The Awakening: Public Controversy

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and stay faithful. [ In fact, ] " the nineteenth century's message of the
supremacy of motherhood was so strong and so intense that it was absorbed into
the systems of it's women - even women like Edna [ ,a character in Chopin's book,
] who were not maternally inclined." ( ? ) You could almost say that women were
considered symbols of everything that is pure in the society in which they lived.
Anything short of that was considered unacceptable.
Because of the time that Chopin lived in: " The Appearance in print of
her most recent work had brought her harsh criticism and condemnation, as well
as ostracism from many of those who had always formed a close-knit world of St.
Louis society" ( Cully , vii ). Her book was seen as a vile and disgusting
piece of literature. One critic of that time stated : "One cannot refrain from
regret that so beautiful a style and so much refinement of taste have been spent
by Miss Chopin on an essentially vulgar story."( ? ). Most critics and ...

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