Read the excerpt from The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands full with his brokerage business. He could not be in two places at once; making a living for his family on the street, and staying at home to see that no harm befell them. He talked in a monotonous, insistent way.
How does the excerpt reflect its social and historical context?
It illustrates the challenges of maintaining brokerage business in the 1800s.
It illustrates the prevailing gender expectations within a marriage in the 1800s.
It illustrates the hope that woman might work outside the home in the 1800s.
It illustrates the need for domestic assistance for women in the 1800s.