Public versus Private Spheres of Domesticity

My research is a close reading of The Awakening by Kate Chopin written in 1899 as a critique of the cult of true womanhood. While ideologies that promote the spheres of domesticity have existed for hundreds of years, it wasn’t until Barbara Welter’s 1976 article, “The Cult of True Womanhood” that the four main tenets that these ideologies were named; piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. The last Virtue in the Cult of True Womanhood is the tenet of Domesticity. This was important in establishing the realms of public and private domestic spheres for men and women during this era. Men and their culture was primarily outside the home in the public sphere. Women were regulated to the private domestic sphere of the home. Critiquing these private/public spheres of gendered expectations is critical in understanding the process of analyzing a literary text in the socio-historical context of the time. While many women are not as regulated to the domestic realm, it may be surprising to readers that what was true for women 120 years ago, still influences the behaviors and gendered expectations of women’s behavior today