Essay On Edna Pontellier In The Awakening

In the deep abyss of Kate Chopin’s mind, Edna Pontellier was created. In Chopin’s story, The Awakening, Edna is a married mother of the late 1800s who goes through a series of events that lead up to her final decision; she had a husband who cared for her but was vigilant of her actions, children that did as they pleased because she was carefree, and friends who supported her throughout the whole ordeal by being by her side and trying to understand her standpoint on life. She has a turbulence of emotions throughout the book; she struggles with who she is, what her purpose is, and why she is the way she is.“Self-Reliance” demonstrates the turbulence Enda has found herself on through Emerson’s transcendentalist points of nature. “Self-Reliance”

“Every heart vibrates to that iron string,” (Emerson; Paragraph 2 line 7). Edna avails by this notion when she says she’s not a possession one can dispose of, “... you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not,” (Chopin; Page 102) Edna speaks about how she no longer is a possession and this shows that she trusts herself enough to take care of herself, at least for the time being. Emerson also states, “Great men... confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age,” (Emerson; Paragraph 2 line 10). Emerson mentions this because as a child, we are selfish or seen as unable to take care of ourselves as was Edna. Madame Ratignolle points out how Edna’s actions resembled one of a child’s, “‘In some way you seem to me like a child Edna. You seem to act without a certain amount of reflection,’” (Chopin; Page 91). Since it was Madame Ratignolle who sees Edna as a child, Edna does not necessarily fit into Emerson’s statement of the “Great men” but she is still seen as childish due to her incapability of taking

Another one of Emerson’s convictions is being unique and a nonconformist which is the first word used to describe Edna. She begins to reveal her unparalleled personality very early when Mr. Pontellier was worried that Raoul, their son, had symptoms of a fever and Edna simply brushed off that Raoul did not have a fever, “He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children,” (Chopin; Page 7). This quote clearly indicates how Edna is unique compared to other ladies, like Madame Ratignolle, who actually take care of their children, somewhat. After arriving back in Louisiana, Edna decided to be special on her reception day because, “‘I found their cards when I got home; I was out.’ ‘Out!’ exclaimed her husband, with something like genuine consternation in his voice,” (Chopin; Page 49). This shows that Edna is willing to reject social normalities of the late 1800s and take on nonconformist ideas. As Emerson wrote, “the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong is what is against it,” (Emerson; Paragraph 3 line 28). Nearing the end of the book, Edna sees that she could have seen the doctor, he would have helped her understand, but instead her “constitution” thought it was best to do what she is doing, thus displaying that losing herself was against her