What Is Edna Pontellier's Symbolism In The Awakening By Kate Chopin

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

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

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

Edna’s awakening allows the two distinct female models of society to become clear, and her awakening causes her to feel unable to conform to either model. Edna’s arousal is that which opens her eyes to see her potential apart from her current life. Spending time in Grand Isle unveils a new

Her biggest struggle becomes her need to escape motherhood. She feels pressured and confined to be a mother to her two children and a wife to her husband instead of worrying about herself. Society had it seen as “women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals…” Throughout the novel she challenges going against the current of society and nature. For example, she tells her friend Adele she “would never sacrifice herself for her children, or for anyone,” when she begins to change her way of life and realizes how important it is to be true to yourself and make yourself happy before you can make anybody else happy. Edna admires a pianist by the name of Mademoiselle Reiz. When Edna is with her she feels more alive than ever because of her ability to be pleased of her different being. Edna takes up the lifestyle of becoming a man after meeting and becoming inspired by Mademoiselle Reiz to try and escape her womanhood. When Edna witnesses the birth of Adele’s baby she realizes that even though she is a male on the outside she will always be a woman and concludes that she cannot be a mother because she sees children as dregs. She drives herself away from the forces of nature and science through the act of

Pontellier woke her up to take care of their child and “she went on crying” and “could not have told why she was crying”. (…) This is an indication of the struggle she is putting up with society and its expectations for her to automatically be in a “mother’s place to look after her children” and a good wife who follows her husband’s orders. (…) However, Edna is not similar to other women located at Grand Isle. Unlike Adele who can be considered to be the ideal housewife and a perfect representation of how society limits the role of women, Edna is exceptionally different from her. Even from the start, it is suggested that she “was not a mother-woman” and possessed a “deep internal life”, one that was not necessarily wrapped up in the usual domestic concerns that engrossed Adele especially so much. More-over, as opposed to most women of that era “who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels,” Edna does not find it to be a satisfactory role in society. (…) Although, she undoubtedly loves her children and thinks fondly of Mr. Pontellier, she still does not believe that her role in society should not be one resulting in the loss of individuality. As a result, the tears that Edna sheds in this occasion demonstrate her conflicting views against the expectations of society

Still the societal obligations she once held haunt Edna as those around her still admonish her decision to leave her family behind. Edna explains her decision to leave to Doctor Mandalet saying, “The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life ” (624) Edna’s explanation of her awakening shows her logical conclusion to end her life because she believes that a temporary awakened life worth more than a long life lived mindlessly. Edna accepts herself selfishness and does not look to retreat back to her former life but to continue to live her life in a radical manner, even if that means a radical and early ending to her life.

Two characters that play a significant role in Edna’s life have a positive and a slightly negative effect in her awakening. The first character that has a positive and slightly negative effect in Edna’s life is Adele Ratignolle. Adele was a Creole woman who cared for her three children, loved her husband, was beautiful, followed society’s norms, and was respected in her society. Adele positively influenced Edna’s life when she acted as a “mother” towards Edna, by often worrying about her and giving her advice. However, Adele was a negative influence in Edna’s awakening because she tried stopping the “Inner Edna” from coming out. In the novel, Adele advises her to “think of the children" (Chopin 170). She urges Edna to consider the power of motherhood as a special virtue. Adele knew that Edna wanted to be free and liberated from following society’s norms and knew that Edna wanted to be completely independent. This meant that if she chose to let the “Inner Edna” come out she would leave behind her husband and two children, because either way Edna never saw herself as a “mother-women” anyway. In the novel Edna says, “I would give my money, I would give my life for my children, but I wouldn’t give myself” (Chopin 53).

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.

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

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.