Awakening Essay

In “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the paradoxical nature of Edna’s life is heroic because she

The reader thinks Edna might just be frustrated with her husband. As the novel shifts to New Orleans, it is clear that she has changed. Edna starts to feel motivated to take action. Finally the setting comes back to Grand Isle, and it is the climax of Edna’s awakening. It is also where she drowns herself. Nobody know for sure whether it was intentional or not since Chopin said, “Even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions”(Chopin 58).

Edna’s children are different from other children, if one of her boys fell “…he was not apt to rush crying to his mother’s arms for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes and the sand out of his mouth, and go on playing”. Edna is not a typical Creole “mother-woman” who “idolized her children (and) worshipped her husband” (8) and at times that results in her husband’s claims that she neglects her children. Edna’s children leave her attached to her husband, and even if she is somehow able to escape the relationship with her husband she will never be able to escape her children. She realizes this and whether consciously or not, doesn’t care for her children the way this is expected of a woman in her time period. When Adele Ratignolle reminds her to, “Think of the children!…Oh think of the children! Remember them!” Edna finally realizes her decisions affect her and her children. Instead of accepting her responsibility as a mother Edna decides to give up, and does so by committing suicide.

The theme of The Awakening is centered on Edna’s journey of individual identification and independence. Chopin condemns gender roles and pleads to the public to look at women as equals and not just commodities to be married off. Women should have all the

Chopin especially reveals the growth of Edna’s inner identity through her increasingly conflicting interactions with her husband

Edna portrays her role as a feminist in many ways. She tells Madame Ratignolle "she would never sacrifice herself for her children, or for anyone. . . . I would give up the essential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself" (Chopin 47). This exemplifies Edna's theory that if she gives up her soul, the very base of her womanhood and what she stands for in life, then her existence and her point in the world is over, and she may drift away into the abyss of commonality. "Kate Chopin has given Edna an inner sight. Edna begins on a search of what is to be, not of what it is necessarily to be female, but simply to be," Jennifer Ward compares. Edna believes in herself as a strong individual and moves forward to attaining her sexuality and opinions, strongly enforcing the beliefs of feminism to intimately discovering one's mind and body. Although there are many different definitions of feminism, it is conclusive that feminism is about the labors of women to define themselves as passionate counterparts to men, and not merely faithful dogs padding loyally on the heels of their masters.

Edna’s suicide was victory of self-expression. Edna undergoes a gradual awakening process in which portrays not to only her newly established independence from the constraints of her husband, but also her ability to go against the social norms of society in order to individually express herself. Her suicide encompases the question and critique of living life through the perspective of society such as being responsible for taking care of the kids, cleaning the house, and entertaining any guests that the husband may have over anytime. In the first couple of capters, the novel is quick to emphasize the gerneralized roles kthat are placed onto females, making it apparent that fe,ales are expected to successfully fulfil these roles. For example, Leonce enters home after being out and stated one of the kids had a fever. Edna was certain the child had no fever but Leonce belittles her capability as a mother for indifference with him. “If it was not a mother’s place to look after the children, whose on earth was it?” (27capac).

She is moved by music. During that summer Edna sketches to find an artistic side to herself. She needs an outlet to express who she is. Edna feels that art is important and adds meaning to her life. After the summer is over and they are back to the city and Edna is a changed woman. She makes many steps towards independence. She stops holding "Tuesday socials", she sends her children to live in the country with their grandparents, she refuses to travel abroad with her husband, she moves out of the Lebrun house on Esplanade Street, and to earn money, she starts selling her sketches and betting the horses. She also starts a relationship with another man Alcee Arobin. He meant nothing to her emotionally but she used him for sexual pleasure. Edna evolved above her peers she did not believe that sexuality and motherhood had to be linked. The last step of her "awakening" is the realization that she can not fulfill her life in a society that will not allow her to be a person and a mother. Edna commits suicide in the ocean at Grand Isle.

The remaining question for the reader is: Does Edna's suicide show that she succeeded or failed in her struggle for independence?

Edna Pontellier as a character is an Interesting topic amongst scholars who have read The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The topic of her suicide is the focal point of such discussion. Weather it was an act of heroism, or the downfall of an already pitiful woman. While it may be easy to characterize suicide as a “coward's” death it's not good to be so hasty. Looking at Edna as a character one can see a woman who is clearly more progressive than the time she was in. Edna had always been on a different wavelength than her peers. One that means she was different, unpredictable, and outcast. However this isn't the case, Edna should be praised for her courage and heroism towards the

She raises her children with a distance between them. This void shows Edna’s lack of open wings, which is considered the norm of the 19th century expectations of women. Her newfound acceptance of neglecting her maternal responsibly ignited a much larger awakening within her. A sense of individuality and the “…realiz[ation of] her position in the universe as a human being, and ... her relations as an individual to the world within and about her” grew stronger (Chopin 15). She dislikes her role being entirely centered on domestic responsibilities so she begins to stretch the bindings of society.

In her article Kathleen M. Streater wrote “Edna chooses suicide rather than a life confined by societal expectations, and her shocking resolution provokes passionate reactions in readers, as extreme acts will do” (Adele Ratignolle: Kate Chopin's Feminist at home in The Awakening). Although I do not agree that committing suicide is a way to escape from the problems of life, I believe Edna had no other choice but that. In that period of time social standing and reputation was everything to a family especially the young children growing up. Edna did not want her children to go through the rumors of adultery or put them in the middle of a divorce that could ruin their entire childhood. She made her suicide look like and accident allowing her to go in peace with her boys and husbands reputation still intact. Edna may not have been the ‘mother-woman’ but in the very end she put her children’s desires and life before hers. I believe at that point her freedom was fully given to her. She had the choice to how she wanted to die and what she wanted others to think and feel about her and was also able to keep her children’s reputation in

In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the constant boundaries and restrictions placed on Edna Pontellier by society will lead to her struggle for freedom and her ultimate suicide. Her husband Leonce Pontellier, the current women of society, and the Grand Isle make it evident that Edna is trapped in a patriarchal society. Despite these people, Edna has a need to be free and she is able to escape from the society that she despises. The sea, Robert Lebrun, and Mademoiselle Reisz serve as Edna’s outlets from conformity. “Edna's journey for personal independence involves finding the words to express herself. She commits suicide rather than sacrificing her independent,

Nineteenth century, a century that urged women to attain a sense of self awareness and dignity. The Awakening, published in 1899, was labeled as morbid, disagreeable, and vulgar, which then went through a massive controversy that led to the book being widely condemned. “Modern critics praise The Awakening for its daring treatment of traditional gender roles as they were defined at the turn of the century, and for its exploration of a woman's search for self-fulfillment.” states Suzanne D. Green. Kate Chopin deliberately uses the theme of individualism vs. society to explain how the protagonist (Edna) rebels against society while incorporating still incorporating her antithesis, Madame

In several instances, she casually slips in French phrases and words. For example, the characters are referred to by social titles and not first names such as Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. The central issue and theme is Edna's struggle with being the ideal, cookie cutter doting wife. She finds it hard to be as domestic and submissive as the women who were raised in a Creole household and community. She attempts to be a 'mother-wife" like the other women and ultimately ends up taking her own life because she despises it so much. Even though this work was published in 1899 it is still relevant today. Chopin's stories go hand in hand with modern feminism and the stigma that marriage is the ultimate goal.