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Personal essay on edna pontellier
Edna pontellier and how she relates to today's society
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Personal essay on edna pontellier
Edna pontellier and how she relates to today's society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Personal essay on edna pontellier
Mademoiselle Reisz’s observation pertains to Edna in The Awakening because Edna attempts to “soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice,” but in the end, she fails and collapses into a “sad spectacle” by struggling to find her moral self, which was to fight back against her bruised and exhausted bird she has become, but ultimately lost strength of hope in a better life. Many women in the early 20th century never did "soar"; they would never go above and beyond what was expected by society. Edna Pontellier, attempts to soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice by making a statement about the person she wants to become. Edna states “one of these days, I’m going to pull myself together for a while and think-try to determine what character of a woman I am.
However, when Edna comes into the picture, Robert seems to become attached to her. He had never caught feelings for any woman, until Edna. When he realizes how enthralled he has become, he panics. Robert fears the connection he feels with her, and leaves for Mexico to get away from Edna. This sends her into a crazy
Right before Edna goes to kill herself, she had many thoughts about people who have meant a lot to her in her past life. She thinks this about her children: Edna declares her children to be a representation of her own “slavery” of being a mother. Edna uses the word “antagonists” to describe the images of her children in her head. She believes that her kids are a wall standing between the standards of being a mother, which Edna is trying to escape, and her becoming an individual woman. She then uses the verbs “overcome” and “overpowered” to describe the action of what her children have done to her.
Women during Edna’s time were supposed to be dedicated to their husbands and children, however, Edna yearned for her own independence, and as a result of wanting her own independence Edna knew that she was seen as a terrible person. For instance Edna wanted to “…try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't know. By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I can't convince myself that I am. I must think about it" (27.4).
Edna devoted herself to her husband like every other woman did. Chopin begins to develop Edna’s character by introducing Robert Lebrun. While Edna rediscovers her suppressed feelings for Robert, her character develops into a woman who is not afraid to express her sexuality and her want for freedom. With her new found confidence she swims out in the sea by herself trying to find her own freedom. From that moment on Edna becomes the independent woman that was not recognized as respectable in this time.
Robert wants more than an affair with Edna, he wants a relationship. He wants to marry her but he is also aware that it is not realistic. He does not want to be ridiculed by society; therefore, he pushes Edna away.
Edna tries to satisfy this desire by taking part in an adulterous affair with Alcee Arobin, a known playboy. However, this relationship doesn’t satisfy Edna’s wish for companionship as she uses Alcee only to satisfy her sexual desires. This all changes once Edna meets Robert Lebrun, who invokes a sense of excitement and love in Edna. Edna sees her relationship with Robert as her only chance to gain freedom from the confines of society; additionally Robert gives Edna the chance to have a fulfilling relationship as opposed to her loveless one with Leonce. Although the two are deeply in love with one another, Robert is unable to reciprocate Edna’s desires to be together.
When she comes back from the island, this new outlook on life clashes with her husband’s old world values, and he endeavors to stop what he sees as utter madness. At one point, a family doctor recommends to Léonce that Edna spend time at her ancestral home, far away from the water, to return her behavior to what he knows as normal. Edna expresses a dislike of and actively avoids certain parts of society, but cannot fully separate herself from the motherly duties forced onto her by traditional gender roles, unlike her muse Mademoiselle Reisz. These duties, ultimately, prove to be the fetters that cause Edna to sink downward, and lead her to end her life in the same ocean where it truly
She views her children as “antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days” (120). To Edna, there is only one way to escape the predicament of losing her soul to motherhood. She swims out into the sea in which she first awakens and swims until “the shore was far behind her, and her strength was gone” (121). In this, Edna lives up to her words that she can sacrifice her life for her children, but she can never sacrifice her soul to them. Edna's belief that death is the only option for her demonstrates that women just like her are pushed to the brink of life.
Christina Williams makes an insightful argument that the role of identity overlays the feminist themes of the novel. Williams begins by arguing that Edna never lets herself break free of a man’s influence, nor does she ever let the idea of love go. While Edna’s motivation is in part due to her wish to follow her artistic passion, the concern that eventually leads to her death is of Robert, her lover. Edna begins and ends the novel in the same passive nature that she begins the novel; thus, it would make an unsuccessful feminist work. Williams states that Edna’s awakening is in large part due to natural causes, listing her connection to the sea as an example.
If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at the both of you” (108). Throughout the story Edna’s feelings for Robert grow stronger and deeper, so that by the end of the novel she simply longs to be with him. Yet parallel to that growth Edna has discovered her self and developed her own identity. The idea of a transfer of ownership of her person from one man to another is abhorrent to her, so much so that it would cause her to abandon her dream of being with Robert. Though she wants that very much, she is unwilling to lose her own identity in the process as she did when she was with Mr. Pontellier.
Edna’s marriage to Leonce “was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate. It was in the midst of her secret great passion that she met him. He fell in love, as men are in the habit of doing, and pressed his suit with an earnestness and ardor which left nothing to be desired” (Chopin 18). As Edna’s awakening develops, she begins to act out of character, driven by her inward desires. She starts spending more and more time with Robert, and while Leonce is aware, he pays no attention to the affair.
Trial of Death Dawn began to show itself. The sky was filled with a blood red glow. An eerie sunrise fit for today I think to myself. The sun begins to shine through the rusted bars of a jail cell. It reeks of misery.
When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”
Initially, Edna experiences her independence as no more than an emotion. When she swims for the first time, she discovers her own strength, and through her pursuit of her painting she is reminded of the pleasure of individual creation. when she makes the decision to abandon her former lifestyle, Edna realizes that independent ideas cannot always translate into a simultaneously self-sufficient and socially acceptable existence. Once Robert refuses to trespass the boundaries of societal convention, Edna acknowledges the profundity of her solitude. Symbols: