The Awakening, a novel written by Kate Chopin, is a novel that can be considered out of the ordinary due to the ambiguous ending concerning the main character committing suicide. Edna is a married woman who feels constrained by the image that society places on women. Throughout the novel she encounters other characters who inspire her to break through society’s restrictions and become more free and independent. After her and Mr. Pontellier move back to their home in New Orleans, her former flame, Robert, moves away to Mexico. Soon after, Edna moves out of her house while her husband is away on business, taking greater steps to becoming a self-determining woman. Eventually Robert moves home, and Edna expresses how she feels, although Robert feels the same way he leaves her knowing that in the end they would never be able to be together. Ultimately, in the end when Edna commits suicide she is victorious in her “awakening.”
Throughout the book, Edna makes decisions, such as moving out, that allow her to become more independent, eventually ending in victory when she decides that she is going to take her own life. Mr. Pontellier was away in New York on business leaving Edna at home by herself, when she makes the decision to buy another house and move out, basically leaving her husband. As she is explaining to Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna states, “I know I shall like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence.” (Chopin, 87) This statement shows that Edna is making decisions