Analysis of Chopin's use of linguistic features in her literary works.

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From the Victorian era, Chopin startled critics with her paradigmatic tale of a woman’s abortive struggle towards independence in an oppressive society. By using women as her protagonist, Chopin highlights their sexist roles in literature whilst restricting them from the expansion necessary to deal with their realisation. It thus seemed conducive to transform the novel into a series of letters in the form of English Sonnets, establishing the undeveloped characterisation of Edna with Robert, whilst they are separated from each other. The transformation aims to elucidate Edna’s role in society, by satirizing the narrow and stereotypical way in which woman are commonly portrayed in literature.

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The novel as a form does not offer the opportunity for character development in the same way a series of letters/sonnets do. For example, Edna openly declares her love for Robert, at the time of her death: “I’m the person who deserves your love.” The continuous sense of the author’s evaluation of the moral choices that her characters make is lost; they seem more autonomous throughout the sonnets because they speak for themselves without Chopin’s explicit authorial presence. The sonnet form successfully mimics letter writing as both forms are addressed to someone, whilst informing and shedding light on their ...

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