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In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, Edna was truly awakened from her state of constant conformity that had been embedded into her mind as being the write way of living since she was young, because of the social standards that were in place at that time. Edna Pontellier was born in Kentucky on a farm and was raised with very reserved and conservative values, as most young women were in the nineteenth century. She was taught from an early age that her future was predestined for her, she was to grow up and become a mother. This became a reality when she married Leonce Pontellier and moved to New Orleans with her new husband. She soon was the mother of two boys; only she never truly felt her role as a mother was right for her. She observed …show more content…
The Creole’s were a very touchy and unreserved group. They would always say what was on their mind, never caring whether what they said was polite or not, and they were constantly joking and playing with one another. It was all n friendly banter, but to Edna it was something she had never experienced back in Kentucky, and even after living around t for years it still shocked her at times. One summer, while vacationing at Grand Isle, she became very close friends with Adele Ratignolle. She had never had a girlfriend before, and she slowly began to adopt the Creole habit of speaking ones mind. The problem arose when Edna didn’t know when to stop, and shared things with Adele about her relationship and feelings about a young boy on the Isle, Robert, which were taken too far. This openness about expressing feelings is what allowed Edna to come to the conclusion she was not truly happy obeying her husband’s orders and doing what he said all the time. She enjoyed the fun of Robert, and remembered how before she was married she would develop deep infatuations with men whom she would never be allowed to have relationships with. This was exactly the case with …show more content…
After she returned with Leonce form vacation she never truly returned to reality and her duties as a wife and mother. She abandoned her duties as woman of the house, and when Leonce moved to New York for a few months she began seeing another man, Alcee Arobin. In a way Arobin was her way to live out her fantasy of her and Robert’s relationship, because Robert had moved to Mexico that summer and she no longer had his companionship. At the same time Leonce left for New York, the children were also taken to their grandparents indefinitely. Edna had no responsibilities and carried out her life as if she were a single woman. She moved into her own little house around the corner from the mansion her family lived in. She spent her days walking around town, painting, or visiting friends. She even kissed two men while her family was away (Robert and Arobin). She felt quiet satisfied with this new life of hers, and felt this is where she was supposed to be, not tied down by a family and children whom she did not even fully care
Her transformation and journey to self-discovery truly begins on the family’s annual summer stay at Grand Isle. “At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life- that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions. That summer at Grand Isle she began to loosen a little of the mantle of reserve that had always enveloped her” (Chopin 26). From that point onward, Edna gains a deeper sense of desire for self-awareness and the benefits that come from such an odyssey. She suddenly feels trapped in her marriage, without being in a passionately romantic relationship, but rather a contractual marriage. Edna questions her ongoing relationship with Leonce; she ponders what the underlying cause of her marriage was to begin with; a forbidden romance, an act of rebellion against her father, or a genuine attraction of love and not lust? While Edna internally questions, she begins to entertain thoughts of other men in her life, eventually leading to sensuous feelings and thoughts related to sexual fantasy imagined through a relationship with Robert Lebrun. Concurrently, Edna wavers the ideas so clearly expected by the society- she analyzes and examines; why must women assimilate to rigid societal standards while men have no such
She desperately wanted a voice and independence. Edna’s realization of her situation occurred progressively. It was a journey in which she slowly discovered what she was lacking emotionally. Edna’s first major disappointment in the novel was after her husband, Leonce Pontellier, lashed out at her and criticized her as a mother after she insisted her child was not sick. This sparked a realization in Edna that made here realize she was unhappy with her marriage. This was a triggering event in her self discovery. This event sparked a change in her behavior. She began disobeying her husband and she began interacting inappropriately with for a married woman. Edna increasingly flirted with Robert LeBrun and almost instantly became attracted to him. These feelings only grew with each interaction. Moreover, when it was revealed to Edna that Robert would be leaving for Mexico she was deeply hurt not only because he didn’t tell her, but she was also losing his company. Although Edna’s and Robert’s relationship may have only appeared as friendship to others, they both secretly desired a romantic relationship. Edna was not sure why she was feeling the way she was “She could only realize that she herself-her present self-was in some way different from the other self. That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored
Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” is wrought with symbolism, foreshadowing and careful diction choices. Many of the passages throughout the novel embody Edna’s awakening sense of self-reliance, independence and sexuality. These are sy...
In Creole society, women are dominated by men, but at least the freer attitude toward sexuality allows a woman opportunities for romance which are lacking in Anglo-Saxon culture. But sexual freedom is of little interest to Edna unless it can be used as a means of asserting her overall freedom as a human being. Learning to swim is thus important to her, because it allows her to have more control over the circumstances of her own life through the overcoming of the dread of water and the fear of death which it symbolizes. Again, the process through which Edna attains liberation and, in the author's words, begins to "do as she likes and to feel as she likes," is a gradual one. From stat...
She does not want to feel tied down to a husband and children. She gradually becomes more and more distanced from being a wife and mother. She begins spending time with Robert Lebrun which begins as just a friendship with no strings attached but continually escalates. Although Robert chooses a different woman to flirt with each year at Grand Isle, and it never escalates to a full on relationship, Robert and Edna do begin to have true feelings for each other. When the summer ends and the Pontellier family returns to their home in New Orleans, Edna gives up on the callers and often just leaves the home to explore without leaving an excuse. She changes so drastically that Leonce even asks Doctor Mandelet to check her out because he thinks she has lost her mind. Doctor Mandelet presumes she has joined a women’s movement but he also speculates she may be having an affair. He does not mention the affair because he feels a true Creole man would have a better, stronger hold on his woman. Eventually, when Leonce is absent on business, Edna becomes fed up with living in a lavish home that she did not provide for herself that she decides to move out. She no longer wants to remain dependent on Leonce’s money and wants to provide for herself. Upon moving out of her house and leaving her family, she begins to spend more time with Alcee Arobin and Robert Lebrun. She has always felt feelings for Robert, but even when
Kate Chopin's novella The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman who throughout the novella tries to find herself. Edna begins the story in the role of the typical mother-woman distinctive of Creole society but as the novelette furthers so does the distance she puts between herself and society. Edna's search for independence and a way to stray from society's rules and ways of life is depicted through symbolism with birds, clothing, and Edna's process of learning to swim.
Ranging from caged parrots to the meadow in Kentucky, symbols and settings in The Awakening are prominent and provide a deeper meaning than the text does alone. Throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin, symbols and setting recur representing Edna’s current progress in her awakening. The reader can interpret these and see a timeline of Edna’s changes and turmoil as she undergoes her changes and awakening.
During the late nineteenth century, the time of protagonist Edna Pontellier, a woman's place in society was confined to worshipping her children and submitting to her husband. Kate Chopin's novel, The Awakening, encompasses the frustrations and the triumphs in a woman's life as she attempts to cope with these strict cultural demands. Defying the stereotype of a "mother-woman," Edna battles the pressures of 1899 that command her to be a subdued and devoted housewife. Although Edna's ultimate suicide is a waste of her struggles against an oppressive society, The Awakening supports and encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain sexual freedom, financial independence, and individual identity.
Unfortunately Edna has no clue that she is being treated so poorly in the beginning of this story. With Mr. Pontellier being absent from home so often she finds plenty of time to spend with Robert. Through the whole summer she does not realize the feelings she is developing for Robert and only sees him as a friend. She enjoys spending all of her free time with him and gets along with him much better than her husband. It is not until she is back home and Robert leaves for Mexico that she starts to "awaken" and realize her true feelings not just for Robert but also for life in general.
Edna 's depressive episodes and mood swings continue to inhibit her from living a full, happy life. Her lack of relationships during her childhood due to her depression inhibits her ability to form healthy relationships as an adult. Her depression also causes her to cling to people who do form relationships with her; such as people who she sees as role models, like Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle. Her depression also causes her to do strange things, such as in Chapter 6 when she sleeps outside on a hammock, refusing help from both Leonce and Robert. Edna 's depression also causes her to give up her responsibilities. While she is depressed and that is understandable, abandoning your children is simply unacceptable. Leonce, however, did not try to help her with her depression. When Edna does abandon her children, Leonce should have realized that there is something definitely wrong with Edna. However, he chooses to ignore her symptoms, allowing Edna to become more depressed and begin on her downward
Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is followed by the audience through her voyage of self-realization. As Edna’s journey unfolds, Chopin incorporates a vast variety of symbols in order to express Edna’s relationship with society. One of the most present symbols that Chopin uses is the way she addresses Edna’s clothing or its absence. As Edna’s character develops and her desire to liberate herself swells, she removes clothing that she feels are not only constricting to her body physically but to her soul emotionally. While Edna removes her clothing throughout the novel, she is contravening the social norms and rules that the society she lives in has presented to her. This is one of many ways that Edna
Kate Chopin's The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother living in the upper crust of New Orleans in the 1890s. It depicts her journey as her standing shifts from one of entrapment to one of empowerment. As the story begins, Edna is blessed with wealth and the pleasure of an affluent lifestyle. She is a woman of leisure, excepting only in social obligations. This endowment, however, is hindered greatly by her gender.
In the novella The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the main character Edna Pontellier “becomes profoundly alienated from traditional roles required by family, country, church, or other social institutions and is unable to reconcile the desire for connection with others with the need for self-expression” (Bogard). The novella takes place in the South during the 1800’s when societal views and appearances meant everything. There were numerous rules and expectations that must be upheld by both men and women, and for independent, stubborn, and curious women such as Edna, this made life challenging. Edna expressed thoughts and goals far beyond her time that made her question her role in life and struggle to identify herself, which caused her to break societal conventions, damage her relationships, and ultimately lose everything.
Her memory of running away from her Father and church when she was a young girl living in Kentucky shows how desperate she is to be free. However, Edna gives up her hopes of freedom for marriage in the hopes that all will fall into place afterwards. Edna’s expectation that marriage and children is proven false when she still is not happy with her life afterwards. She feels that life is worthless and that there should be more to what she is. Edna is not like the other creole mothers; she holds an affection for her children, but it comes and goes. Occasionally she will hold them fiercely to her chest and yet others she will forget them. Her husband disapproves of her lack of maternal instinct and rebukes her when he discovers one of their children, Raoul, sick in his bed. Edna is not alarmed by it, but his harsh words make her burst into tears on the front porch, after he has fallen asleep. Mr. Pontellier does not care about his wife much as a person, only as something he owns. He views everything this way, new lace curtains, glassware, furniture. He is disappointed in his wife because, in his view, she does not function well as a mother. Edna’s lack of
Edna Pontellier was a woman who was forced to comply with the rules of Creole society, but, in being reluctant to do so, found herself in a world where she felt trapped. She saw how women were supposed to behave but did not have that behavior instilled in herself. She felt confined by her husband's expectations, and did not want to live out the typical role of wife and mother.