The Awakening and Fried Green Tomatoes

In Chopin's (1899) The Awakening and Flagg's (1997) Fried Green Tomatoes, we are treated to a variety of female characters whose varying degree of bonds act as a shield against patriarchy and cultures that oppress self-awakening. So too, the different relationships that develop among the female characters often act as a shield against the condition of being a woman in cultures that dictate roles and behaviors that are limiting. In Fried Green Tomatoes we are privy to the lives of Idgie and Ruth, owners of the Whistle Stop cafT in Alabama. Thrown into the mix are Evelyn Couch, an overweight woman suffering from a mid-life crisis and an inability to develop a self-confident identity, and the elderly Ninny Threadgoode, offering tales of her past that inspire, enlighten, and awaken Evelyn and the others to life's potentialities. In The Awakening, we have Edna, a married woman who is confined in expression and identity by her rigidly defined roles of wife and mother. Her friend Adele acts as an inspiration and refuge, much like Ninny does for Evelyn in Fried Green Tomatoes. Mademoiselle Reisz, a spirited artist, serves much the same role for the women in The Awakening as Ninny in Fried Green Tomatoes. A character comparison of both works demonstrates the similarities among the women as they struggle to maintain independent and fulfilling identities outside of the rigid roles defined for them by culture and patriarchy.

we first meet her we are told, "Evelyn Couch had come to Rose Terrace with her husband, Ed, who was visiting his mother, Big Momma, a recent but reluctant arrival. Evelyn has just escaped them both and had gone into the visitors; lounge in the hack, where she could enjoy her candy bar in peace and quite," (Flagg 1997). However, like Edna has Adele, Evelyn has Ninny Threadgoode to offer her solace and act as an inspiring source of self-development. Ninny is an elderly woman that Evelyn visits on a weekly basis. Through Ninny's tales of the past, her life experiences, and her secrets, Evelyn learns a powerful message that instills self-confidence and the capacity for meaning in her life. As a middle-aged, heavy-set woman, there is a gap between what society views as valuable in a woman and what Evelyn is in actuality. However, she learns to overcome the limitations imposed on her by others. This is much like Edna's ability to know the roles and norms of her culture but not allow them to make her miserable. As she maintains, "By all the codes I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I can't convince myself that I am" (Chopin 1899). Other female characters in the works also demonstrate