In chapter VI, we see most of the main ideas of the novel mentioned as the beginning of Edna’s awakening is described. The author expresses how Edna is unique in her desire to explore such concepts as fulfillment, self discovery, and independence. As the story continues we see Edna’s need for these things grow, and as new characters are introduced we see how different Edna is becoming from the rest of society. This is just the authors first mention of Edna’s growing awareness, but the passage also foreshadows the turmoil that will come from it later on in the novel. It suggests Edna’s inevitable mark of death, placed on her from the start of her awakening. Overall, this passage gives the reader a starting point to look back to when reviewing Edna’s character growth and the events that lead to her suicide.
Prior to chapter XI, we only see Edna’s growing curiosity and self-discovery expressed through her thoughts, rather than actions. Now for the first time Edna is refusing to do as her husband asks her to do, speaking out against his control and doing
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what she wishes to do. Old habits are dying, and she no longer has the urge to obey his demands as she did so naturally before. As we see Edna’s thoughts and emotions expand, beyond the narrow mind she started out the story with, we see her become more aware of her own wants. The authors emphasizes her growing self-awareness and her reflection on prior actions due to this. The author highlights Edna’s distance from her former self, showing her inability to access her prior mindset, as her previous behaviors become alien and incomprehensible. I believe this quote expressed Edna’s attitude throughout most of the novel. She was moving through life on this new idea of self awareness, but as she did she did not stop to see what she affected along the way. She freed her soul from the responsibility of her family, children and husband, to follow this set of new desires that made her happy. By choosing to ignore society she placed herself in this unrealistic world, where expectations did not exist. By becoming independent and in touch with herself, Edna became selfish. We see Robert and Edna’s relationship changing as they spend more time together, and as Edna starts to evaluate her true desires. They lines show how Edna’s view of Robert has changed, reflecting her true want to be alone with him. She likes the idea of being separated from society and free from the restrictions in holds on her. Her dramatic fantasies of the this life she wishes she had, show her continual drift from society, her growing self-awareness separating her from reality. Edna has not fully accepted her changing feelings for Robert or the way these feelings could affect her real life. Although she is not yet living a physically isolated life, she has started to isolate herself mentally , placing herself in this fantasy world. A fantasy world is the only one in which hers and Roberts relationship could be possible. Edna draws this picture, describing the only conditions under which society would accept their relationship. In this part of the novel we start to see Edna realize the transformation that is taking place within her. Up to this point we have seen Edna’s thought process slowly changing as she becomes self-aware, but here she is starting to to verbalize the difference she feels in herself. Edna senses a change in her thoughts but she doesn’t see quite how it has affected her over all personality. Edna doesn’t realize how her growing desire will affect her entire known life, and we could question if she ever truly does even at the end of the novel. The change is so new for her that she pictures herself in a fantasy world where everything seems to be better, but her loss of reality is bound to make her suffer later on. In chapter XVIII, Edna looks out to society for the first time with a mix of fear, disinterest and hatred. This is the authors first expression of Edna’s view of society as her enemy. Before this point in the novel, Edna could not see how the changes inside her were affecting her life over all, but by now we see her realization of how self-awareness has changed her desires. Edna’s independence is strengthened to a point by this time in the novel, where she shows no interest with any interaction with the rest of society. This initial distain for others is the root of her later isolation, where she claims to find spiritual peace. In a way you can trace her tragic death back to this as a turning point in her relationship with society and her role within it. Throughout the novel we see Edna’s transformation surprise her in many ways, but rarely get to see the way others first realize it.
Edna seems to disregard the fact that her changes were affecting others around her, but in chapter XIX, the author reveals how Edna’s awakening has been affecting her husband. Leonce, who bared witness to the whole transformation, was able to tolerate some resistance from his wife as long as she remained taking care of her duties as a mother and wife. Leonce realized Edna had changed, but could not see in what way, he could not see the way these changes were better his wife. He saw the change in her only from the outside, he could not see how it affected her heart, and how it turned her into her true self. Edna was selfish for not thinking about her loved ones before changing her life so drastically, but her husband was selfish for not realizing she needed this change to be who she
was. We see in this quote how Edna’s independence has grown since she first decided society was her enemy. With her realization in society as her enemy, she now resolves that she should not have to listen to anyone but herself. This grows to be one of Edna’s internal conflicts throughout the book; should she have to listen to others opinions and expectations of her? Edna does not want to belong to anyone else, or have to follow someone else’s orders. She believed she should not have to conform to the stereotypes of society and be dictated by a man, her husband. This ties in the strong feminist lens of this story. Edna express her belief in the inverse relationship of independence and social rank. As events take place and Edna’s self-awareness flourishes, we find her drawing her strength from her rejection of the social role she is supposed to be taking in society. By ignoring the expectations and stereotypes of those around her, Edna finds herself able to grow spiritually, allowing her to think and act on her own opinions. As we get closer to the end of the book we see how independent Edna has become. She finds herself able to completely disregard society instead of interacting with them, but this new view of strength based on isolation seems wrong. Although isolation seems to Edna as the only way for her to find her self in a society where women are not given the right to think on their own terms, perhaps solitude was the cause of her tragic ending. As we see Edna’s full transformation at the end of the novel, we see her reflect on the choice of her awakening and the worth of it all. Edna faced a lot of suffering accompanying her growing wisdom and self-awareness, but in Edna’s eyes that suffering was worth it. She would rather face a time of suffering for, for lifelong happiness and understanding, rather than live in the semi-aware state that she was in prior to her awakening. To Edna living by one’s own control leads too a more fulfilled life than any life based on the restrictions and expectations of society. We see this message built upon through the novel as the main moral of Edna’s story.
Edna Pontellier was on her way to an awakening. She realized during the book, she was not happy with her position in life. It is apparent that she had never really been fully unaware However, because her own summary of this was some sort of blissful ignorance. Especially in the years of life before her newly appearing independence, THE READER SEES HOW she has never been content with the way her life had turned out. For example she admits she married Mr. Pontellier out of convenience rather than love. EDNA knew he loved her, but she did not love him. It was not that she did not know what love was, for she had BEEN INFATUATED BEFORE, AND BELIEVED IT WAS love. She consciously chose to marry Mr. Pontellier even though she did not love him. When she falls in love with Robert she regrets her decision TO MARRY Mr. Pontellier. HOWEVER, readers should not sympathize, because she was the one who set her own trap. She did not love her husband when she married him, but SHE never once ADMITS that it was a bad decision. She attributes all the problems of her marriage to the way IN WHICH SOCIETY HAS defined the roles of men and women. She does not ACCEPT ANY OF THE BLAME, AS HER OWN. The only other example of married life, in the book, is Mr. and Mrs. Ratignolle, who portray the traditional role of married men and women of the time. Mr. Pontellier also seems to be a typical man of society. Edna, ON THE OTHER HAND, was not A TYPICAL WOMAN OF SOCIETY. Mr. Pontellier knew this but OBVIOUSLY HAD NOT ALWAYS. This shows IS APPARENT in the complete lack of constructive communication between the two. If she had been able to communicate with her husband they may have been able to work OUT THEIR PROBLEMS, WHICH MIGHT HAVE MADE Edna MORE SATISFIED WITH her life.
Though these two explanations provide equal merit, they are too different for the reader to come to any fully supported conclusion of the novel. On one hand the main character is a strong independent artist who refuses conformity. On the other, the main character is a basket case and the nature of her awakening is complete self absorbed. It seems likely that the author intended to create juxtaposition in the two different interpretations of Edna’s character
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.
The fifteen lines of chapter 28 express Edna’s multi-voiced mindset after her relationship with Arobin exceeds the boundaries of friendship. The chapter opens with her crying and then explores the process of guilt as it sets in. Edna’s guilt, however, is afflicted by the other figures in her life, not by her own sense of wrongdoing. The manipulating voices in Edna’s life do affect her, but they do not linger as they once did. It is her voice, her realization, that comes at the end.
In The Awakening, the male characters attempt to exert control over the character of Edna. None of the men understand her need for independence. Edna thinks she will find true love with Robert but realizes that he will never understand her needs to be an independent woman. Edna's father and husband control her and they feel she has a specific duty as a woman. Alcee Arobin, also attempts to control Edna in his own way. Edna knows she wants freedom. She realizes this at the beginning of the book. "Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Pg. 642). Throughout The Awakening she is trying to gain that independence that she wants so bad.
Edna’s first action that starts off her route to freedom from her relationship is when she fell in love with Robert. Edna had already married a man that she had not loved but he has not been treating her a...
...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.
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.
She doesn't follow the rules. morals that all the women surrounding her succumb to in life. By defying these "laws" Edna makes clear the morals that all the other. women value the satisfaction of their husband, the acceptance of society, and the conformity to the stereotypical roles of a woman. In The Awakening, Edna is used as a tool to emphasize the surrounding.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin ends with the death of the main character, Edna Pontellier. Stripping off her clothes, she swims out to sea until her arms can no longer support her, and she drowns. It was not necessarily a suicide, neither was it necessarily the best option for escaping her problems.
Misinterpreted as hidden desires, Edna’s emotions towards love and freedom stem from the lack of familial love. Her father’s flippant thoughts towards her are shown when he tells Leonce that “authority, coercion are what is needed… [to] manage a wife” [94]. He regards his daughter as just another woman and approaches raising her in the same manner that he treated his wife. Edna’s distant relationship with her sisters is shown in her refusal to go to the wedding [94] and her distaste for the motherly tones in her elder sister’s affections [22]. Coming from an isolated plantation, her youth was lonely and in result she grew to lack proper social skills and became more sensitive to kindness. This is supported by Adele’s statement to Robert, “...she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously.” ...
Most of the concepts explored in the novel are mentioned in this passage: independence and solitude, self-discovery, intellectual maturation, and sexual desire and fulfillment. With the remark, “How few of us ever emerge from such beginning!” the narrator points out that Edna is unique in her willingness to embark upon her quest for autonomy, fulfillment, and self-discovery. Certainly, each new character that appears in the book only serves to highlight Edna’s uniqueness. The narrator’s subsequent remark, “How many souls perish in [the beginning’s] tumult!” foreshadows the turmoil that will result from Edna’s growing awareness. It seems to suggest that from the moment her awakening begins, Edna is marked for death. Additionally, the mention of the sea’s sensual and inviting voice presages Edna’s eventual suicide. The line that begins, “The voice of the sea . . .” is repeated almost verbatim just before Edna’s
The two passages at the beginning and ending of The Awakening illustrate symbolically Edna’s degeneration from strong-willed, vivacious, and highly individual to tired and resigned.
that is present throughout the novel. As a result, Edna become a threat to the society's
In Edna’s life in New Orleans, she feels an obligation to the societal pressures on women to be a domestic wife whose only focus is her children. However, she knows being a mother is not destined for her. Often throughout the novel, she chooses herself over her children, showing that she carries the self-priority gene more than the mother one. She also faces the societal pressures of how women should act and behave; which is obedient to their husbands and ladylike. This all changes once she moves to Grand Isle. With the absence of her family, Edna finally feels free to be herself without the responsibility of tending to them. In Grand Isle she discovers the freedom of her sensuality, her fondness for being independent and the lack of consideration she has to have in order to make her own decisions. In her