Veblen and Chopin

Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class is an economic analysis of the social customs of Americans during his era. He analyzes the value of the "leisure class," a class that he observed was present only in American society. Contrary to other economists in his time period that believed leisure was part of human nature, Veblen actually believed that humans inherently took pride in their work. However, as time progressed, he says that the goal of work became not pride, but accumulating wealth in a way that he defines as the "non-productive consumption of time." He views the activities of the leisure class as conspicuous consumption and waste, but the activities reveal one's prosperity as they display extravagant expenditures. His theory states that because the man in the family had to actually do work to provide for the family, the wife performs the man's leisure on his behalf.  His theory states that the woman is essentially an instrument used to establish the economic power of the man. In summary, all actions done by a woman are, "…understood as not for herself but for the benefit of someone else, to whom she is economically indebted." Edna effectively breaks these constructions of Veblen's theory in "The Awakening," perhaps to illuminate the restrictions placed on women in society in a way was permissible at the time.

While at the beginning of the book Edna feels oppressed by her husband, but over the course of the novel, she increasingly develops her independence as a woman. She becomes aware of her emotional and sexual desires, making autonomous decisions to satisfy these desires. At a time like that, she was a very radical character, clearly not acting on any influences by her husband. However, I found it interesting that at the beginning of chapter 32 in the novel, her husband, Mr. Pontellier, is worried about similar ideas that Veblen discussed. When he learned of Edna's intention to abandon him, he begged her to stay because of the reactions people might have to her leaving him. Parallel with Veblen, the novel states(don't know the exact point of view), "He was simply thinking of his financial integrity. It might get noised about that the Pontelliers had met with reverses, and were forced to conduct their menage on a humbler scale than heretofore." It is no coincidence that Chopin and Veblen were writing about the same topics in this time period. His desire to keep Edna was specifically for financial purposes. While Edna desires to be a free woman, the same ideologies were still embedded in society. Perhaps Chopin's writing was a way to attack some of these issues in a way that was less aggressive, through her novel.