Who Is Edna Pontellier In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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The woman we see inside and out in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is the pure embodiment of confusion. It certainly isn’t in her best interest to have a mind constantly engulfed in the unknown, but for Edna Pontellier, this is an enforced reality. While it may be hard to admit, Mrs. Pontellier is a hard-wired product of the society she has been placed in. It is flagrant enthusiasts and uncensored conversationalists that make up the Creole culture, not the lost soul of Edna Pontellier. Although her life seems substantially put together by the delight of her two children and the charisma of her husband, Mrs. Pontellier is drowning. Her thoughts have only ever been infused by the motherly tendencies of Creole wives and, similarly, the standard subordination …show more content…

For instance, the lady in black and the two lovers are discussed briefly in every few chapters. The lady in black serves to juxtapose the lovers, as she is an isolated, devout Catholic with no primary love interest. This contrary relationship closely mirrors the paths Edna Pontellier may choose to follow as part of her “awakening”, or the consciousness of her personal dissatisfaction. As she grew closer to Robert and the sea, Mrs. Pontellier began to notice that “she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored.her environment” (Chopin 40). With the lightweight fulfillment that Robert Lebrun’s presence brought to Edna’s life, it seemed like an easy decision: to live like the lovers of this man. However, there was another directive force that had recently become of great significance to Mrs. Pontellier. That force was emitted by Mademoiselle Reisz, a distant, disdainful pianist from the Grand Isle. She did not act as a parrot, rather, Mademoiselle Reisz was like a wandering mockingbird, fluttering in her own musical …show more content…

Ultimately, Mademoiselle Reisz’s influence on Edna’s life drew her closer to the keys of the piano, those that sang a tune of freedom. Music was unguided, never predictable, posing a strong contradiction to Mrs. Pontellier’s life; therefore, she deeply admired it. Overall, Edna Pontellier is a woman of no original thought. All she has ever known has emerged from the common behavior of those around her. Even after Robert Lebrun began to ease the tension and submissive propensity of this woman’s mind, Mrs. Pontellier still struggled with the underlying need to conform. This is what posed trouble for a capricious woman like Edna. The undiscovered territory of the ocean drew her near, but at the same time, she didn’t know if exploring this world alone, or alongside Robert Lebrun, would be satisfactory. Likewise, there was always a subconscious part of her being that, despite her fragility, demanded she take on motherhood. All in all, while it has been made clear that Mrs. Pontellier desires freedom, to what extent would she go for that possibility? The life of the lady in black would offer her independence, and that of the lovers would offer her pleasure, but at the end of the day, Edna Pontellier was never sure of her

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