Os limites a uma mulher de respeito: precedentes feministas em Kate Chopin.

Abstract

Guided by the evolution of feminist thinking and some aspects concerned with women and their role in society (social, cultural and economic conjunctions), there emerges the goal of this research, which is the comprehension of the representation of the feminine in literature. Therefore, in this context, we discovered the author Kate Chopin and her short story “A Respectable Woman” (1894) that shows her striking ideals in relation to women’s freedom in the XIX century. It is possible to notice how her narrative gives notoriety to women, emphasizing their social and personal wishes, in spite of being victims of restrictions in a patriarchal world. For a critical reading of this short story, we reference authors such as Mary Wollstonecraft (1792), Lorraine Code (2000), Ellen Rooney (2006) and Tim Gillespie (2010). On analyzing this short story, it was possible to understand the correlation between the female figure from the past to the contemporary woman, and their struggle in order to achieve equal rights, through the representation of what is, supposedly, a respectable woman.