Essay on Kate Chopin's The Awakening

She leaves the care of her children to her grandmother, abandoning them and her husband when she leaves to live in the pigeon-house. To her, leaving her old home with Léonce is very important to her freedom. Almost everything in their house belonged to him, so even if he were to leave, she would still feel surrounded by his possessions. She never fully becomes free of him until she physically leaves the house. That way, Edna has no ties whatsoever to that man. Furthermore, Edna indulges in more humanistic things such as art and music. She listens to Mademoiselle Reisz’s playing of the piano and feels the music resonate throughout her body and soul, and uses it as a form of escapism from the world. Based on these instances, Edna acts almost like a very young child, completely disregarding consequences and thinking only about what they want to do experience most at that moment. However, to the reader this does not necessarily appear “bad”, but rather it is seen from the perspective of a person who has been controlled by others their entire life and wishes to break free from their grasp. In a way, she is enacting a childlike and subconscious form of revenge by disobeying all known social constructs of how a woman should talk, walk, act, and interact with others.

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.

    Grand Isle is the movie adaptation of Kate Chopin's 1889 novel, The Awakening. Turner Network Television (TNT) made the movie in 1991, and it stars Kelly McGillis as Edna Pontellier and Adrian Pasdar as Robert Lebrun. To say that this movie is based, even loosely, on The Awakening is an insult to Kate Chopin's colorful literary work. A reviewer from People Weekly calls it a "tedious melodrama" and sees it as Kelly McGillis's "vanity project" because she is star, producer, and narrator ("Grand Isle" 13). Grand Isle is an example of how Hollywood's ratings scramble can tear apart a striking piece of literature.

There are certain ideals that need to be met while being in a relationship; they play concrete roles in the stability of the partnership. The idea of Edna being confined in a marriage with Mr. Pontellier who doesn’t

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).

Leonce Pontellier, the husband of Edna, is the story 's antagonist. He is materialistic, due to him being a wealthy businessman, and also forty years old. His high status came at a cost; he is very concerned with appearance and how others view him."The way to become rich is to make money, my dear Edna, not to save it," he said. He regretted that she did not feel inclined to go with him and select new fixtures. He kissed her goodbye, and told her she was not looking well and must take care of herself. She was unusually pale and very quiet” (18). He also treats Edna as mere property "You are burnt beyond recognition," he added, looking at his wife as one

But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul" (504).  Although Edna did perform her duties as a wife for some time, she is not the typical housewife.  She does not worship her husband or idolize her children, which makes both Edna and Leonce begin to sense that Edna is different from the other mother-women (Lin 1).  Edna never realized the reasons she neglected her duties as a wife until she fell in love with Robert and acknowledged that her desires and needs exist outside of her marriage.  Thus, after her experiences with Robert, Edna is ready to neglect her husband even more, because she now realizes that her husband is holding her back from her needs.  When Leonce tries to make Edna act like the other women that obey their husbands, his attempts to control Edna further instigate Edna's desire for independence from him.  For example, the scene when Edna is lying in the hammock, Leonce says: "I can't permit you to stay out there all night.  You must come in the house instantly," Edna replies: "I mean to stay out here.  I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to.  Don't speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you" (492).  Edna is carefree and spirited, and she refuses to conform to her husband because she does not want to lose herself.  Becoming the perfect, obedient wife would mean losing her individuality, and Edna realizes she can gain no fulfillment

To what extent does Edna Pontellier, in Kate Chopin's The Awakening, mark a departure from the female characters of earlier nineteenth-century American novels

In the story about Edna Pontellier a major theme is her omitted self discovery. In the story we can see how Chopin uses style, tone and content to make the reader understand how it was for a person challenging many of the beliefs of the society at the beginning of the twentieth century.

She married Leonce not because she loved him but because she could not refuse his admiration and persistence. This marriage thrusts Edna into a foreign culture. She questions her role as a mother because she is different from the typical Creole "mother-woman." Edna defies the central perception that women are mothers first

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.

Later on, Edna decides to tell her husband, Leonce Pontellier, about her departure to make her own living. Leonce disapproves the idea of Edna’s “intention to abandon her home and take residence elsewhere” (155). Leonce worries about the idea of “abandon[ment]” because the community would criticize the Pontellier family, especially Edna’s failure as a woman. Although Leonce speaks about the matter, that does not impede Edna in preparing for her leave. Since she is determined to take the consequences and challenges that arise while living as an individual.

There was not a time where she really took the time to figure out what her form of individuality. Within her marriage, she felt constricted by a wedding ring and she was willing to leave her husband for Robert. What was she expecting to get out of Robert? Edna was still legally married to Leonce and in those day divorce was a taboo topic not to be spoken. When Robert had come back from Mexico, Edna had mistaken herself if she believed that Robert would have stayed to be with her.

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,

Leonce is so caught up in his own ideals that he fails to see the reaction of his wife, and children. He is caught in turmoil between society and typically uses the Kliens hotel as a way out. “Then Mr. Pontellier got up, saying he had half a mind to go over to Kliens hotel and play a game of billiards. (Chopin, 174)” Leonce does not spend time with his family while at the summer cottage, and never cultivated intimacy with his children and wife. Leonce would rather be with the boys, leaving all the everyday responsibilities to his wife, or hired help. While at home Leonce expects his wife to be attentive to his every word, treating him more like a prospective business partner than her husband. Leonce does not accept Edna’s lack of attention, and gets at her the only way he can, through her children. Leonce has a chance to vent his discouragement toward his wife. “He thought it very discouraging that his wife, the sole object of his existence, envinviced so little interest in things which concerned him and valued so little his conversation. (177)” “He reproached his wife with inattentions (178)” It is obvious that Edna’s inattentions were of Leonce and not the children. Leonce wanted to get at his wife from her lack of interest in his time at Kliens. “After he reproaches Edna he goes outside and smokes a cigar like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. (178)” The real event is that Leonce has gotten even with his wife, for her inattention to him. The next