The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, Edna Pontellier abandons the responsibility of her children with the realization that she cannot be a good mother for them in a restricted and unfulfilled position. Her feelings suggest that the capricious nature of children cause them to dehumanize their mothers, ultimately turning the role of a mother-woman into one with no freedom; it is a suppressing relationship Edna will not allow herself to be a part of. Edna’s decision to leave her family reveals that she must pursue a path of freedom in contrast to a life where she lives to fulfill only the needs of others. Knowing she cannot establish her true identity by living for her children’s happiness, Edna rebels against societal expectations and displays that one cannot define themselves solely through motherhood.

Although both the mother-woman image and that of the individual artist play significant influences on Edna’s view of life, none of them are options to Edna due to the children. Edna refuses to become a mother-woman like Adèle Ratignolle for it would mean an extremely limited life centered exclusively on the children. Mother-women “idolize their children…[and] efface themselves as individuals”, diminishing their humanity as they define themselves through the happiness of others (16). Madame Ratignolle’s entire being revolves around her children that she does not even consider her own needs. In the summertime she goes to the beach only to be “busily engaged in sewing…winter wear” (17). Madame Ratignolle finds providing material items to her children to be so crucial that she suspends social interactions with others. Before they go to the beach, she has to “beg” Edna to allow her to take a “roll of needlework” along (26). Even her die...

... middle of paper ...

... passes by so fast and never truly establishes its identity, paralleling the way Edna feels about herself.

Edna does not want to abandon her children but instead seeks to desert the mother-woman image society pressures her to take. Even though they are her children, she refuses to dedicate her life for the sole purpose of tending to their every desire while never considering her own. It is not selfish that Edna leaves them because while she accepts that “they are a part of her life” , she simply cannot allow them to believe “they should possess her, body and soul” (190). Edna’s married position—her “Fate”— is undoable, and her decision to kill herself in the end is understandable. She cannot be owned by anyone, for it would deny Edna the freedom to establish her identity.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. St. Louis: Herbert S. Stone and Co., 1899.