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External Expectations In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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As people grow old they tend to realize the mistakes they have made in life and try to make up for them. These realizations are mostly internal; however, there could be some external manifestations. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin shows how Edna has a realization that having a family is not what she wanted in life. Chopin is able to create a feeling of suspense and excitement through this event by illustrating Edna’s inner thoughts, including her past, the way she starts to act towards others and demonstrating the steps she takes towards freeing herself up. A reflection of Edna's past is described in the novel in order to represent how she wants to go back to her old self. When Edna is going to the beach with Madame Ratignolle, she starts getting lost in her thoughts about the time she “was running away from prayers” and how she was a “little unthinking child in those days” (20). The fact that Edna was thinking about her past, gives the story a sense of suspense because she is thinking about the time when she was free to do anything and she had no …show more content…

She tells Madame Ratignolle, “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear; it's only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me” (52). This lets the readers know that Edna is starting to acknowledge that she cannot dedicate all of her time to her children and that she's not willing to sacrifice herself for them. This action displays how Edna's attitude towards others around her is changing and how she does not want to have the responsibility of taking care of her family because it would mean that she has to dedicate her time and space to them which would mean that she would be giving herself up for the sake of the

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family and from pursuing her own interests. Unhappy with her conditions, Edna rebels against them, however this results in her not being accepted in society. Thus, Edna deliberately sacrifices her freedom in a way which Edna’s value of free nonconformity. The sacrifice goes hand-in-hand with the meaning of the work as a whole that there is no place in society for those who do not conform to its expectations. A misogynistic and sexist time, the Victorian Era envisage and encloses women into a certain image that they are meant to be devoted, subordinate and more-or-less obsessed with their husband and family.

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825 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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During the conversation, Edna quotes, “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn 't give myself.” This means that she wants to balance independence and caring for her children and that she would not sacrifice the essential part of her for them but rather give up the unessential such as sensitivity that mother woman have. Madame Ratignolle does not understand Edna’s view and responds with “I don’t know what you would call the essential, or what you mean by the unessential but a woman who would give her life for her children could do not more than that”. Madame Ratignolle is unable to understand because she has not had an awakening as Edna has had and therefore the polar opposite values are shown between the two ideas. The response from Madame Ratignolle also shows the divide between Edna and the society during the 19th century.

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467 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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Mrs. Pontellier is woman who married her husband, not because of true love, but to become part of a society known as Creoles. She becomes tired of him and the rules she has to follow as a woman. The way she goes off to live independently and separates her life from that of her children’s symbolizes her independence. Her paintings and her love for art are also symbols for her desire to be independent. She believed women should be able to express themselves freely and not be bound to the limitations or expectations that society has set for them.

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She loved just sitting on the beach with her face “turned toward the sea” (18) not saying anything out loud for she knew the sea did not have to hear her voice to understand. No place was calmer or more pleasing to Edna then the beach. This quiet friend freed Edna from the social pressures and gave her “some power of significant import” (27). She loved the freedom and support the sea provided her. Mrs. Edna Pontellier ventured out beyond “where any woman ever swum before” (27).

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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.

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Often times when a person is forced to outwardly conform while questioning themselves it leads to a struggle between their inner selves and what is expected of them. Outward conformity often oppresses a character’s true feelings of loneliness and being misunderstood. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, leads a dissatisfactory life. She is stuck in a loveless marriage, and has children, all in an attempt to conform to the social norm of the Victorian woman. However, she inwardly questions whether or not she should try to break free from this life to find her own independence and happiness.

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No multitude of words could have been more significant than these moments of silence , or more pregnant with the first felt throbbing of desire” (Pg. 30) the sexual impulses that had once died down first became awakened at this point of the novel. Edna Pontellier resurrected the optimistic view of lovemaking once more, but is usually never cognizant of the actions she commits. Ednas sexual awakening is split into two parts, emotionally and physically. Edna Pontelliers emotional sexual awakening is brought to life by the hands of Robert. When Robert leaves her the first time, she is upset, unable to believe he left so abruptly, and without saying goodbye.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

In nearly every person's life, there is an ongoing struggle between the satisfaction of fulfilling one's requirements set by society and the burning desire to live a life independent of restrictions, obstacles, and confinements. While many claim for this to be a temporary struggle, one that is attached to a specific stage of life, specifically adolescence, that is not the case. This internal struggle is one that begins in the early stages of childhood and can extend into adulthood. However, for some, especially in more restrictive societies, this struggle may not even commence until adulthood. In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, many argue that Mrs. Pontellier's suicide is symbolic of her urge to break free of societal norms and her failure to

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499 Words | 2 Pages

In “The Awakening,” Kate Chopin introduces many complex characters, one of which is Edna. Edna commits adultery, but throughout the work, the reader reacts sympathetically towards her, because they begin to understand that this is the only control she has over her own life. Set in 1899, “The Awakening” acknowledges the expectations of a wife and mother through the character of Edna Pontellier. Women of this time were generally tasked with the responsibility of taking care of children and the house. Readers first see this expectation in an exchange between Edna and her husband, Leonce, in the beginning of the book, where Leonce tells Edna that she “habitually neglects” her children, saying that “if it was not a mother’s place to look after the children, whose on earth was it?”

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She has thought of her consideration for her children, who appear before her like “antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days” (Chopin 155). Not only is Edna not willing to sacrifice her lust over her own children, but she is also not prepared to sacrifice herself. When speaking to Madame Ratignolle, she explains that while she is willing to give up the unessential for her children, such as money, she is not willing to give up herself. Motherhood requires a commitment to give up certain elements in favor of the children. Edna’s choice to prioritize herself over her own sons represents her selfishness as a mother.

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1315 Words | 6 Pages

In the late 1800s, nearly all women were viewed as subservient, inferior, second class females that lived their lives in a patriarchal and chauvinist society. Women often had no voice, identity, or independence during that time period. Moreover, women dealt with the horrors of social norms and the gender opposition of societal norms. The primary focus and obligation for a woman to obtain during the 1800s was to serve her husband and to obey to anything he said. Since women were not getting the equality, freedom, or independence that they desired, Kate Chopin, an independent-minded female American novelist of the late 1800s expressed the horrors, oppressions, sadness, and oppositions that women of that time period went through.

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Edna sets personhood limits on how much she would give up for her children through a recalled conversation with Adele where Edna spoke her views on motherhood: “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself” (47). Her statement is revealing because Edna goes against what society says a woman is supposed to feel towards her children. She would give up superficial things like money, or a even a vital thing - her life - for her children. However, Edna states her unwillingness to become a ministering angel where to reach divine status she would have to erase her personhood, who she is as an individual. Edna will not give up her self for anything.

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As described in "Ways of Reading", narrative content is “a collection of represented events, along with the participants in those events and the circumstances of those events.” (Ways of Reading 260) and narrative form is “the way in which those events are represented through a particular narrative medium” (Ways of Reading 260). In other words narrative content is the events that happen throughout a story and narrative form is the way we are shown these events throughout the story. There is often a tension between narrative content and narrative form. The difference between the narrative content and narrative form includes differences in narrative order, narrative pace and narrative coherence.

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