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Edna Pontellier's Role In The Awakening

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“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” — Ginsburg, 2009. Kate Chopin is an American author born on February 8, 1851 at St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Chopin is famous for her brave movement by writing novels, stories and critiques mainly about feminism. Her works showed women wanting their freedom in a society which had specific roles assigned to them. In 1899, Kate Chopin published her work that was originally named A Solitary Soul but changed to The Awakening. The novel “The Awakening” written by Kate Chopin (1899) is mainly about a devoted housewife who wants to be free from her role in the 1800’s. Edna Pontellier is a 28 year old woman married to Léonce Pontellier …show more content…

During their vacation, she met a woman named Madame Adèle Ratignolle, a fellow vacationer, an open woman who is not afraid to express herself — this caused her awakening. Edna is amazed at her. Edna’s “awakening” made her realize that she should not just stay as a devoted housewife and only be dependent on her husband for their entire life. That’s when she met Robert, the owner of their vacation home’s son. They would spend their time together without malice, but as time went by, she began to resent her “devoted wife” role. As their summer vacation ended, the married couple grew apart. On the other side, Robert noticed that their relationship was not for good and went to Mexico but still promised Edna that he would still write letters to her. The Pontellier family returned to their home in New Orleans, Edna continues to do her role and starts to develop her painting skills. She would still get in contact with Madame Ratignole and Robert’s mother, Madame Reisz and often make a visit and read the letters from …show more content…

She moved out of their house and went to the nearby rental house. She then began to sell her painting to have money.— When Edna moved out of their house and started to sell her painting to have money, it shows that women can be independent without anyone’s help, she can stand on her own, without her husband Léonce. The novel successfully tackled the controversial topic regarding the unequal gender roles and reclaiming independence. Yet, the story has gone to the point where Edna starts to forget that she is a mother of 2 boys. 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

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She was “no longer [...] content to “feed upon opinion” when her own soul had invited her” (Chopin 103), summoning her to experience the rich and complex world that inhabited her being. However, as Edna’s ability for self-expression grows, the amount of people who can truly empathize with her gets increasingly smaller. The fact that solitude becomes a direct result of Edna’s independence is clear evidence of her awakening. Since the societal expectations of the late 1800s gave Victorian women very limited opportunities for individual expression, they preventing them from tending to their own wants and needs. For this reason, as Edna acknowledges her desire for freedom and verbalizes her emotions, she is met with disappointing resistance from the world surrounding her.

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At first it might seem Edna does not care about her children, but in reality, Edna cares about her children, even if she has to sacrifice her life. But she won’t give up herself as a person. Mr. Pontellier was angry at his wife for not doing what she is suppose to do as a wife. Edna said the her husband, “I feel like painting….Perhaps I shan’t always feel like it”(108).

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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.

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The idea of marriage is defined by the societal expectations placed on Edna as a wife, and the house symbolizes the confines of the marriage and how she feels trapped within something she never aspired to. Edna’s desire for independence and her attempts to escape from the house and her family represent her struggle to find fulfillment and happiness outside of marriage. This was the reason behind her interactions and relationship with Robert and Arobin, which was nothing more than Edna trying to fullfill that emptiness she felt in her by having an intimate relationship with the two. Though this was not her first answer to her emptiness, “She was fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way. “She would sometimes gather them passionately to her heart; she would sometimes forget them.”

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In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna seeks peace and happiness through finding where she fits among other characters and by avoiding the negative effects that people have on her by isolating herself. Edna Pontellier, a young mother in New Orleans is married to a very successful proud man, Mr. Pontellier and together they have 2 sons. As a family they go on vacations to Grand Isle, where Edna meets Robert a secret love interest, and begins to learn that her unhappiness is rooted in her responsibilities as a mother and wife. Throughout the novel, Chopin uses Edna’s reliance on other characters, such as Mr. Pontellier, and their reliance on her, to regulate her happiness. Change occurs when Edna realizes that her happiness will only come when she is separate from society, but she eventually understands that she cannot do this in the life she is living and chooses to simply stop living it.

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(5). This mindset of a woman’s duty in his mind saddens Edna and causes her to wonder what her true purpose is outside of society’s norms. When Edna discovers independence, she decides to move to a smaller house while her husband and children are away. “When Mr. Pontellier

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Edna continually questions whether or not she is destined to live a life of subordination or if she can find her own freedom. Edna Pontellier’s defiant nature is brought out

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Edna broke free from the mold of her society. She was trying to find her purpose and her worth in a world where she did not have many rights or individual stability. Edna Pontellier worked to disregard the influence and power of men and society as a whole to discover more about herself and what she really wanted out of life (Bommarito). She gave up the “unessential” such as her home, possessions, and reputation to do things for

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Her frequent vacations to the island, like her frequent dips into the ocean, begin to spark a personal change within the woman. A Creole man, Robert, shows Edna a new dimension of feelings she never knew she lived without, and she begins to look through life through a new lens. Having been awakened for the first time, she sees injustice and mistreatment where she saw none before. Chopin uses Edna’s new observations and reactions to the culture around her to illustrate the myriad ways women were marginalized. In an ironic twist, the white woman from Kentucky proves to be more liberated than her more traditional husband, who grew up

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Edna is struggling to choose a identity between a mother, wife, lover etc. She seems to not want to be subject as the possession of anybody. She focuses on independence even denying Robert of her love towards him which if she chose to stay with him, she would be associated with him and therefore labeled. She looks up to Madame Reisz as an independent woman, pursuing her passions and doing as she pleases. "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn 't give

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425 Words | 2 Pages

The Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin that follows a woman named Edna Pontellier on her journey to self-awareness. Edna lived a comfortable lifestyle with her husband and two children in Louisiana during the 19th century. Despite obtaining all aspects to a perfect life, Edna became dissatisfied after meeting Robert Lebrun in Grand Isle. Robert sparked a desire for unlawful lust as well as a yearning for independence in a society full of conformed standards. Edna was unable to handle the pressures associated with achieving personal freedom which ultimately led to her death.

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919 Words | 4 Pages

For example, when the couple returns from Grand Isle, Edna begins to act on her own and refuses to show hospitality towards her guests and it begins to exasperate Mr. Pontellier. As the novel progresses, it is evident that the relationship between Mr. Pontellier and Edna is purely superficial; it lacks sentiment and is only picture perfect for society. Because Edna is portrayed as an object of her husband, it fits the the fact that marriages in the nineteenth century viewed women as an “object of others [rather than] the free subject of their own fates”

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

Edna’s realization is that she is not a typical woman. She has specific wants and needs for herself that will be impossible to be met if she continues with the lifestyle she is currently living. She knows she can not support Leonce or their children in the ways society feels she should, so she decides mutually with Leonce to move out of the family house and live on her own… away from the kids, and away from Leonce. It is a time that she will really get to try to figure herself out. While she is away she starts experimenting sexually, not only with other men, but even with other women.

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628 Words | 3 Pages

A woman with an independent nature can be described as rebellious, passionate, and courageous. In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the reader is introduced to Edna Pontellier, a female who epitomizes the qualities of a woman with such an independent nature. Living in a “patriarchal society” that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers, Edna attempts to seek out her true identity as it becomes apparent how unsettled she feels about her life. Throughout The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, dissatisfied with her duties as a mother and wife, decides to pursue her own interests and express her true identity, resulting in an awakening and her finding the courage to make the changes she deems as necessary. Edna Pontellier had two young boys, Etienne and Raoul, who were ages four and five, respectively.

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1044 Words | 5 Pages

This novel, The Awakening, is about a woman named Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an independent human being. Also, Edna Pontellier refuses to obey against the social norms by leaving her husband Leónce Pontellier and having an affair with Robert Lebrun. Kate Chopin describes societal expectations and the battle of fitting the mold of motherhood in the Awakening by how Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle contribute to their family in different ways. Edna Pontellier’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is not a perfect mother-women. Adele Ratignolle’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is a perfect mother-women.

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