Freedom comes in the Afterlife In Kate Chopin’s, The Awakening, we are introduced to a Creole society, living in the late nineteenth century, a society in which restrictions were common and social class played an important role in being accepted and acknowledged. The novel is set in 1899, a time when women were to be concerned with managing the children and servants, while being affectionate to their husbands, anything rather than that would go against societal norms and be thought of as being “unbalanced mentally” (Chopin, 62). Our protagonist, Edna Pontellier, was an odd individual when it came to fitting in, which leads us to realize that she was not your typical Victorian woman, but rather a self-fulfilling woman, trying to break free from the patriarchal oppression in the society, to become free spirited, which eventually led to her demise. Kate Chopin published The Awakening in 1899, and caused an out roar in the literary critics, who gave her novel many negative comments. It wasn’t until after thirty years later that her work resurfaced and began to get the recognition it deserved. In the time the novel was written, divorce was not allowed, much less having an affair outside of the marriage and neglecting of womanly …show more content…
The time spent in Grand Isle gives Edna’s life a turn around, in which she no longer follows that tradition role that is expected of her, but rebels and does as she pleases, even though society might not approve and begin to “talk”. Edna does not want to be a stereotypical woman, who looks after her husband and children, she wants to explore her artistic abilities and break free from all her ties of the traditional woman. Her going to the sea and learning to swim, serves as a foreshadow to what her future enfolds, as it is a representation of her letting go and managing on her own