What I Would Give To Be A Part Of The Leisure Class

Contradictory to the title I would not like to be a part of the "Leisure Class." The Leisure Class is term coined by Thorstein Veblen in his Theory of the Leisure Class. The leisure class is a high society class that does not do much other then sit around and show off their wealth. Veblen focuses on women's contributions to the leisure class.

Veblen developed the concepts of conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption to describe a high class of people.Conspicuous leisure is defined as non-productive consumption of time. Conspicuous consumption is defined as spending money because you have it and you can show it off.  These people had enough money that the woman's role was to partake in conspicuous leisure and the family engaged in conspicuous consumption basically because they could.

This article ties in  The Awakening by Kate Chopin through the books main character Edna and her husband Leonce. Leonce loves to live extravagantly and always keeps up with the latest fashion. Conspicuous leisure is evident in the way that the Pontelliers spend their summers. They go to an expensive resort like place on an island in the gulf of Mexico.

In many instances Leonce goes off to work and leaves Edna to sit around and waste time. Later in the novel when Edna starts her awakening she starts to depart from the normal behaviors. She refuses Leonce's offer to go purchase new fixtures, and down grades to a smaller (but still prominent) house.

With Edna's sexual and gender awakening we start to see a sort of economic awakening as well. Edna develops her own income and starts to attempt to provide for herself rather then partake in conspicuous leisure.