Edna as a Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay

Edna as a Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening Elizabeth LeBlanc places The Awakening in an interesting context in her essay â€Å"The Metaphorical Lesbian,† as gender criticism must, for Chopin wrote the novel at the end of the 19th century, when homosexuality as an identity emerged culturally, at least in terms of the gay male identity, as proffered by Oscar Wilde across the Atlantic. Lesbianism, too, started to make its debut on the cultural stage, particularly in literature. However, although lesbianism started to emerge during Chopin’s lifetime, it seems doubtful that it played any formative role for Edna’s characterization. Yet gender criticism often requires a reading of a text in light of gender and sexuality regardless of authorial â€Å"intent.† LeBlanc wisely stops short of calling Edna an authentic lesbian, instead appropriating Bonnie Zimmerman’s â€Å"metaphorical lesbian† by which a character â€Å"engages in a variety of woman-identified practices that suggest but stop sh ort of sexual encounters,† often falling into the continuum of female-centered relationships as identif...