Presentation Schedule
When Care Leaves No Room for the Self: Motherhood and Autonomy in the Awakening (106142)
Session Chair: Yuwen Su
Saturday, 11 July 2026 15:25
Session: Session 4
Room: UCL Torrington, G20 (Ground Floor)
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
Motherhood in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is not simply a social role but a condition that permeates a woman’s inner life, leaving little room for selfhood to take shape. This paper offers a literary analysis of motherhood and selfhood in The Awakening, using the novel as an entry point to examine how maternal identity comes to occupy not only a woman’s social position but also her mental space. Building on this literary foundation, the paper then turns to a reflective social observation, drawing on contemporary East Asian contexts such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. In these societies, women’s access to higher education and professional life has expanded significantly, yet expectations surrounding intensive maternal devotion remain largely intact. The resulting tension between care, autonomy, and female selfhood serves as a cultural lens through which the enduring relevance of Chopin’s insights can be further illuminated. By reading The Awakening through the lens of maternal mental space, this paper argues that Chopin exposes a model of motherhood that demands too much while naming too little. The novel remains unsettling not because Edna refuses motherhood, but because it reveals how little room the role allows a woman to remain fully herself—a condition that continues to shape contemporary societies. By inviting a cross-cultural dialogue, this paper suggests that motherhood should be understood not simply as a private or gendered concern, but as a shared ethical and social question that continues to demand critical reflection.
Authors:
Yuwen Su, Soochow University, Taiwan
About the Presenter(s)
Yuwen Su (Sophie) is an assistant professor in the Department of English at Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan.
See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule
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