The title to Kate Chopin’s classic novel, The Awakening, is appropriate for the plot of the story. The main character, Edna Pontellier, realizes that she is not the woman she wants to be, and that society won’t accept what she truly wants from her life. One way that the title suits the story is that over the course of the novel Edna becomes awakened to her differences from other women. Most notably is Adele, who is characterized as the ideal women in the 19th century. Where Adele is beautiful, delicate, and graceful, Edna is more plain, stronger, and stiff. Edna has hopes and dreams that surpass being a child bearer and housewife, and her family doesn’t define her. Frequently, she feels uncomfortable with Adele talking about childbirth and being loving her family. Slowly, she sees that isn’t who she is and she strives to make herself happy. She focuses on her hobby of painting instead of tending to her children, which makes her seem neglectful to her peers. Chopin mentions Edna goes through manic depressive episodes showing that she is unsure if …show more content…
By choosing to be independent from her husband, she is going against the grain to society’s expectations for her. Her husband thinks she is ill when she first begins, and calls in a doctor to examine her. The doctor can’t explain what’s wrong, showing the ignorance of people during this century. Even Adele, who is a close friend, finds their conversation on the beach disconcerting and tells Robert not to flirt with her. Edna starts to see how the people around her are reacting to her actions, which gives her second thoughts about who she truly wants to be. When she moves out of Mr. Pontellier’s house, he writes to her saying that he’s having to tell everyone that they are having renovations done. To him, his reputation is more important than his wife’s happiness. In this way, Edna is also awakened to what happens when a person disrupts the natural order of