Mother-women and doll-babies: the social construction of female characters in Kate Chopin's the awakening and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, 2003

Through feminist and cultural criticism, this study examines the novels of two renowned American authors, Kate Chopin and Toni Morrison, who have made immense contributions to the field of women's studies through their keen observation of the roles played by women in conventional American societies. This study was based on the concepts of Victorianism and patriarchy and the effects they have on middle-class women. The tenets of Victorianism perpetuated by late-nineteenth-century Louisiana Creole society, which the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, inhabits in Kate Chopin's The Awakening, do not encourage Edna's pursuit of independence. And the institution of patriarchy perpetuated by the early-twentieth-century African-American middle-class society, which the protagonist, Ruth Foster Dead, occupies in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, inhibits the female characters in the novel from becoming individuals. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that in spite of their differences in race, eras, and societies as middle-class women both Edna Pontellier and Ruth Foster Dead undergo significant hardships due to the social strictures of their patriarchal societies