that this is what women were personally feeling at the time is what makes this a work of Realism as this genre is all about how people actually feel (Quinn). This is what makes Kate Chopin one of the best in the genre of Realism because her “awakening” she is able to spread the idea to other women of the country.

Another aspect that makes these works of Realism is the style in which they are written. The words used are very powerful and there is a lot of passion and emotion. There is a lot of description used to convey the emotions felt by many women in society (Chopin "Awakening" 491). Language is often one of the most simple, but also the most important parts of literature differentiate it from all of the other genres of the world. The word choice portrays how many of the women of the changing society felt.

With the language used in this sort excerpt and the subject matter used to address an underlying theme are what make this a great work of Realism. Kate Chopin is one of the greatest authors to make literature concerning the feelings of women in society. This work of Realism helped in the movement of women’s rights and exposed many people in society to the idea of how women actually felt.


Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 491.

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 554-555.

Quinn, Edward. "realism and naturalism in American literature." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0707&SingleRecord=True. February 13, 2011.