Beginning of Essay
In the novella The Awakening by Kate Chopin, two supporting characters, Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, represent two distinctively different females of the Victorian Age. Madame Ratignolle serves as society’s idea of the ideal woman. “Ther ....

Middle of Essay
.... of the Ratignolle family. “The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever a fusion of two human beings into one has ever been accomplished on this sphere it [is] surely this union.” Madame Ratignolle has surrendered to her husband’s world as proper wives at the time were expected to do. She obeys her husband and assumes the responsibility of keeping him satisfied. “She would not consent to remain with Edna [when] Monsieur Ratignolle was alone, [because] he detested above all things being alone.” While Madame Ratignolle is the ideal Victorian woman, Mademoiselle Reisz is “a disagreeable little woman, ....