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Edna Pontellier's Suicide In The Awakening

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Kate Chopin'sThe Awakening ends with Edna Pontellier's suicide after a long period of self-realization. This self-realization leads her to the conclusion that the life she knew does not fit her mindset any more. Edna also realizes that society's expectations of her does not fit her new mindset. Rather than spending the rest of her life in a loveless marriage, and sacrificing herself for motherhood, she takes the time to explore her true emotions, but the only way for her to figure out her true emotions is by leaving behind her duties as a mother and a wife; by having a love affair, and by removing herself physically and mentally from the picture. Edna had said over and over to herself: “To-day it is Arobin; to-morrow it will be some one else. …show more content…

As we learn more about Edna's inner conflicts, we realize that perhaps there is no other solution for her, but death. The reason for this is simple ‘’life no longer fits her’’. She has experienced the emotions that she has always been curious about, yet, the emptiness thatshe is feeling in her life has carved a hole so deep that nothing can really save it or her. Edna was severly depressed and she wanted help but she didn’t know where to start and we realize that there is no solution for her anymore. This quote shows Edna’s depression ‘’Despondency had come upon her and had never lifted. There was no one thing in the world that she desired. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert; and she even realized that the day would come when he, too, and the thought of him would melt out of her existence, leaving her

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The Awakening is a book written by Kate Chopin and it is quite a journey. Being just over a hundred pages in length, this novel gives an adequate picture of the protagonist Edna Pontellier, who consistently challenges the roles that society has placed on her. In her own words, she says “I would give my life for my children, but I wouldn’t give myself ” (45). This not only foreshadows her ultimate fate, but it also shows the readers that Edna is not willing to suppress her passions and desires for anybody. It appears that Chopin is making the argument in her book that Edna’s form of resistance, while admirable, comes at a price.

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Edna is not happy nor satisfied with her marriage. She tries to find a solution to all her problems; but seeing that she could not, she decided to end her life to finally obtain her own freedom. In Story of an Hour and Excerpts from the Awakening, by Kate Chopin, it is clear that when you shove your feelings down and do not face them problems get bigger. Chopin uses inner thinking to show this in Story of an Hour, while she uses character action in Excerpts from the Awakening.

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In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna Pontellier, makes the decision to become a completely independent by straying away from the restraints placed onto her by her husband, children and society. In the end of the novel, the audience is left to determine why Edna decides to commit suicide. The predominant reason Chopin reveals throughout the novel is the idea that suicide is a way for Edna to escape the confined life she was living and truly become the free woman she is dreaming of becoming. Since Edna lived during a time during women were oppressed in every way possible, Edna’s search for freedom is limited.

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While this is a huge action and shows that the family woman inside her is still alive despite Edna’s best efforts to crush that part of herself , she still feels disconnected from the other mothers and “her own like experiences seemed far away, unreal” [110]. While part of her is still a mother a she is also now an outsider, and it bothers her. The never-ending conflict is best seen in Edna’s final thoughts. As she drowns herself, she thinks of both her family and Reisz. She feels that she doesn’t “possess the courageous soul that dares and defies” because she couldn’t choose Robert over her

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