Lily Chappell

Mrs. Walter

AP literature

3/15/23

The Nature of Tennessee Williams and Kate Chopin

The events that occurred in the early life of Kate Chopin and Tennessee William were

shaping and instrumental in creating the novels and plays they are now well known for. The

Novel The Awakening written by Kate Chopin, and the Play The Streetcar Named Desire by

Tennessee Williams, are a reflection of the author's emotions and life experiences. Portions of

the authors’ work make tightly formed connections between the authors' lives and the characters

they have constructed. Both authors dive into the roles of men and women within marriage and

the idea of breaking social norms. The authors also use their literature to reflect the role of social

constructs such as gender roles, religion, and beauty and their impact on the characters that are

their embodiment.

The early years of Chopin and Tennessee are where they each are finding their

individualism due to the influence of their home environments. Tennessee describes his life at

home revolving around his parents' relationship, which he deemed, “ it was just a wrong

marriage”. The unhealthy relationship between his parents caused him to build up stress and live

in a tense environment during his youth. "The relationship between parents is considered one of

the most influential interactions a child will experience; as it is usually the first relationship a

child witnesses where personal values and interests develop" (Stanger, 2019). A child is likely to

look up to their parent's relationship to base what their future relationships should look like,

whether it is good or bad. In some cases, such as in Tennessee Williams', the child can recognize
the unhealthiness of a relationship. Williams' approach to his parent's marriage formed an

impactful view of the flaws of people and how some are not able to escape from a situation. On

the other end of the scale, Kate Chopin grew up with only women as role models. Most of the

women in her life were widows, and she was exposed to the strength and independence of a

woman. Both Kate Chopin and Tennessee Williams Have strong opinions about the societal roles

and relationships between men and women. Both writers take the ideas of love and reflect on

how much power the idea of loving and receiving love has on people especially when it is not

found. Williams shows through the relationships in his work and his past that a relationship with

confinement and lack of true emotion is a slippery slope and not something breaking your back

as he uses blanches downfall to represent. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche is beautiful and

has a suitor, however; their relationship falls through due to lies and the lack of a deeper personal

connection. Instead, the relationship between Blanche and Mitch was a superficial desire. In this

relationship as well as Stellas and Stanley's dysfunctional and abusive relationship, Williams is

presenting the idea of a rotten relationship and trying to get the reader to accept the possibility of

getting out of a relationship that is no longer fit for one or both parties. In the play, Stella is

repeatedly warned by Blanche that Stanley is beastly and described as being from the stone age,

claiming that he is not fit for her. In this portion of the text, it could be seen as Blanche trying to

destroy her sister's marriage, however; if you stem back William may have been trying to portray

Blanche trying to open Stella's eyes, but refusing and ultimately being controlled and kept in

place by Stanly not allowed leave him mentally or physically. Similarly, in the Awakening,

Chopin portrays Edna as a married woman who no longer has any feelings for her husband,

however; due to their marriage, she is trapped and unable to get closer to Robert who she longs
for. Both authors display a dislike for the strict structure of the importance of women being one

with men and not capable of breaking free.

An important similarity between Kate Chopin and Tennessee Williams is that they both

experienced hardships that brought out their views and expressive work. Chopin specifically

dealt with an abundance of loss from the death of her father, grandfather, and eventually

husband; she had to overcome these hardships and stand strong without succumbing to the

expectation of a powerless woman. The impact of loss today is very impactful, however; there

are always different outcomes. A study on the human's ability to cope looked at a group, and

they, “ generally said that it was a period full of pain, experimentation, but also growth, and in

retrospect, it was necessary to become who they are now" (Pals & McAdams, [38]). Death is an

unavoidable part of life that is just as painful as it is necessary. People who have experienced a

loss of a loved one are faced with challenges that force them to develop into more complex

characters who can overcome unpreventable hardships. A loss of life potentially can force a

person to develop into a stronger and more guarded person. People may build up walls but could

turn their situation around depending on what a person believes they can do. Both these authors

were challenged in their life but did not let themselves be overwhelmed.

“I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give up my life for

my children, but I would not give myself. I cannot make it clear; it is only something I am

beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.”(Chopin). For all the struggles and the

life both authors Chopin, and Tennessee have grown past the idea of living for someone they are

not going to force themselves to fit into the cookie-cutter mold society has given them. Instead,

they have reflected on their lives, their losses, and their struggles and took it as a lesson to write

and display more unruly and complex characters who might aid in throwing off the balance of
society. Their books critique the ideals and the suffocating that comes with societal roles and

relationships due to the impacts of life experiences and personal beliefs.