Societal Norms In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate chopin is a thought-provoking feminist novel that explores the complexities of female identity and the implications of limiting an entire group of people into a singular role. Edna, the novel’s protagonist, defines her place as a woman in a society where the very word itself is tied to constricting social expectations as she pushes the boundaries of societal norms.

The overarching theme of the book is Edna’s longing for freedom and search for self-identity. Throughout the novel, Edna longs to break free from the societal expectations that confine her to a predetermined role as a wife and a mother. Edna’s awakening is the realization that she is not - and has never been - truly free. This discovery leads her to question

The author writes, “She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.” (Chopin 73), showing the correlation between liberation and the water, and as she becomes more comfortable in the water, she feels more and more a sense of freedom and liberation. This newfound confidence and self-assurance marks a shift in the novel as Edna’s tone shifts as she begins to question the stifling societal norms that have constrained her. She realizes that she has been living her life according to someone else’s expectations and desires, rather than her own. This realization is the catalyst for her to start exploring her own desires and needs, leading her on a path of self-discovery and ultimately, to her end. The night she learns to swim marks the beginning of Edna’s journey towards self-awareness and

In her final act of self-determination, Edna chooses to end her life rather than return to the limited role of “wife” and “mother” that society views as contradictory with ‘human being.” Her death can be viewed as a victory over the societal forces that have opposed her throughout the novel. By choosing her death on her own terms, Edna achieves a level of freedom and autonomy that she was unable to attain in life. With the ending of the novel, Chopin comments on a society that gives women away to others, limiting their life to the choices of those around them. Chopin says through Edna that in such a society, the only life that a woman can choose is her