American Studies Commons^™

The Chopinian Heroine: A Role Model For The Self-Assertion Of Women, Heidi Fite

Honors Theses

During the nineteenth century in America, women endured many restraints placed on them by society. These social restraints were often justified in the name of chivalry and the Bible. Fundamentalist religion, with its patriarchal nature and its strict moral code, hampered women's struggle for rights. The religious and social condemnation of divorce forced many women, rather than incurring the chastisement of society by seeking divorce from drunken and worthless husbands, to spend their lives in martyrdom. Most women also resented the limitations the chivalric code imposed on the full development of their minds and personalities. This code of chivalry led …