Responsibility In Edna Pontellier's The Awakening

In the novel, The Awakening, before a realization of true misery, Edna Pontellier shaped her happiness around the ideals of money, family and responsibility. After acknowledging discontent, Edna abandons her stable life to fulfill her newly awakened character. Her epiphany leads her to have an impulsive attitude and selfish lifestyle in order to escape a world of responsibility. She reinvents herself and embraces her independence thus living sensuously in order to stop masking a happy life as a mother-woman. Edna Pontellier is trapped in a fruitless marriage and social requirements, but after finding her true self through an awakening, she decides to lead a reckless life based on desire in order to fulfill her new independent and liberated character.
After arising to her true self, Edna recognizes the sources of unhappiness in her life and chooses to bide them away. In order to show her lack of sympathy towards her obligations she uses metaphor to demonstrate how her husband doesn’t recognize a shift in

perspective, “he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world” (77). Mrs. Pontellier disguised her emotions behind the image of an ideal family life, and now wishes to abandon her moral obligations in order to fulfill her newly awakened self-perception. Edna’s marriage to Mr. Pontellier no longer provides her with satisfaction and content, thus she decides to run away from her responsibilities as a wife and mother. Leone only notices Edna’s defiance to submit to his beckoning command and doesn't grasp the idea of his wife’s evolution into a reckless woman. With a change in perspective, Edna decides to lead a sensuous life and prioritizes her interests as an independent woman rather than those of her family. She justifies pardoning her children and seeking out liberation by giving up material items,” I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t’t give myself. I can’t make it more clear” (64). Edna holds that she is unfit to serve the role as a mother-woman and to submit to the requests of her husband in order to please the standards of the society. Edna’s search to fulfill her new personage shows the extent of her selfish attitudes, “by the time she regained the city, the song of her children no longer echoed in her soul” (128). The epiphany allows Edna to walk away from an established life surrounded by the love of her children without holding onto guilt or remorse and she also believes that a path without commitment is more fulfilling than a stable marriage.
In awakening, Edna admits to her connection with Robert and neglect of love towards Mr. Pontellier and the disinterest of their marriage. When Robert seizes to express a mutual desire, Edna diminishes her feelings and finds comfort in a relationship with Arobin. Edna clarifies her feelings for Arobin are not immense yet impulsive and she admits, “there was a dull pang of regret because it was not the kiss of love which had inflamed her, because it was not love which had held this cup of life to her lips” (112). Edna’s lust for Arobin is deepened by his bad reputation and his willingness to follow ambition and live carelessly for his own merit. Her will to consistently alter her object of affection shows how Edna is unable to sustain happiness due to her fleeting satisfaction. By following impulse and acting on feelings of lust instead of love, Edna continuously is left alone and without an emotional connection to the men she fends after. Her constant quest to follow ambition and attain independence leads her to be dissatisfied and consistently searching for company. A perpetual theme of Edna's search for love involves an initial seduction and lust for a man and then sudden disregard once commitment plays an active role. Her heart longs to overpower her denial of feeling for Robert but she pardons her emotional connection by reassuring, “the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone" (155). Edna's fear of accepting responsibility and admitting to the true desire in her heart causes her to push away any hope of a relationship with Robert. Edna Pontellier’s hesitations to submit to obligation confuse Robert and cause him to diminish his hopes of pursuing interest in her.
Mrs. Pontellier uses her alone time swimming in the ocean to escape and reach out to the sea to lose herself. She thinks of her solitude in the abundant ocean as an escape mechanism from her obligations on land as mother and wife. Edna finds a sense of liberation and comfort in the ocean stating that "the touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace" (156). Post self-discovery, Edna still encountered a connection to Leonce and her children and felt that her abandonment of them haunted her mind, body and soul. She felt a sense of guilt and tried to erase her past life since her thoughts troubled her, recollecting, "the children had appeared like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days" (155). She attempted to shake her connection by seeking freedom through the ocean and impulsively looking to the water for a sense of release. At the end of the novel, Edna swims too far out without contemplating her actions and fears the inevitable; that her impulse would lead to her own demise. Without anticipating the danger of the scenario, Edna gets lost in the freedom from her thoughts, “She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known…it was too late; the shore was far behind her, and her strength was gone"(157). Edna’s long list of reckless actions have lead up to this point and expend karma for all the wrong-doings and impulsive decisions she has made since her awakening.
Mrs.

Pontellier hid behind a sheltered and conservative lifestyle before her awakening to self-discovery. Her role as a mother-women no longer satisfies her needs and she acknowledges her discontent with a fruitless marriage. After arising to a new sense of self, Edna abandons all responsibilities and carries out a reckless life, which in the end is fleeting. She feels unfulfilled in the actions in her life so far and decides to start fresh and live her life spontaneously. Mrs. Pontellier’s rash decisions leave her with a short-lived satisfaction and cause her to constantly change her mind and act on different impulse. Actions such as abandoning her children, lusting over Robert and Arobin, and ultimately her own suicide display her reckless and sensuous behaviors that are unrecognizable to any of her companions. Overall, Edna’s independence and freedom have a negative impact on her role as mother-woman, emotional stability and

well-being.