Unconsciously Desires In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

In “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the paradoxical nature of Edna’s life is heroic because she

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.

It seems that a “radiant peace settled upon her” only “ [as] she at last [finds] herself alone…[as] the children were gone” (Chopin 80). Only when she isn’t expected to behave the way a mother-woman should, does Edna feel peace and the visual imagery associated with the word radiant characterizes her as much happier without her societal role. It is only after Edna understands the potential fulfilment that she can gain by disregarding the social expectations in place for women that she attempts to find it. No longer does she long for the “little glimpses of domestic harmony” instead feeling pity for Adele Ratignolle’s “colourless existence” (Chopin, 183). Here the word “colourless” contrasts with “radiant” as something “radiant” cannot be without colour. Colour and radiance become symbolic of a life fully lived, one including personal happiness and identity. By awakening, Edna seems not only more aware but also more conscious of the rigidity and “colourlessness” that she has borne for so long. She is no longer confined by the expectation that women should sacrifice their own personal happiness and identity to fulfil those of their

Edna’s artistic pursuits are very different than Madame Ratignolle’s. Edna’s art represents her quest for individuality (Boren 181). Her form of art does not provide pleasure or enrichment to her household. Instead, it takes her away from her family and her domestic duties (Dyer 87). Edna paints in her “atelier” (Chopin 579). Mr. Pontellier chides Edna for spending too much time in her atelier; he says that she would “be better employed contriving for the comfort of her family” (Chopin (579). Edna makes good progress in her painting; she dreams of “becoming an artist” (Chopin 584). However, her devotion to art is contrasted to that of novel’s true artist.

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.

This is the point in the story where Edna starts listening to her voices inside her gives into her inner desires. She continues to struggle with the fact that she married out of convenience and she has two sons that she really does not want to mother as well as the fact that she loves being an artist. In chapter x, Edna goes to the sea only to realize that all her swimming lesson had finally paid off that summer and she was swimming. Chopin describes this even like a baby finally getting enough confidence to walk and the baby walks realizing its own strength and power. While swimming, she soon gets tired and has quick feeling overcome her of the possibility of drowning but quickly swims back to shore. She has conquered her greatest fear and now feels like a new woman that is no longer afraid of her true feelings. Edna’s affair with Robert continues and he eventually leaves Grand Isle and her and her family returns home.

Through the story Edna becomes more and more uneasy about not being able to do and have what she really wants. This can be shown from the beginning when she lets her children play by themselves and doesn’t miss her husband when he is away from home. Edna tried to be a good mother by becoming friends with an old fashioned woman, Madame Adèle Ratignolle, who devoted her life to her husband and children. However, when Edna was not around Madame Adèle Ratignolle, she forgot how to be like Adèle Ratignolle and instead busied herself with what was considered to be her “childish ways”. She would try to make herself as happy as possible; she was not her happiest with her husband and kids. When Edna discovered her passion for art, she embraced it and neglected her family even more so than before.

In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, the main character, Edna leaves her husband to find place in the world. Edna believes her new sexually independent power will make her master of her own life. But, as Martin points out, she has overestimated her strength and is still hampered by her "limited ability to direct her energy and to master her emotions" (22). Unfortunately, Edna has been educated too much in the traditions of society and not enough in reason and independent survival, admitting to Robert that "we women learn so little of life on the whole" (990). She has internalized society's conception of woman as guided by her emotions and not her mind and, therefore, in the search for another man to fill the void of love in her

After returning from vacation, Edna is a changed woman. When her husband and children are gone, she moves out of the house and purses her own ambitions. She starts painting and feeling happier. “There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day” (Chopin 69). Her sacrifice greatly contributed to her disobedient actions.

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.

Kate Chopin's The Awakening is truly a novel that stands out from the rest. From the moment it was published, it has been caused women to examine their beliefs. The fact that The Awakening was shunned when first published, yet now taught in classrooms across the country is proof that The Awakening is full of rebellious and controversial ideas.

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

Chopin tells of this younger woman with an older husband who runs with her intuition in search of her own mind. Another presentation of Romanticism in The Awakening is described during Edna's search for individualism when she says of her that "...no longer was she content to 'feed upon opinion' when her own soul had invited her" (124). Edna Pontellier has a desire to be her own person in her own world when she is placed in a setting that refuses to permit such an action.

In several instances, she casually slips in French phrases and words. For example, the characters are referred to by social titles and not first names such as Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. The central issue and theme is Edna's struggle with being the ideal, cookie cutter doting wife. She finds it hard to be as domestic and submissive as the women who were raised in a Creole household and community. She attempts to be a 'mother-wife" like the other women and ultimately ends up taking her own life because she despises it so much. Even though this work was published in 1899 it is still relevant today. Chopin's stories go hand in hand with modern feminism and the stigma that marriage is the ultimate goal.

According to Chopin’s official website published by the Kate Chopin International Society in which biographers and editors detail information of the authors life, works, and commonly asked questions, Chopin was 49 years old at the time that The Awakening was published. This novel was originally titled A Solitary Soul, but was changed just prior to publication. Though today this novel is heavily studied and appreciated by scholars and critics alike, this positive outlook on Chopin’s deeply symbolic work of fiction did not develop until over 40 years after Chopin’s death in 1904 (Koloski). Upon being published, an overwhelming amount of people were outraged by the implications of main character Edna Pontellier making decisions that directly negate her societal role as a “mother-woman”