To give up means to lose interest in something or to unwillingly show your inability to complete something. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna’s suicide in the final chapter of the book is a display of a final awakening, the only choice she had to completely defy society and have complete control over herself. Chopin displays Edna’s death as a show of strength. Through this, Chopin exemplifies the trappings of the societal expectations of women. Throughout the novel Edna defies society showing her strength and dedication towards her awakening. Edna experiences an awakening that completely changes her as a person and her view of society. Edna becomes a different person, as a result of her awakening, with a changed view of …show more content…
This quote displays Edna defying societal norms and acting childish. In the society of the time women are expected to be very mature and obedient towards their husbands; this was not Edna. The display of Edna becoming mad at her husband and breaking a vase shows Edna putting in strength and effort to freely express her emotions to contribute to her awakening. In addition, Edna defying the societal norms shows her intentions of becoming more independent, as most women in society were not. Some may assume that Edna commits suicide as a failure to defy society, however through an allusion made by Chopin Edna is displayed clearly defying society by becoming an independent woman. We see the allusion to Edna’s independence when Chopin asserts, “Then Edna sat in the library after dinner and read Emerson until she grew sleepy” (Chopin 122). Chopin inserts an allusion to the author Emerson who was the champion of individualism and who wrote books about defying societal norms. This contributes to the argument that Edna’s suicide was to show strength and a final awakening because through this