Sacrifice In The Awakening

Giving up something significant can be a trying yet telling process. The Awakening by Kate Chopin highlights the epiphanic journey of Edna Pontellier in the late 1800s. Edna’s life changes while she is in Grand Isle due to the sacrifice of the entirety of her lifestyle in exchange for youthful freedom. This sacrifice proves Edna’s character to be one of determination, passion, and strength.

Edna’s sacrifice proved her to be an immensely determined person. She lived the life of a mother and a wife, caring for her kids and living surrounded by her husband’s possessions. However, as her husband went away for work she began to witness and experience more freedoms through her friends Adele and Robert. Edna then came to understand the emotions

she had repressed and liberated herself from her previously prudish lifestyle. In order to give up her known way of living, Edna surrendered physical objects, such as her house.

She moved to a smaller home she called the “pigeon house” once her husband left for work and her kids left to be cared for by their grandmother. Not only is this transition a literal example of the lengths she is willing to go in order to alter her lifestyle, it also signifies the transition from a family-oriented mindset to an individualistic mindset. She was able to pursue her own free will in her relationships, develop her painting skills as she pleased, and ignore the responsibilities once laid upon her by society. Minimizing the importance of her relationship with her husband, however, caused many external and internal problems for Edna. The friends she had around her while in Grand Isle disapproved of her growing interest in men other than her husband. Though Adele did initiate conversations which exposed Edna to the idea of her true wishes, Adele was also a traditional woman. She believed in role of a wife and a mother to support their family, whereas Edna began to disregard these duties. Edna’s behavior created rifts in their relationship is Adele feared the extent of the choices she was witnessing her friend make.

Additionally, when pursuing Robert, Edna battled internally with the greater implications of what her affair could mean. Despite these challenges, Edna was still unwilling to sacrifice her integrity at the hands of conformity. Edna was proved to be a determined character as she rebelled against societal restraints through her willingness to sacrifice large parts of her life such as her house and family.
Edna was depicted as passionate through the surrendering of her previous lifestyle.

As she began to uncover her deepest desires, Edna began to disregard the emotions of others. The one thing she would not give away was herself, and since the personality she aspired to maintain was composed of music, painting, sensuality, and freedom, aspects such as her husband’s and her children’s emotions must be sacrificed. Edna mocked her husband’s doubts, left her children to pursue her own life, caused worry in her closest friends such as Adele, and ignored the concerns of her desired lover when he expressed the problems behind her affair. Though never specifically painted as wrong, Edna portrayed herself as being willing to disregard anything in her way in order to achieve her end goal. Being passionate, being driven by strong beliefs and emotions, is something Edna did seamlessly as she left her previous way of life to achieve the awakening she felt she

needed.
Strength was shown as a key aspect to Edna’s personality as she forfeited her way of life. As Edna grew and abandoned the societal conventions of her previous lifestyle, she gave up the companionship of her kids and her newfound, rebellious personality put her at odds with her husband and friends. Though she had wanted to grow to be independent, this escalating independence left her in a state of solitude. Ultimately, Edna’s closest and most consuming connection, Robert, leaves her as he cannot accept the social boundaries Edna is attempting to cross. Edna repeatedly was left alone within her own ability to abandon traditional conventions as others could escape as she had. Despite being surrounded by no one who could truly feel and evolve as Edna could, she continually chased after the outcome she sought. Edna’s perseverance, despite the sacrifice of those who were present in her previous lifestyle and those who were helping deliver her through her awakening, serves to show that Edna is a character of strength.
In The Awakening Edna Pontellier sacrifices her way of living in order to explore her individuality and freedom. This journey illuminated her personality traits of determination, passion, and strength. Edna’s awakening in the novella is a cycle of sacrifices as she replaced her original loss of her youthful fantasies and dreams in exchange for marriage, with a newfound loss of her traditional lifestyle in exchange for the ability to return to that freedom.