Edna Pontellier Vs. Society In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel set in the late 1800’s that dealt with women’s struggle against societies expectations. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier, deals with several conflicts throughout the novel, the most significant being Edna versus society. Society expects her to be a stay at home mother and perfect wife, which were two things she didn’t necessarily want to be. Throughout the novel, she deals with societal conflicts such as her marriage and family, her career aspirations and self-guilt. Edna’s main conflict is against society itself. In the time period that the novel is set, it was a great expectation of women to be stay at home mothers and be the perfect wife. At the time, women had little to no rights and Kate Chopin’s novels broke the mold for women characters. In “The Awakening,” Edna is the opposite of what women are supposed to be; she wants to be in a liberal relationship rather than being held down by her husband. Her mindset changes when she meets Adele, which opens Edna up to having more freedom and learning more about herself and her sexuality. Her first conflict against society is when she starts to have relations with Robert, a swimming instructor. Edna starts to have an affair with

The most recognized would be her dissatisfaction with her marriage. She is also faced with complications in her career goals. In the 1800’s women were expected to just be stay at home mothers. Women at the time didn’t have jobs or careers. Society wouldn’t accept those women who wanted to be different and pursue their own course of action. Edna had her own passions such as being an artist. Another complication Edna has to try and overcome is the fact that she can be seen as a modern day feminist. The problem is that feminism wasn’t a popular idea at the time. The idea that women should have equal social and political rights may have been around but it definitely wasn’t advocated by