I am excited about the novel. I think that there will be a lot that I can relate to and understand.
Before we started reading, we first learned about literary criticisms. Out of the ten that
we learned about, I personally liked the Psychological (Freudian) Criticism, Marxist Criticism,
and Feminist Criticism. They made the most sense to me and if I were to write a critical piece
on a novel, I think that I would be able to write the best and most effective criticisms
with these those 3. I also thought that the Reader Response Theory was interesting. This critical
approach was different from the rest in the perspective that the reader was the most
important part of the text. They created the meaning of the novel; each could hold a
very different and contrasting view of the book and both would be correct. This thought or
idea was kind of difficult to grasp because I believed each novel had a selected meaning to it
which was created by the author. However, this type of literary criticism looked at it differently.
Also, I like definite things in everything. I like definite answers and stories that have a definite
story plot, not one that is up to you to decide upon, sort of like the movie Inception.
The Awakening has a general theme that involves females. We haven't read that far into the novel yet
but I am excited to read further to see the gender stereotypes that have existed and
still exist today. I wonder what the story's content holds that cause so much trouble for Kate Chopin.
We learned in class today that she lived a difficult and lonely life, yet with easiness as she freely
"smoked in the front porch while letting her 6 children run free." It is a shame that she didn't get
enough credit for her work during her time, making three dollars one time, especially because
her novel has gained such a huge audience now, and is one of the top books read by college students.
I don't understand how she was able to survive with her six children.
We concentrated more on the feminist criticism because the novel had so much to do about
the uprisings of women and how a single individual woman tries to stand up independently
in society, which was thought to be absurd in the late 19th century. This type of criticism's
purpose is to raise readers' consciousness about sexual exploitation and alienation. Kate Chopin
at her time of living, said that she did not intentionally write this novel to cause disrupt. She didn't
have other thoughts or intentions when she wrote this novel. However, this novel obviously
holds so much content that was controversial in her time. A feminist critic would
have so much to write about.
I honestly hope that I will enjoy this novel as much as I enjoyed reading Winesburg, Ohio. I have
high expectations for it and hope Kate Chopin doesn't fail me!
No comments:
Post a Comment