"This above all - be true to yourself, /And this must follow, as the night the day, / You cannot therefore be false to anyone” (Hamlet, 1.3.154-56). As Shakespeare so eloquently wrote, finding oneself is the key to truth. This idea is an important theme in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", Mark Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson", and Charles Chesnutt's The Wife of My Youth through different facets of identity and society's reaction. Chopin's "The Awakening," Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson," and Chesnutt's The Wife of His Youth all address the possibilities and limitations of accepting aspects of one's gender, race, and class identity by relation to 19th century American society. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay In Chopin's “Awakening,” the main identity struggle is between sexuality and independence against traditional female roles in 19th century Louisiana. Exposed to female gender expression in Creole culture, Edna Pontellier realizes that expression and identity are not limited by social rules. Edna suppressed her true self, conforming to the identity expected of her since childhood. “Even when she was a child, she had lived her little life entirely within herself. Very early on, she had instinctively apprehended the double life, this exterior existence which conforms, the interior life which questions” (Chopin, 35). While spending the summer with the Creoles, Edna begins to see herself as an individual, instead of just a part of society or a possession of her husband. Edna begins to defy her husband, even denying him sex, while pursuing her own interests. His happiness grows with his independence. “In short, Mme Pontellier was beginning to become aware of her position in the universe as a human being and to recognize her relationships as an individual with the world within and around her” (Chopin, 33). However, as she becomes more independent, she becomes more and more isolated from society. "Edna stared straight ahead with a self-centered expression on her face. She felt no interest in anything about herself. The street, the children, the fruit seller, the flowers growing there before her eyes, were all part of a foreign world suddenly becoming antagonistic” (Chopin, 138). She no longer felt interested or part of it. Edna could not expect to be accepted by society. she was rejecting at the same time. Edna's realization of her true self led her to choose between being an unhappy initiate or a contented but isolated one. Edna made a decision outside of these two options. towards the shore, Edna remembered her independence while learning to swim (Chopin, 302). It also reminded her of her comfortable family “She thought of Léonce and the children; They were part of his life. But they need not think that they could possess her body and soul" (Chopin, 302). Instead of choosing family or liberation, Edna chose death. Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson" explores the boundaries of race, with the main conflict being the exchange of identities of Tom and Chambers, which are two different races Tom is raised white and Chambers is raised black, even though Tom is black and Chambers is white. the boys' true identities are discovered towards the end of the novel, both are confronted with the reality of themselves In prison, Tom reacts badly to this realization: “Then [Tom] lay down heavily again. , with a groan and the whispered words: "A n---[sic]! I'm a nigga! Oh,.