The Awakening By William Shakespeare

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.

The setting Edna is in directly affects her temperament and awakening: Grand Isle provides her with a sense of freedom; New Orleans, restriction; the “pigeon house”, relief from social constraints. While at Grand Isle, Edna feels more freedom than she does at her conventional home in New Orleans. Instead of “Mrs. Pontellier… remaining in

The Awakening is a story based around a woman, Edna Pontieller, during the nineteenth century that has decided that she is not like all the additional women in her life because she questions her life ambitions and dreams and realizes that she does not fit into the usual role of a wife and mother. The Awakening begins on Grand Isle, an island off the coast of Louisiana and then to the state of Louisiana and then the story ends on Grand Isle. This story focuses on metaphors, symbolism, difference and the personal struggles that a woman might face during the nineteenth century where men are the dominating force and women stay home to raise the children. Edna lives in this world were woman have firm guidelines on how to live and present

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 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).

Edna’s awakening occurs during her family’s vacation in Grand Isle. It is here that she learns to freely express herself and be unreserved in her behavior and speech. Through the Creole women, Edna becomes free from the chains that bind her to societal expectations. Adele

She is moved by music. During that summer Edna sketches to find an artistic side to herself. She needs an outlet to express who she is. Edna feels that art is important and adds meaning to her life. After the summer is over and they are back to the city and Edna is a changed woman. She makes many steps towards independence. She stops holding "Tuesday socials", she sends her children to live in the country with their grandparents, she refuses to travel abroad with her husband, she moves out of the Lebrun house on Esplanade Street, and to earn money, she starts selling her sketches and betting the horses. She also starts a relationship with another man Alcee Arobin. He meant nothing to her emotionally but she used him for sexual pleasure. Edna evolved above her peers she did not believe that sexuality and motherhood had to be linked. The last step of her "awakening" is the realization that she can not fulfill her life in a society that will not allow her to be a person and a mother. Edna commits suicide in the ocean at Grand Isle.

The reader knows that Edna is unhappy in her marriage and craves affection. This is why one must believe that Edna started to fall in love with Robert on Grand Isle. However, due to the strict Napoleonic code, women had little rights, were considered as their husbands property, they could not sign a legal contract or institute a lawsuit. They were basically held to the same legal level as children and the mentally ill. (Mary Bird, “Reconciling Edna’s Suicide and the Criticism Surrounding Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.”) It is because of these laws the reader might feel Edna killed herself, she knows she cannot leave Leonce and is forever stuck with him as his wife. At the same time, another reason Edna killed herself is because she knows she will never be able to marry the man she truly loves, Robert, with her already belonging to her

In the novel, it is clear that the men in her life are the principal influence to Edna’s personal identity. Even though the men in her life each have an important role, they do not understand the way she thinks and feels. The men in her life try to limit the independence she strives to obtain by limiting her freedom. They do not understand the constant need that Edna has on acquiring self-discovery.

The Awakening begins in Grand Isle, while Edna and her husband are on vacation from New Orleans. The society of the time dictated that Edna was tied to her husband, her children and her home. Many of the rules of New Orleans society are relaxed in Grand Isle and Edna is free to explore many new things. The simple act of learning to swim becomes liberating for Edna. When she is swimming, she feels as though she is completely free of the oppressive circumstances of her life. Edna’s relationship with Mademoiselle Reisz further helps her learn new things and empower herself. Mademoiselle teaches her basic artistry skills which allow her to fully explore her talent and creativity. This artistic freedom is part of the culmination of Edna’s freedom within society. The harsh constraints placed upon women in the society which Edna lives make total freedom and independence almost unattainable. Edna’s inability to escape her husband and her attachment to her children led her to her ultimate downfall. Having no place to turn or escape to, Edna commits suicide, which appeared to be the only possible means for achieving freedom and liberation.

Love is such an abstract and intangible thing, yet it is something that everyone longs for. In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the difficulty of love is explored through the obstacles that characters have to face while pursuing their loved ones. Those characters that are in love in the play were conflicted with troubles; however, the obstacles of love do not seem to stop them from being infatuated with each other. The concept of true love is examined throughout this play. By creating obstacles using authority and a higher power, Shakespeare examines the power of love. Through Hermia and Lysander’s loving words, it is reasonable to conclude that love conquers all if you believe in it.

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is set in an anti-feminist era. Women traditionally have been seen inferior to men. This was an intellectual as well as a physical issue. Women were to raise a family, cook, clean, be pretty and not be smarter than any man. The main characters Ophelia and Gertrude are both depicted with these characteristics as powerless and frail people. This illustration of helpless women affects one's understanding of what their true selves could be.

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

From even the first few chapters of the novel it is evident that Edna is becoming aware of her concealed wants and desires as she begins to distance herself from the society that she considers herself to be an outsider in. While walking in town Edna