Separate Spheres In Chopin's The Awakening

Nineteenth-century society was an era that was defined by one ideology: “separate spheres.” Resting on preconceived notions of male and female characteristics, men, being the strongest of the species, were expected to work, while the women-with well-credited rectitude over their male counterparts-were expected to care for the home and raise their army of children to lead their family tree into world domination and carry on the misogynistic line of male hierarchy. Edna’s life is parallel to this Victorian era philosophy of the “separate spheres,” and it is these exact demands that that finally push her to find herself. The main source of this awakening does not just come from her somewhat backward love connection to Robert Lebrun, but from the

sea at Grand Isle. It is a large turning point in the story of Edna, and symbolizes the freedom and unknown that she faces throughout her sexual, intellectual, and emotional stimulation.
From the conception, Chopin connects the sea to Edna’s secret defiant nature.

“The voice of the sea is seductive” to Edna, primarily because the vastness represents the independence she craves for, as the sea controls its own way. Becoming the “property” of her husband Léonce was not something she ever intended, as evidenced by her past love interests and even free-spirited nature of her younger self. Even more so can be evidenced by the fact that a major love interest was cut off because of differing religious views, and that her husband was more of a settlement.

Her first dive into the sea connects to her finally taking a plunge towards spiritual freedom, and furthers pulls out the defiance toward the status quo. Once connected to her inner demons, she listens less to her husband and does more of what she wants, such as not answering to callers of the house who come to visit.

Starting merely as a small hobby, her first dip of freedom opened Edna up to ferocious artistry. Finding a companion in Mademoiselle Reisz, the raw talent and compassion Mademoiselle puts into her work stirs Edna internally in a way she has never felt before. This is another stab at the society she finds herself to be in, for intellectual artistry was not meant for women to be an escape for themselves, but merely entertainment for others. Music becomes a therapy for Edna and opens her up to further creativity that she hadn’t given herself

before.
The rejection of Robert in fear of being ostracized by the community finally declares Edna’s thinking that she is really alone in her development. This realization relates back to the unknown of the sea, the far-reaching tract of earth that can only be truly discovered if committed fully to its exploration. But, the problem with Edna is she needed a crutch. She needed to be reassured constantly that what she was doing was okay, and that she wasn’t going to be by herself in this dire hour of her existence.
Although understandable, the problem with Edna is her is this psychological attachment to wanting to be loved and accepted for who she is. Obviously this is a desired want in all of us, but the detrimental part of this to Edna is that once she loses the main source of her encouragement, she can no longer go on. Irony becomes prevalent in relation to rebirth and death.
Chopin wants to connect how a patriarchal society can cause major mental issues for a woman and proves that liberation of women is not a manageable ambition, at least in this life. It’s a sign of hopelessness for women, and can best be signified in the ending, where a bird with a broken wing falls towards the sea. Mademoiselle told of a “bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings,” and in the view of the author, this is only an attractive dream.