Edna Pontellier's Suicide In The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s novel “The Awakening,” Edna Pontellier’s suicide is a complex and piteous act that serves as a final awakening for her character. Throughout the novel, Edna is on a journey toward self-discovery and liberation. She struggles with societal expectations, the limitations of being a woman, as well as her own desires for freedom that evolve from the introduction of her character to her eventual suicide. Edna Pontellier’s suicide was her way of putting herself and what she desired over that of the environment around her. She chooses to assert her independence and autonomy through her final act of self-discovery. Edna Pontellier’s decision to end her life by drowning herself in the sea serves as her final act of liberation and defiance

She feels trapped within the confines of her role as mother, wife, and caretaker of the house. Edna yearns for a deeper connection with herself and the world, wanting to break free from the societal expectations that have been placed on her. As Edna reflects “I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give my life to my children, but I wouldn’t give myself” (Chopin 54). This sentiment highlights Edna’s dedication to herself and maintaining her own identity. She explains that above all else, the connection she has with herself is the most important thing in the world, and it is something that she is greatly struggling with. She further expresses these feelings of confinement saying “The years that are gone seem like dreams-if one might go on sleeping and dreaming – but wake up to find – oh!well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life” (Chopin 86). Edna Pontellier is trapped in the confines of being a wife and mother in America’s 1920s, and her final dance with the sea was her way of breaking out of it. Edna’s relationship with the sea serves as a powerful symbol throughout Chopin’s