Exploring Freedom in The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin, in The Awakening, poses an important question: can freedom exist in a society that advocates and supports confinement through the means of reputation, decency, and other social factors? The various characters in the novel make up three levels of awareness of freedom—ignorance, enlightenment, and pursuit. Kate Chopin uses these types of awareness to show that true freedom can never be obtained.

The majority of the characters in The Awakening are completely unaware of the freedom that Kate Chopin writes about. They are content with their lives and afraid of the truth. Mrs. Ratignolle lives her life for her family, and because she feels that her sole purpose in life is to raise her children, she is unable to perceive herself as an individual. She has no desire to do anything for herself—in fact, she's frightened by the idea of it. Mrs. Ratignolle constantly tries to persuade Edna to abandon her hopes of a relationship with Robert, and to "think of the children" (104). Interestingly enough Mrs. Ratignolle doesn't mean to think of what would happen to the children's fragile psychological state if Edna were to leave them for Robert; on the contrary, Mrs. Ratignolle refers to what would happen to the children's place in society if Edna was to follow her heart. Mr. Pontellier, Edna's husband, allows his wife more and more freedoms over time, however, he does this to save his marriage rather than out of concern for his wife. Mr. Pontellier is just afraid of the social backlash that would occur and the hit his reputation would take if his marriage fizzled out. At one point, the couple even stops sleeping together. When they first arrive back into New Orleans, their marriage is described:

"Mr. Pontellier h...

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...realizes the futility of trying to create freedom for herself when Robert leaves. Society will not allow complete freedom, so Edna ends her life, a symbol of the hopelessness and pointlessness of attempting to acquire a pure state of independence and solitude.

Kate Chopin uses the characters in The Awakening to represent people's understanding of freedom, which in turn shows that freedom in its truest form is impossible to attain as long while it has to contend with society's rules. Most people live in ignorance of freedom, and find it selfish or childish. Some humans are able to find a balance between the forces, and some aren't able to deal with the pain of not being able to spread their wings and fly. Kate Chopin's views may be cynical, but they are universally true.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994