Review: Interesting Feminist Fiction
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 27, 2013
I can understand why this book is considered one of the first examples of feminist fiction. It deals with a woman's dissatisfaction with her marriage and the role society has assigned her. Edna yearns to break free, but the options available to her are limited. She behaves in a destructive and selfish way, and she's not really a very likeable character. The fact that her husband is a decent man and she lives a pampered, privileged life makes it hard to sympathise with her, but the biggest problem stems from her lack of depth. To pull this kind of book off Edna needed to be someone reader's could relate to and understand, but I felt like I hardly knew her at all. Her painting is very important to her and I felt that Chopin was writing about her own experiences and how difficult it was for a woman to be taken seriously as an artist as this time. This book has its flaws but it's an interesting and worthwhile read.