Edna Pontellier's Transformation

The main character of the book The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, transforms in a notable way in the course of the book. As the book progresses she changes from a respectable wife of the time to a woman who rebels against the society and its values. There are numerous events and factors in the book that affect Edna’s mental state before her final swim.

The main conflict of the book is individual versus society. Chopin states early on that Edna is an outsider in the society because she is not a creole, unlike the other significant characters in the book. Edna’s mindset and views are also remarkably different from the people around her and thus she does not truly belong to the society. In the very beginning Edna does not rebel against the society

even though she despises her role as a “mother-woman” and is discontent with her marriage with Leonce because he considers Edna to be merely his possession and Edna lacks freedom (“You are burnt beyond recognition," he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.” pg.8) . As the plot progresses her curiosity and desire for independence increase and she starts to rebel the society. Her will for defiance and rebellion come from Mademoiselle Reisz as she states that an artist should be brave and courageous and dare and defy ("Courageous, ma foi! The brave soul. The soul that dares and defies." pg. 96) .

Edna rebels against the social values in various ways.

The most significant form of rebellion for her is her affairs. Edna falls in love with Robert and the affair between these two characters has a substantial emotional component in it (“Why?" asked her companion. "Why do you love him when you ought not to?" pg. 121). Edna also has an affair with Alcee Arobin when Robert leaves to Mexico, but this affair is solely a physical one and Edna does not feel an emotional connection with Arobin (“It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had really responded. It was a flaming torch that kindled desire.” pg. 123). These two affairs that Edna has in the book are the most significant forms of rebellion for her because they enable her to defy her husband and furthermore the social

values.

In addition to her affairs Edna defies her husband and society through other means. First of all, as the book progresses Edna becomes increasingly disobedient toward her husband as she stops following Leonce’s orders and expresses that she does not want anyone to dictate her actions any more (“I’m not going to be forced into doing things” pg.166). She separates with her husband as she moves out and sends her children to Leonce’s mother because she does not want to be an ideal “mother-woman” and she is not willing to sacrifice her independence and freedom neither for her husband nor for her children (“But after all...a little child” pg. 108).

Because of the events in the story Edna experiences two sorts of awakenings. First of them is a physical awakening as her sexual desires are awoken and the second is a mental awakening as she realizes that she and her views are different from rest of the people in the society. In the course of the story she is metaphorically reborn because of her awakening. She tries to establish her independence but she is not fully able to as can be seen in the last scene of the book. In the last scene Edna goes swimming and she drowns. This scene takes place in the sea just as one of the earliest scenes in the book. In the first scene that happens at the sea, Edna’s awakening begins as she learns to swim. Her newly gained ability to swim makes her realize that she has control over herself and she starts to believe that she can become independent (“A feeling of...had swum before” pg.43). As her rebirth process starts in this scene she only can swim a small distance, thus conveying that Edna is taking her very first steps in establishing her independence. Chopin utilizes the sea as symbolism of freedom throughout the book. The forces of the sea are compared to the forces of society.: as Edna swims farther away into the sea, the forces become stronger. The same concept applies to establishing her independence. As she tries to establish independence, the forces of the society try to prevent her. In the last scene Edna goes swimming and swims far away and ends up dying. There is a certain ambiguity in the ending as Chopin does not reveal if Edna commits suicide or just drowns.

Because of these two different interpretations there are two possibilities of what Edna’s mental state is in the end of the book.

If the reader interprets that Edna commits suicide, her actions can be seen as a form of final rebellion against the society and the reader can conclude that her death was intended to be her final defiance. Another interpretation that can be made is that she drowns because she is not strong enough against the forces of the sea. Both of these interpretations can be supported by evidence and neither one of them seems to be wrong. The most accurate interpretation, though, is a combination of both of the aforementioned interpretations. Edna goes to the sea in an attempt to test her strength and limits. For Edna, swimming means independence and the sea symbolises freedom, hence in the final scene she tests if she truly can be independent. She acknowledges that swimming far away has its risks and knows that death is a probable outcome. The forces of the sea, that are a metaphor for the forces of the society, are too strong compared to her and she drowns. Edna’s last swim is also a final form of rebellion and defiance from her part. Before she drowns she thinks about what Mademoiselle Reisz said which supports the argument that Edna goes to swim for her last defiance (“How Mademoiselle Reisz...dares and defies” pg. 173). She does not fit into the society and she does not want to be part of it anymore, thus she sees losing to the forces of the sea as a

liberation from the society and her husband. Overall, in the ending, Edna’s mindset is similar to earlier parts of the book: she is determined to have independence and freedom but in the end the forces of the society win. She is strong enough to rebel momentarily but she is not strong enough to maintain the rebellion as seen in the last scene where the force of the sea are symbolic to the forces of society (“her strength was gone” pg. 173). Edna’s emotional state also contributes to the last scene. She has lost her will to live in the end and feels despondent because her true love, Robert, has left her and she realizes that she will be her husband’s possession for the rest of her life unless she truly defies the society (“Good-by--because I love you” He did not know; he did not understand. He would never understand” pg. 173).

Numerous events in the book change Edna and her views. In the course of the book Edna experiences a physical and a mental awakening. Because of her awakenings she starts to defy her husband and the society. Edna involves herself in two affairs in order to defy the social norms. She falls in love with Robert, but as the book approaches its end Robert decides to leave her. All these events transform Edna and affect her mental state in the end. In the last scene Edna possesses a feeling of despondency because Robert has left her and she acknowledges that she is trapped with her husband. Edna decides to test her limits by swimming far away and tries to defy the society one last time, acknowledging the fact that she will probably die during the swim. In the end she drowns because the forces of the sea, metaphorical to the forces of society, are stronger than she is.