Feminism

Although Kate Chopin didn't actively promote womens' rights by taking on the role if a social reformer, she supported womens' through her work. Chopin was one of the first American authors to reveal the truth about the sufferings of women. Throughout the novel Edna was defying the social confines that plagued the women of the late nineteenth century. Women of the late nineteen century were expected to follow the regulations of the Cult of True Womanhood. Edna defied all four pillars of True Womanhood; submissiveness, domesticity, piety, and purity. Edna left religion and the church, freeing her to break fun get social confines. She refused to be submissive in her relationship by seeking a new relationship, therefore disabling her from following the pillars of domesticity and purity. Edna welcomed the new century and its improved view of women, as proven by her defiance of The Cult of True Womanhood. Edna's defiance ultimately led her to her death because she was incompatible with the society she lived in.