الفهرس 
Chapter OneOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The main objective of this study is to arrive at Kate Chopin’s perception of virtue and self-assertion in her narratives: The Awakening and At Fault. The study asks how far the two concepts agree together, and how far Victorian women can be both virtuous and self-asserted. The significance of the study is that it shows how Chopin makes a reconciliation between the two concepts that socially challenged one another at the turn of the 19th century. The study highlights Chopin’s argument that a Victorian woman can be both self-asserted and virtuous. The thesis outlines Chopin’s criticism of the Victorian society, the institution of marriage as well as the Victorian moral system. The study makes use of the interdisciplinary literary approach which helps the researcher analyze the novel within its cultural and historical settings. It also helps the researcher develop an integrative multilevel model of characters and text understanding. The study clarifies the struggle between love and traditional ethics and presents the two novels at hand as stories of possibilities of women’s self-assertion and equality. Finally, it highlights Chopin’s assertion of the importance of love in a new woman’s life as well as the importance of work for women. Love and work
help women attain both financial and sexual independence which eventually leads them to self-assertion.
Key Words: Virtue, Self-assertion, Patriarchy, Sex, Gender, New Woman, Kate Chopin, The Awakening, At Fault