Feminism In The Awakening

The ending of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is both controversial and thought provoking. Many see Edna Pontellier’s suicide as the final stage of her “awakening”, and the only way that she will ever be able to truly be free. Edna’s suicide, however, is nothing more than her final attempt to escape from her life. Edna Pontellier’s life has become too much for her to handle, and by committing suicide she is simply escaping the oppression she feels from her marriage, the suppression she feels from her children, and the failure of her relationship with Robert.

During the late nineteenth century, the time of protagonist Edna Pontellier, a woman's place in society was confined to worshipping her children and submitting to her husband. Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, encompasses the frustrations and the triumphs in a woman's life as she attempts to cope with these strict cultural demands. Defying the stereotype of a "mother-woman," Edna battles the pressures of 1899 that command her to be a subdued and devoted housewife. Although Edna's ultimate suicide is a waste of her struggles against an oppressive society, The Awakening supports and encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain sexual freedom, financial independence, and individual identity.

Although The Awakening may be seen as a tragic love story to some, it is truly a novel that displays the turning point for a woman’s role in the 1900’s. The main character, Edna Pontellier, is the epitome of the new working woman. The story centers around Edna’s discovery of her beliefs which are found through a series of awakenings and contrasted with the social norms of the time.

Edna’s awakening was the beginning to her suicide. As Edna realized her capacity to be honest with herself, the old Edna began to die. Edna slowly started to realize she did not want to be like other women, whom “idolized their children, worshiped their

Though it was uncommon during the 1800’s, some women didn’t want to assume the traditional role of a typical Victorian lady. Such is the case in Kate Chopin 's The Awakening; she introduces us to Edna Pontellier a mother and wife during the said era. Throughout the story, we follow Edna 's journey of self-discovery and self-expression through emotions, art, and sex thanks to the help of people she meets along the way. Chopin decides to end the book with Edna’s suicide in an attempt to convey a sense of liberation from her repressed life, but was the reasoning behind her suicide what everyone else thinks? Consequently, this said journey took me along for the ride, and I had no complaints. As Edna figured out who she was, I felt as if I was

    "How do you honor the deepest truth you know?" --Ram Das        In order to honor one's deepest truth, one must first discover what that truth is and then apply that truth to everyday life.  The life of Edna Pontellier in The Awakening signifies the search, discovery, and application of an individual's deepest truth.  Edna, a wealthy New Orleans housewife, at first attempts to find the deepest truth about herself by conforming to society's norms.  She marries a well-respected man, Leonce, and bears him children.  However, Edna discovers that she wants more out of life; something about her marriage is not allowing her to achieve fulfillment.  Through her relationships,

TOPIC #3- EXPLORE HOW EACH MAN IN EDNA’S LIFE ATTEMPTED TO CONTROL AND/OR REPRESS HER EXISTENCE..

There are many questions about whether Edna is a good person or whether her actions were moral or right, but there is no question that Edna Pontellier went through an awakening in the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin. She was awakened to the idea of independence and freedom. This awakening has many effects on Mrs. Pontellier both physically, socially, and mentally. Though these make her more open and free they ultimately end up causing her demise.

The Awakening begins in the vacation spot of Grand Isle. At first we believe that Grand Isle is a utopia, wealthy families relaxing at oceanside, but it is here where Edna first begins to realize her unhappiness. The first sign of dissatisfaction is when Edna allows herself to feel that her marriage is unsatisfying, yet she must agree with the other women that Leonce Pontellier is the perfect husband. Edna asks herself that if she has a good husband

She was pressured to marry Leonce by her father and older sister. Along with marriage came the pressure to have children. She is forced into these roles but never actually succumbs to them. Edna not only has Madame Ratignolle's friendship and her marriage to wake her up to her dreams and emotions, her affairs wake up to her desires. The way the different male characters treat her reminds her that she will never happily fit into the role of a wife and mother, therefore awakening her.

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

Throughout “The Awakening”, Edna is immersed in a constant clash with society over the significance of the difference between her life and her self. To Edna, the question of whether or not she would die for her children is somewhat simple. Edna attempts to explain this concept to her good friend, Adele Ratignolle, but to no avail, “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself” (Chopin 62). Not only does Edna consider her life unessential, she categorizes it as equal with material objects such as money. The idea of self, on the other hand, lies on a completely different level in Edna’s mind. The most important goal to Edna in her life is the journey to discover her true character. The idea that her inner self is more essential than life or even her children causes Edna to stray farther from the social constraints of the typical domestic woman. Kathleen M. Streater weighs in on Edna’s situation and placement in

In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin (2005) uses deep symbolism to show how the main character, Edna Pontellier, discovers her own independence in the society in which she lived. Edna was a traditional mother and wife seeking freedom and independence throughout her adult life. Chopin portrays Edna as being a rebel against her own life. The story takes place in the 1960s when women were to follow certain rules made by the society they lived in. Chopin also foreshadows the things that occur in Edna’s life through nature and death itself. Based on the many ways Chopin uses symbolic meanings through the novel, we can see the events of Edna’s life as one that rebels against society. Throughout this novel, Chopin proves that Edna’s actions

As the title of the novel reveals, awakenings are the most important as well as the most emotional parts of the story. Edna slowly awakens to her true self. She begins "daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world." She creates her own awakenings with dreams and paintings (Gilbert 104). It is as if she tried to begin again, making a life that she could control and to become a new woman and be herself rather than what she was expected to be. Edna's awakenings were all a part of her defining her own self(Rosowski 44). She feared to have the conventional life that so many women had become trapped in. As she awakens, Edna becomes less and less traditional by stripping

However, many women did not have the courage to stand up for themselves, and kept living miserable, and boring lives. They were not allowed to voice their opinions, or have any rights. The main character, Edna, portrays the motherly woman, who does not like the tasks society has deemed acceptable for women. Moreover, as Edna begins to become free she is more rebellious and begins to question everything. According to “Women of Color in The Awakening” by Elizabeth Ammons, “ It is the story of a woman of one race and class who is able to dream of total personal freedom because an important piece of that highly individualistic ideal… has been brought to her.” This means that this novel follows the theme of many other works of literature, in that a heroine is trying to seek free control because she knows she can obtain freedom. Women’s roles play a key factor to the feminism shown throughout the novel.