Reconciling Edna 's Suicide And The Criticism Surrounding

Edna reassesses her spirit more and more as the novel proceeds, with her finally reaching the maxim when committing suicide. At the beginning of the novel she is completely

An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in 1912, and focuses on the Birling family, who live in a wealthy but not particulary homely house in Brumley. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family. The idea of the play, and particularly the role of the inspector, is to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. In Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family: “The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” But who was really the

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 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.

Whether coerced or through self realizations, there were many awakenings in the book. The first was that Edna was not the traditional mother like Adèle, the second was that she enjoyed doing things for herself instead of for her children and husband. This second awakening is shown when Edna takes time to talk

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

Many times however, her rebellion is seen as selfish childishness to others. Breaking the rules and finding her true happiness is what awakens Edna Pontellier and makes her different from the rest. She rebels against society by thinking differently, finding independence, doing what she wants without obeying her husband, moving out to her new "pigeon-house", and taking part in two adulterous affairs. Her climatic finale, her suicide, is her ultimate act of rebellion, not giving the ways of the world, her decision to finally be free. ‘‘She went on and on. She remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the terror that seized her at the fear of being unable to regain the shore. She did not look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she had traversed when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end.’’ (Chopin, 120) All her rebellious actions are what make Edna such a controversial, yet influential woman till this

Chapter 1 is more of an introduction to some important characters. We learn that Mr. Pontellier isn’t around often, and isn’t much of a family man. We meet Edna and Robert, who have a seemingly romantic connection. This chapter will likely affect the story as the relationship between Edna and Robert continues to build and cause turmoil. In Chapter 2 we learn that Edna and Robert are both aesthetically pleasing, and that Robert is not wealthy because he rolls his own cigarettes. Robert reveals he will be traveling to Mexico at the end of the summer. This chapter affects the story because Robert’s trip to Mexico will deeply affect Edna and their relationship. In Chapter 3 we learn that Mr. Pontellier and Edna’s relationship isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Mr. Pontellier leaves for the week even during their summer vacation to work, so he is rarely around. This chapter will affect the story because the problems in their marriage will contribute to Edna’s development as an individual. Chapter 4 reveals more about Edna to the reader. We learn she is not a “mother-woman”, meaning she doesn’t put her kids or spouse before herself. We also learn she is the lone non-Creole around, and is not comfortable talking about sex, unlike the Creoles. This will play into the story as a whole because Edna’s feelings of distance from the Creole community will play into her growth as a character. Chapter 5 reveals more about Robert, and how every summer he devotes his feelings to a woman,

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

The ideals Edna had were very progressive for her time. Just as expected she met a lot of push back from most since people do not like the idea of change But one of the biggest leaps she took was moving out of her own home. An understandable gesture for a woman coming into her own, for with a change of heart of change of setting is also needed. She tells

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

Death; an end to a life where there is no more going forward and yet, no way to go back. The persona that a person exemplifies will forever be remembered after the use of their name. The achievements, morals, and the characteristics that one had will forever live on even after their physical entity is no more. But when looking at important figures, such as Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci, one may get the feeling that there is more living even after someone has been declared deceased. Banksy, a graffiti artist and political activist, once said, “I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time” (Banksy, 2016). Although one’s physical presence is not

a) 1. Edna Pontellier- Edna Pontellier is the main, dynamic character and the protagonist whose manner was engaging. She is married to Leonce, a New Orlean businessmen and has two kids. While living with her husband, she feels dissatisfied and limited of what she can do in her society and household.