How Edna's Decisions Depicted In The Book 'The Awakening'

Born in 1851 to a wealthy family, Kate Chopin was an unconventional woman. She dressed in strange clothing, smoked, and went on unaccompanied walks, something unheard of during this time period. In the 1890s, Chopin turned to writing after an emotional breakdown due to the death of her husband. Her writing generally received good reviews from critics, but nothing brought widespread public attention until the publication of her second novel, The Awakening. Published in 1899, the story of Edna Pontellier’s sensual awakening and abandonment of her family was just as unconventional as Chopin herself. It was met with harsh criticism and surrounded by controversy. Sensitive to the pushback, Chopin retreated into the background, publishing few more

Romanticism put a lot of influence on changing, and in the novel Edna is influenced by art to transform herself. As the book progresses Edna learns to do what she wants even if it defied normal social guidelines for women. Chopin makes this easy to see when she says, “But when she was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she stood naked in the open air…” (Chopin 124).

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.

Houses, the final symbol, are where someone lives and are therefore echoes the soul of the occupant. The fact that Edna has multiple homes is important because they reflect her changing state of mind. Edna vacations in several houses in The Awakening: the cottages on Grand Isle, Madame Antoine’s home on the Chênière Caminada, the big house in New Orleans, and her “pigeon house”. Each of these houses serve as an indication of her progress as she experiences her awakening. Edna portrays the image of a “mother-woman” on Grand Isle, and to make sure she is the perfect social hostess in New Orleans. While living in the cottage on Grand Isle and in the big house in New Orleans, Edna does not look beyond the confines of these traditional roles.

Mademoiselle Reisz understood what it means to be an artist. She was an “artist at the piano” (Chopin 554). Mademoiselle Reisz was isolated from society. She lived alone with practically no friends, except Robert and Edna. Her proprietor described her as “the most disagreeable and unpopular woman” (Chopin 580). Mademoiselle Reisz defied society’s convention. She devoted herself entirely to art; as a result, she became ostracized from society (Koloski 119). She plays music, not for others, but for herself. She told Edna that she was “the only

A foil for Adele Ratignolle, Mademoiselle Reisz serves as a living example of an entirely self-sufficient woman, who is ruled by her art and her passions, rather than by the expectations of society. A small homely woman, unmarried and childless, Mademoiselle Reisz is a talented pianist and somewhat of a recluse. She represents the anti-mother along independence and freedom. The first time she is introduced in the novel she is introduced as being “eccentric and quarrelsome”, from that we are able to infer that she is unlike the other women. Later as the novel continues to progress from her house and manner of expression we are again able to infer that she is unlike the other Creole women. For her home is an apartment above everyone, with a view, that is disagreeable and often cold. Mademoiselle Reisz is the woman that Edna could have become should she have remained independent of her husband and children and lived to old age.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin ends with the death of the main character, Edna Pontellier. Stripping off her clothes, she swims out to sea until her arms can no longer support her, and she drowns. It was not necessarily a suicide, neither was it necessarily the best option for escaping her problems.

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, two people who have the ultimate influence on Edna are Mademoiselle Reisz, and Robert Lebrun.

In the iconic debated novel “The Awakening”, Kate Chopin’s novel takes place in the Victorian Era, which is in the 19th- century, similarly the novel was published in 1899. Edna is depicted as a woman longing for more, a woman who was looking for more than just a life of complacency and living in the eyes of society. The story uses Edna to exemplify the expectations of women during this era. For example, a woman’s expression of independence was considered immoral. Edna was expected to conform to the expectations of society but the story reveals Edna’s desires which longed for independence in a state of societal dominance. Throughout The Awakening, Chopin’s most significant symbol,

Adele and Mademoiselle's lifestyles seem to be the only two options for Edna. Kinninson believes that Edna's options are the reward of complete self-sacrifice versus the reproof of female self-assertion. No middle ground exist, just these extreme contradictions. Edna is a mother of two children but being a mother or "mother-woman" doesn't satisfy her soul and her desire for self-hood. This is all part of her "awakening" and finding herself. (Kinninson, 23-24)

These first thirteen chapters chronicle the daily life of Edna Pontellier, The Awakening’s protagonist. The novel opens on Mr. Pontellier; he is smoking a cigar and reading the newspaper while idly observing the life and activity around him. The novel turns its attention to his wife, Edna Pontellier. She is described as “rather handsome than beautiful” and has a face with a “certain frankness of expression,” an intriguing description if there ever was one. She is accompanied by Robert Lebrun, the son of Madame Lebrun, the owner of “the house” at which the Creole aristocracy stayed on the Grand Isle. They are rather close companions; Robert has chosen to follow her around for the summer, as is later revealed to be his custom. It’s revealed that Edna is an American woman from “the old Kentucky bluegrass country.” As the day progresses, Chopin details the tiny minutiae of married life that have disappointed both Leonce and Edna; Leonce feels hurt by her dismissiveness- “He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation…”- while Edna resents his overbearing conventionality- “An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish.” The Pontelliers reconcile before Leonce leaves for New Orleans

The Awakening by Kate Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier, a woman with an independent nature searching for her true identity in a patriarchal society that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers.

A different option would have been that Edna decides to live the life of an artist. She could

In direct contrast with Edna was her friend, Adele Ratignolle. As Mr. Pontellier states in chapter four, Adele was the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. Mrs. Ratignolle was the queen or ideal mother-woman. This separates Edna and Adele throughout the story. While they are good friends, it is obvious that they think and feel very different when it comes to marriage, children and their place in society. It is also quite apparent that Adele is disapproving of Edna’s lifestyle. Adele Ratignolle seems to be completely oblivious to the oppression of women. She often attempts to serve as a conscious for Edna, constantly reminding her to think of her children and emphasizing how certain behaviors may appear to others. She even goes so far as to tell Edna that her husband will not allow her to visit Edna anymore if Edna does not

In Kate Chopin’s novel, “The Awakening”, Edna finds herself in a society where women were socially confined to be mothers and wives. This novel embodies the struggle of women in the society for independence along with the presence of women struggling to live up to the demands that their strict culture has placed upon them. A part of Edna wants to meet the standards of mother and wife that society has set, however her biggest desire is to be a woman free from the oppression of a society that is male dominant. Readers will find that the foundation of “The Awakening” the feminist perspective because of the passion that Edna has for gaining her own identity, and independence,