Lindsey Allison. Mrs. Schroder. Ap Literature And Composition.

In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin portrays an image where someone shifts from one phase to another one. We find the protagonist go through a shift from patriarchy to feminist resistance. As this story continues to unfold, Edna goes through feminist resistance where she doesn’t want to still rely on her husband anymore and want to live by her own rules. Edna Pontellier’s “awakening” takes place in Grand Isle and New Orleans during the late 1800s. It is an important factor of the book because during this time period women were fighting for their rights. Usually before this time, women would only stay home and follow the orders of their husbands. Women during this time period needed to stay home and care for the house and the children. They always had to live for their children almost are like a slave to their husband. Women would be often seen as a property and not an actual human being. In this novel, we find restrains at the beginning and later see the shift to wanting freedom of expression.

Illogical, submissive, and sensual are some of the words used to describe the view of women during the nineteenth century. In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin tells the controversial story of a woman, Edna Pontellier, and her spiritual growing. Throughout the story, Edna constantly battles between her heart’s desires and society’s standard. The novel shows how two women’s lives influence Edna throughout the novel. Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle are both in their own way strong, motherly influences in Edna’s life. Mademoiselle Reisz is Edna the mother who wants Edna to pursue her heart’s desires. Madame Ratignolle however, is the type of mother to Edna who wants Edna to do what is socially right. The way the two live

In The Awakening, Kate Chopin creates a protagonist that clearly demonstrates a feminist. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier seeks more from life than what she is living and starts to refuse the standards of the society she lives in. Edna has many moments of awakening resulting in creating a new person for herself. She starts to see the life of freedom and individuality she wants to live. The Awakening encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain freedom and choose individuality over conformity. Chopin creates a feminist story that shows a transformation from an obedient “mother-woman” to a woman who is willing to sacrifice her old life to become independent and make an identity for herself.

Chopin uses the first hand description of Adele from Edna as a literary comparison to previous descriptions of Adele, allowing insight into Edna’s own perceptions and changing world view.

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

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

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.

Music represents Edna’s journey of finding herself. One of her discoveries is her love for music and Madame Reisz’s piano playing. It move her immensely.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is an artfully written romance novel that takes place during the nineteenth century off the coast of Louisiana. The main character- Edna Pontellier- is put into what would be considered typical circumstances: being viewed as property by her husband, fills her empty days with social visits and the arts, and is a mother. Besides these regularities, Edna Pontellier is unique for her time period. Edna does not necessarily love her children, even views them as a hindrance, nor does she truly love her husband. Edna likes to be her own individual as if born in the wrong century, she strives for the freedoms that her society and life situation do not make available to her. Robert Lebrun- a dear friend of Edna- is the one person that she truly loves in her life. Unfortunately, while Robert’s emotions match Edna’s, he does not know how to properly act in response to them. Conflicted, Robert runs away to Mexico in order to avoid confronting his feelings and leaves Edna lost and heartbroken. During Robert’s absence, Edna’s pull to him does not disappear, rather she finds herself leaving her husband and making her own salary by selling her artwork. Robert, however, does return to Edna only to leave once more leaving only a note to say goodbye. Ultimately, Edna kills herself in response to Robert’s actions.

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

    One theme apparent in Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, is the consequence of solitude when independence is chosen over conformity. The novel's protagonist, Edna Pontellier, is faced with this consequence after she embarks on a journey of self-discovery. "As Edna's ability to express herself grows, the number of people who can understand her newfound language shrinks" (Ward 3). Edna's awakening from a conforming, Victorian wife and mother, into an emotional and sexual woman takes place through the use of self-expression in three forms: emotional language, art, and physical passion.

Constant struggle for power, control, and self direction is experienced by every human being at some point in their life time. In some desperate cases this struggle can lead someone to do something momentous. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the lead character, Edna, faces extreme sexism in a time where women were expected to act only as a primal caretaker. Edna’s search for self empowerment in a time where men were the primary decision makers causes her to make crucial sacrifices only to find out that there is no way she can truly control her life.

As Edna starts to change her attitude and behaviors throughout the book, the attitude and behavior her husband Leonce has towards her changes as well. The reader never gets to experience what the Pontellier’s marriage life was before this alternation in the way they interact. When Mr. Pontellier begins to scold her for acting out of place, or doing odd things, Edna begins to realize that a life where she is restricted in her actions is not one she wants to live. The closest person in her life

“Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life.”- Kate Chopin. This quote allows the readers to understand the state of mind the author of the novel The Awakening feels. This quote indicates a supportive awakening towards female recognition and their identity in society. Independence, especially for a woman was very hard during the time Chopin wrote the novel. Kate Chopin portrays two kinds of women in her famous novel, The Awakening. One was embodied as the ideal mother women like Mme. Adele Ratignolle who at that time were respected welcomed into the social life of New Orleans. She is an important character as she allows Edna to realize that she does not belong in the Creole culture. The other woman signified strong independent females like Mademoiselle Reisz. However the independent women were more of the outsiders and not quite approved and welcomed into the

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was first published in 1899 and gender roles is a major theme in this novel. Chopin writes in multiple viewpoints in this work, though it is mainly told from the viewpoint of Edna Pontellier. Mrs. Pontellier documents her growing unrest for her role as a woman in society. She shows how her place in society as a woman is repressive in nature, which is in contrast with a man’s place in society. The expectation of Mrs. Pontellier as a woman is to stay home and not go out unless it is with her husband as a type of