Agency, Gender, and Constraint: Examining Shame in The Awakening

Hefner, McKinze

Agency, Gender, and Constraint: Examining Shame in The Awakening

dc.contributor.advisor	Schleifer, Ronald
dc.contributor.author	Hefner, McKinze
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Davidson, Lupe
dc.contributor.committeeMember	McDonald, William Henry
dc.date.accessioned	2019-08-20T13:18:21Z
dc.date.available	2019-08-20T13:18:21Z
dc.date.issued	2019-05
dc.date.manuscript	2019-04
dc.description.abstract	This thesis focuses on The Awakening by Kate Chopin and examines how shame constrains the performance of gender through the lens of Butler’s theory of gender performativity. Judith Butler claims that gender is the “practice of improvisation within a scene of constraint,” and I argue that shame organizes the scene of constraint by commanding specific responses to shame. In other words, I argue that shame is a social situation, not a personal emotion. The Awakening was written and is set at a unique moment in history that allowed for such a conversation about gender and gender performance to occur because of the social shift to a class system. The shift made leisure time more available, which allowed for this conversation of gender to develop. Within the novel, Edna Pontellier is shamed in various scenes for her gender performance, and she responds to this shaming by resisting, acquiescing, or improvising. In order to counter shame, Edna exercises agency through resistance or improvisation. The novel proves through Edna’s navigation of the complex oppressive social structure that it is possible to combat constraints without compromising agency or succumbing to oppression.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/11244/321173
dc.subject	women's writing	en_US
dc.subject	American literature	en_US
dc.subject	feminist theory	en_US
dc.subject	shame theory	en_US
dc.thesis.degree	Master of Arts	en_US
dc.title	Agency, Gender, and Constraint: Examining Shame in The Awakening	en_US
ou.group	College of Arts and Sciences::Department of English	en_US