The Importance Of The Home In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

In Kate Chopin's novel, “The Awakening”, the house on Grand Isle serves as a significant symbol. The house represents Edna’s position in society during the early 1900s and her desire to break free from the constraints of the traditional gender roles that defined her life and her independence. Throughout the novel, the house conveys different themes like love, identity, womanhood, and marriage that provide insight into Edna’s thoughts.

In the novel, the house is described as a beautiful and luxurious place. However, it quickly becomes clear that the house represents the constraints of societal expectations and the confinement of Edna’s life. For example, Chopin writes, “...melting hazily into the blue of the horizon. The sun was low in the

The idea of marriage is defined by the societal expectations placed on Edna as a wife, and the house symbolizes the confines of the marriage and how she feels trapped within something she never aspired to. Edna’s desire for independence and her attempts to escape from the house and her family represent her struggle to find fulfillment and happiness outside of marriage. This was the reason behind her interactions and relationship with Robert and Arobin, which was nothing more than Edna trying to fullfill that emptiness she felt in her by having an intimate relationship with the two. Though this was not her first answer to her emptiness, “She was fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way. “She would sometimes gather them passionately to her heart; she would sometimes forget them.” (Chopin 49) As the quote recited, her kids were the first attempt on trying to fill the void within her. She tried to love them as much as she could but at the end of the day, she realized that this was not who she was and was not what she wanted. Which is why Edna would sometimes forget that her kids even existed. Wether or not she loved and cared for her kids was an ongoing battle within her, the house was an indispensable reminder of the societal norms. The house constantly reminded her of how she had to take care of them, maintain the house, and essentially raise two children by herself. This was a battle that was over before it started, in reality, all Edna wanted was to be loved. She tried to love other people like her children at first, but how can you love someone when you have no love to give? Edna soon gave up, and went out into the world to find fulfillment and happiness something she was starved of in the