Adele Ratignolle In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the conventional Creole perfection of Adele Ratignolle serves as a foil to highlight Edna’s contrasting individuality and independent spirit. Chopin relays the idea that when a person’s freedom is consistently threatened by their obligations to family and society, that person may move to extremes in order to escape the confines of imposed social norms and requirements. This idea is manifest within the story of Edna who would rather be true to her own passions and identity than to the cultural expectations set before her. Adele is described as the “ideal Creole woman” many times throughout the novel. She spends her waking moments attending to her family’s needs whether it be caring for her children, sewing, or obeying

These attributes emphasized how Edna, a non-Creole woman differs from the New Orleans’ community around her. She is a different breed and Adele even imparts that “she is not like us.” Edna is “not a mother woman” and this is especially visible in the moment where Adele is knitting children’s clothes in preparation for winter while Edna would rather relax and enjoy her vacation. Adele is always dressed in white because she is pure and fiercely loyal to her husband. This highlights yet another facet of Edna’s life: her infidelity to her husband. Her marriage was not a union of love, but of necessity and as a result she yearns to experience her unfulfilled fantasies of true love. Chopin includes the anecdote of Edna’s first loves to demonstrate her longing for a fulfilling and interesting relationship. Conversely, Adele thrives through her familial relationships, especially with her husband whereas Edna “would have nothing to talk about” if left alone for too long with Leonce. These contrasting images of Adele and Edna exemplify how confining Edna’s marriage is to her own individuality.