I grew up hearing the saying that a little girl could have an old soul, or that someone is well beyond their years. These sayings are popular to societies, because they try to explain why certain individuals differentiate from the acceptable norms in ways that may be more complicated than just personality traits. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier is no exception. Her society’s expectations differ from who she is and how she is willing to act so that she would fit in. Chapter one of The Awakening begins the story with several examples of how Edna does not fit in with her society.
In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, we are introduced to a woman named Edna Pontellier. She is a wife, a mother, and a homemaker who struggles to fit in the ideal “Victorian woman” mold. The expectations of women during the Victorian era was for women to be devoted to her husband, children and her home and it was frowned if a woman were to devote some time for the benefit of herself. The women were like caged birds; unable to use her wings for flight. Throughout the novel, Edna’s dissatisfaction with her life becomes apparent and we see Edna’s journey to independence and self-discovery.
Edna’s relationship with Robert is clearly what ignited Edna’s decisions to deviate from societal norms, not that Edna’s thoughts and ideologies truly belong nor morphed with her peers for her time. In the final section of The Awakening, Edna had several significant decisions that ultimately determined that she would not be controlled by societal expectations. I appeared to me, that chapter XXIII seemed to be the heaviest chapter for Edna’s mental and emotional changes. Edna in this chapter diverts more and more from the idealistic societal expectations associated with being a mother and wife. Edna becomes extremely relatable in terms of human frustration to readers, she is frustrated with Adele’s unwillingness to accept her passion for art
The pressures of breaking the gender role barrier are too difficult for Edna Pontellier to handle in The Awakening. By setting the book in the Victorian Era, Chopin displays the obvious struggle between what the expectation is versus the desire to be an individual. Edna’s cold demeanor towards conformity involved in being a motherly woman is shown through the characterization of her close friend Adele Ratignolle. Edna desired to be her own person without a dominant presence lingering overhead to judge and correct her every move in life. This is the opposite of the gender role placed upon Victorian women to be submissive and to avoid conflict with their husbands.
Edna Pontellier possessed something rich and unworthy. Edna’s disregard for the individuals and society’s opinion did not force her to remain oppressed in the parrot’s cage nor become reluctant to the ocean. Edna’s heroic individualism liberated the chains that plagued her from flying and swimming into freedom and the discovery of Edna’s identity. All individuals experience various sorts of transitions in their life, whether it’s emotionally, physically, or mentally. It was Edna Pontellier’s journey of a thousand miles, new experiences and beginnings that led to the benefit of self- rule and sovereignty.
Edna Pontellier’s Awakening was not dependent on her meeting Robert. Edna’s awakening all starts when she began to realize that
It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period. Edna outwardly conforms to society’s expectations by marriage.
Kate Chopin's The Awakening details the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman who was expected to do what men wanted them to do. Women like Edna were expected to be naturally good and to follow their husband’s ideas right after marriage. However, as she grows as both a person and a woman, she begins to feel signs of change that she feels is necessary. Edna realizes that she must leave the life she is currently living to fulfill her desires and personal needs. Soon, she feels the hopelessness of her cause; society doesn't accept her independence and must find another way to live her life.
Edna’s characterization throughout The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, describes Edna as someone with burning passion who desires to improve not only her life, but the lives of future generations. However Edna’s actions make her often seem weak to the oppressive people around her; sometimes, and in this case unfortunately, good ideas and beliefs are stopped cold by one’s surrounding influences. Edna’s feminist attitude, though formidable, is no match for the individuals who accept the current society’s customs. I find Edna to be a weak person from a general standpoint. However the story masks this obviousness fact by illustrating some of Edna’s questionable actions.
Edna Pontellier is a strong, independent female character stuck in a society, depicted in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, which oppresses women. Edna constantly struggles with her growing realization of her restricted life style and her desire to be free from societal expectations. Chopin describes moments of Edna’s sleep (or a lack thereof) to allude to her “awakening” out of the stereotypical view of women. Edna’s developing understanding, starting as a simple realization, becoming a slightly confused desire to be free of society, coming to the climax of Edna’s inability to cope with the caged life society places upon here, is highlighted through Chopin's theme of awakening.
In Kate Chopin’ s novel, The Awakening, there are three identities inside of the female leading role, Edna Pontellier, being a wife, mother and own self. Edna was born in 19th century at the Vitoria period, a patriarchy society, women have low freedom to achieve personal goal. She married with Léonce Pontellier, a wealthy man with Creole descent. After having a child, her life is still unchangeable and as bored as before. Until she encountered Robert Leburn, Mademoiselle Reisz, and Alcée Arobin, her value of self-cognition has changed.
Daily life in the Victorian era held people to many expectations on how they were supposed to live, whom to talk to, and for women, how to take care of the family. This caused some women, who were free-spirited, to rebel against the expectations and etiquette of the time. In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening Edna’s actions break society’s expectation of social norms for women in the Victorian era. In the Victorian era a wife is expected to live happily in the same house as her husband, but Edna decides that she wants to move out and into her own little house.
She began to live independently, continued to despise her family and found a better young man for her to be with and start a new life again. Unlike other wives in the 1800’s who chose to be a devoted housewife, serving only their husbands and children, Edna Pontellier chose to break the tradition by being independent and voiced her feelings. Instead of going with the tradition, she chose to be free from the expectations and began to live independently. In conclusion, the novel is an eye-opener to every woman who is still stuck in the tradition of only staying home, doing house chores, and letting themselves be manhandled, for the reason that it suggests them to be more voiced out and open with their feelings to be able to express their opinions and
As a woman learning to be herself in a patriarchy and a culture in which she could not express herself “Edna looked straight before her...felt no interest...part and parcel of an alien world” (Chopin 60). Edna is separated from society, seeming to have given up on finding herself within a society that she is now opposed to. She has lost hope in society, feeling as if she was in another world that had become evil and against her. In The Awakening Kate Chopin develops a theme of how Edna is struggling to find s self identity, while stuck in a patriarchal society. Edna begins to learn about new aspects of herself and figure herself out.
The Development of Self Kate Chopin's The Awakening delves into the idea of the self through the development of the character Edna Pontellier during a period of enlightenment. Mrs. Pontellier struggles to maintain interest in domestic duties and maintaining relationships in society as the wife of a prominent businessman. On a summer trip to the Grande Isle, a metamorphosis begins to occur as Mrs. Pontellier is confronted with the notion to delve deeper into her individuality and purpose. The unorthodox thought and actions which proceed this inclination create unrest in her familial relationships and environment as she continues to search and find her true identity. The change and growth in the mentality of Mrs. Pontellier contrasts with the
