Forms of physical self expression like clothing are utilized by Kate Chopin throughout the text of “The Awakening” to symbolize the driving purpose of Edna Pontellier’s regression. While both the author, Kate Chopin and the critic, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, agree that Edna shows progression and regression throughout the entire story; the reasoning behind the regression is dependent on fate and not personal choosing. Fox-Genovese wrote that Edna Pontellier led from a progression to a regression due to her individualism, however, I believe that Edna’s progression is due to her individualism but the regression is fate destined for her. Edna regresses from a state of individualism to fate catching up with her and the rejection of herself as life …show more content…
rather than the rejection of societal norms and roles as a woman in a male-dominated society. Chopin’s intention was to unveil to the reader all of the socially prescribed roles that society creates and adheres to were not acceptable for Edna; so, Edna was simply unable to conform and fit completely or correctly into any one of the many given roles in this novel. There is diminished emotional satisfaction for Edna throughout “The Awakening,” but as Edna’s progression of being an individual in the patriarchal society she lives in, she can only be dissatisfied with anything in her life.
Essentially, Edna is not able to fulfill any of the roles that are presented by Chopin in the novel: mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, artist, lover to either man, and finally the traditional role of a woman in society. She does not quite fit into any niche, and thus her suicide at the end of the novel is the only way for Edna’s story to end. Chopin must have Edna die, as she cannot survive in this restrained society in which she does not belong to. The idea of giving yourself completely to serve another, Edna declares “that she would never sacrifice herself for her children, or for any one” (47). However, her awakening is also a realization of her underprivileged position in a male dominated society. The first sign that Edna is becoming comfortable with herself, and beginning to loosen the constrictions of not being an individual is when she asks Robert, her husband, to retrieve her shawl: "When he returned with the shawl she took it and kept it in her hand. She did not put it around her" (30). Edna is trying to establish herself as an artist in a society where there is no tradition of women as creative beings. For any woman to suggest a desire for a role outside the domestic sphere, as more than a mother or housewife, was perceived as …show more content…
ludicrous. Consequently, very early in the novel, Chopin introduces fate as the influence in Edna’s life: “An indescribable oppression…filled her whole being with a vague anguish…It was strange and unfamiliar; it was a mood. She did not sit there inwardly upbraiding her husband, lamenting at Fate, which had directed her footsteps to the path which they had taken. She was just having a good cry all to herself” (6-7). This quote depicts yet another sad picture of Edna, and it connects the sadness to her marriage with Léonce. Instead of finding fault with her husband, Edna chooses to cry and try to rid herself of her pain. She also chooses not to mourn fate, which has brought her current unhappy situation: her marriage and motherhood. Chopin writes about life in a way that connects only to Edna, which signals that Edna is simply influenced by her own thoughts and no other person. Edna again feels that life is passing her by, instead of her participating in and enjoying it. She is constantly struggling to find meaning and fulfillment in her daily life, yet can never attain it. Chopin consistently maintains this struggle throughout the novel as a way to further her intent: not everyone can fit into societies prescribed roles and nor will everyone. Clothes are a symbol of self-expression related to the rules and conventions of society. Throughout “The Awakening,” in the beginning chapters of the novel she is fully dressed, but slowly in the course of the novel she removes her clothes. This process of nakedness symbolizes the liberation from the social rules imposed to her and also emphasizes her physical awakening. In the last scene of the novel, Edna is totally naked for the first time in her life: “But when she was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she cast the unpleasant, pricking garments from her, and for the first time in her life she stood naked in the open air, at the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her, and the waves that invited her" (113). Edna fails because she is finally unable to defend her individuality against the societal rules: “She saw no pictures of solitude, of hope, of longing, or of despair. But the very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body. She trembled, she was choking, and the tears blinded her” (27). Edna’s true self is without clothing, I disagree with Fox-Genovese that she is “struggling to strip down to her true, essential identity, ” because it was never Chopin’s intent for Edna to find her identity (265). When Kate Chopin reflects back on Edna’s experiences during her childhood, Edna’s life seems apparently lacking of much emotional depth and is described as “small.” This term seems inappropriate for the description of a childhood, which should be “big” - boisterous and carefree. Since she did not have a fulfilled childhood, the description of Edna’s childhood as “small” may allow the reader to understand some of Edna’s current thoughts and the digression of her mental condition she suffers because of her equally unfulfilled adult life. There is no “true” identity that can be uncovered, because the identity is simply impossible to uncover, even from the beginning of Edna’s life. The fact that Edna must cope with the stress of living a meaningless life, the outward and inward curiosity of “lost time” just adds to her justification in being a hopeless woman. The inner psychological conflict of Edna Pontellier has only one possible outcome since she fails to live up to her role as a wife and mother, which is the role the life instinct demands of her, and that is her downfall.
Fox-Genovese also emphasizes this point, when she says that both the feminist and the psychological aspect of “The Awakening,” “must be read together, for the grounds for choosing one rather than the other do not exist” (262). Other women may have, and do, find a way to exist in such a society and be happy with the little freedom they are allowed. Therefore, Edna Pontellier is portrayed a prisoner of her own upper-class society. Her surroundings demand of herself that she conforms to certain feminine ideals, which she however, is not willing to do. This final episode with Edna naked for the first time stresses the idea of rebirth in Edna; she is now "some new-born creature" (113) at the end of her life. Expression becomes a symbol of freedom for Edna. Fox-Genovese’s conclusion about “The Awakening” is that the novel tells the story of the progress in the Edna Pontellier’s character, as well as her mental regression. As Edna discovers the injustice of her male dominated society, rejecting its values, and managing to break away from society’s traditional gender roles, her stories furthermore depict her “psychological regression,” as Fox-Genovese has stated about Edna’s journey in “The Awakening” (262). Edna can only be herself when she is alone, without the
conforming mask, yet even then Chopin reveals her as questioning when she is living her “inward life” (14). I can see from this passage that Edna is never fully comfortable with herself or the life she leads, whether she is around others or alone; Chopin continues to remind the reader of her intent with the careful words she chooses to write. Fox-Genovese stated that society failed Edna Pontellier, however, it is the exact opposite; Edna failed to succeed in society. Chopin has enlisted fate as the responsible party for Edna’s current arrangement, position, and development in life simply through this one quote. Kate Chopin continually suggests her purpose in the novel: to show that certain people, especially women in a patriarchal setting, can never and will never conform to the constraints that society puts upon them. Furthermore, she identifies Edna Pontellier as a prisoner of the male dominated society that refuses to allow them to be who they want to be, and to have any kind of voice. Moreover, Edna Pontellier has her own psychological digression, as she leaps from a standing as respectable upper-class women, and becomes fallen and disgraced, it being fatefully involuntarily in Edna’s circumstance. Edna has a chosen fate, as she commits suicide to end her psychological, social, and economic struggles. Edna Pontellier was never meant to thrive within “The Awakening,” as Chopin’s intent was to expose the dreadful lives that those who cannot conform live. Chopin uses intended beautiful language to describe what is a terrible existence, and even Edna’s death does not seem unpleasant but instead peaceful. Chopin’s use of Edna’s attempts of self-expression through clothing make “The Awakening” appear to be an innocent novel when it is in fact a serious message to society; not everyone is able to conform, and those who cannot are destined to fail.
Kate Chopin's novella The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman who throughout the novella tries to find herself. Edna begins the story in the role of the typical mother-woman distinctive of Creole society but as the novelette furthers so does the distance she puts between herself and society. Edna's search for independence and a way to stray from society's rules and ways of life is depicted through symbolism with birds, clothing, and Edna's process of learning to swim.
In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin tells of Edna Pontellier's struggle with fate. Edna Pontellier awakens from a slumber only to find that her life is displeasing, but these displeasing thoughts are not new to Edna. The actions taken by Edna Pontellier in the novel The Awakening clearly determine that she is not stable. The neglect of her duties as a wife and mother and as a woman of society are all affected by her mental state. Her choices to have affairs and disregard her vow of marriage represent her impaired judgment. The change in her attitude and interests becomes quite irresponsible, and that change along with her final decision to commit suicide tell the reader that Edna Pontellier is not capable of making valid judgments. Had Edna Pontellier been of sound mind and body, she would not have ended her young life by suicide. The fact that she can clearly and easily turn to such an alternative suggests that she is depressed and obviously in opposition to the church. The thoughts and actions of Edna Pontellier are solely determined by her manic depressive state, her apparent repressed abuse from her childhood, and her abandonment of Christianity.
The Awakening is a novel about the growth of a woman becoming her own person; in spite of the expectations society has for her. The book follows Edna Pontellier as she struggles to find her identity. Edna knows that she cannot be happy filling the role that society has created for her. She did not believe that she could break from this pattern because of the pressures of society. As a result she ends up taking her own life. However, readers should not sympathize with her for taking her own life.
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. Since she wanted to be free from a societal rule of a mother-woman that she never wanted to be in, she emphasizes her need for expression of her own passions. Her needs reflect the meaning of the work and other women too. The character of Edna conveys that women are also people who have dreams and desires they want to accomplish and not be pinned down by a stereotype.
Edna Pontellier in the Awakening represents a woman who stands out from her comfort zone and awakes to realize she is not happy with what everybody else believed was correct or acceptable for society . In this journey of discovering her individualism and independency two important persons helped her to shape this new concept about life; Adele Ratignolle and mademoiselle Reisz. The close relationship that Edna formed with these two women is the key to her awakening. The nineteen century’s women considered friendship as a very important aspect of their lives. The Smith-Rosenberg describe in her article how important was the bond that women created between them and how intimated they were. We can say that Edna and her friends shared
Throughout Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier, ventures through a journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Mrs.Pontellier is a mother and wife who begins to crave more from life, than her assigned societal roles. She encounters two opposite versions of herself, that leads her to question who she is and who she aims to be. Mrs. Pontellier’s journey depicts the struggle of overcoming the scrutiny women face, when denying the ideals set for them to abide. Most importantly the end of the novel depicts Mrs.Pontellier as committing suicide, as a result of her ongoing internal
The Awakening sheds light on the desire among many women to be independent. Throughout the novel Edna conducts herself in a way that was disavowed by many and comes to the realization that her gender prevented her from pursuing what she believed would be an enjoyable life. As the story progresses Edna continues to trade her family obligations for her own personal pleasures. This behavior would not have been accepted and many even criticize the novel for even speaking about such activities. Kate Chopin essentially wrote about everything a women couldn’t do. Moreover, it also highlights the point that a man is able to do everything Edna did, but without the same
Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is followed by the audience through her voyage of self-realization. As Edna’s journey unfolds, Chopin incorporates a vast variety of symbols in order to express Edna’s relationship with society. One of the most present symbols that Chopin uses is the way she addresses Edna’s clothing or its absence. As Edna’s character develops and her desire to liberate herself swells, she removes clothing that she feels are not only constricting to her body physically but to her soul emotionally. While Edna removes her clothing throughout the novel, she is contravening the social norms and rules that the society she lives in has presented to her. This is one of many ways that Edna
In the novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin takes Edna Pontellier on a journey of self-discovery. In doing this, she uses many symbols to show the relationship between Edna and the world. Clothing, or rather, the lack thereof, displays this relationship well. As Edna progresses throughout the novel, she discards more and more layers of the confining ìclothingî that surrounds her body and soul. By taking off her clothing, one piece at a time, she disobeys the rules that society has set for her, and in doing this, she exerts her independence. In this summer voyage, Edna becomes a free woman.
...tionship she had until she was left with literally no reason to live. Throughout the novella, she breaks social conventions, which damages her reputation and her relationships with her friends, husband, and children. Through Edna’s thoughts and actions, numerous gender issues and expectations are displayed within The Awakening because she serves as a direct representation of feminist ideals, social changes, and a revolution to come.
Critics of Kate Chopin's The Awakening tend to read the novel as the dramatization of a woman's struggle to achieve selfhood--a struggle doomed failure either because the patriarchal conventions of her society restrict freedom, or because the ideal of selfhood that she pursue is a masculine defined one that allows for none of the physical and undeniable claims which maternity makes upon women. Ultimately. in both views, Edna Pontellier ends her life because she cannot have it both ways: given her time, place, and notion of self, she cannot be a mother and have a self. (Simons)
In fact, Edna seems to drift from setting to setting in the novel, never really finding her true self - until the end of the novel. Chopin seems highly concerned with this question throughout her narrative. On a larger scale, the author seems to be probing even more deeply into the essence of the female experience: Do women in general have a place in the world, and is the life of a woman the cumbersome pursuit to find that very place? The Awakening struggles with this question, raising it to multiple levels of complexity. Edna finds liberation and happiness in various places throughout the novel, yet this is almost immediately countered by unhappiness and misery.
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier’s suicide is an assertion of her independence and contributes to Chopin’s message that to be independent one must choose between personal desires and societal expectations. Chopin conveys this message through Edna’s reasons for committing suicide and how doing so leads her to total independence. Unlike the other women of Victorian society, Edna is unwilling to suppress her personal identity and desires for the benefit of her family. She begins “to realize her position in the universe as a human being and to recognize her relationship as an individual to the world within and about her” (35).
Maybe one must contemplate how much his or her happiness is truly worth. Regardless, every person has internal conflict not easily solved. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier struggles with two conflicting forces, expectations of her and her own desires, illuminating the meaning of the novella: defying societal expectations in order to seek individuality and independence is always just. Edna is a complex character driven by her need for independence and freedom.
In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier is a married woman with children. However many of her actions seem like those of a child. In fact, Edna Pontelliers’ life is an irony, in that her immaturity allows her to mature. Throughout this novel, there are many examples of this because Edna is continuously searching for herself in the novel.