Sacrifice In The Awakening

Giving up something significant can be a trying yet telling process. The Awakening by Kate Chopin highlights the epiphanic journey of Edna Pontellier in the late 1800s. Edna’s life changes while she is in Grand Isle due to the sacrifice of the entirety of her lifestyle in exchange for youthful freedom. This sacrifice proves Edna’s character to be one of determination, passion, and strength. Edna’s sacrifice proved her to be an immensely determined person. She lived the life of a mother and a wife, caring for her kids and living surrounded by her husband’s possessions. However, as her husband went away for work she began to witness and experience more freedoms through her friends Adele and Robert. Edna then came to understand the emotions

She moved to a smaller home she called the “pigeon house” once her husband left for work and her kids left to be cared for by their grandmother. Not only is this transition a literal example of the lengths she is willing to go in order to alter her lifestyle, it also signifies the transition from a family-oriented mindset to an individualistic mindset. She was able to pursue her own free will in her relationships, develop her painting skills as she pleased, and ignore the responsibilities once laid upon her by society. Minimizing the importance of her relationship with her husband, however, caused many external and internal problems for Edna. The friends she had around her while in Grand Isle disapproved of her growing interest in men other than her husband. Though Adele did initiate conversations which exposed Edna to the idea of her true wishes, Adele was also a traditional woman. She believed in role of a wife and a mother to support their family, whereas Edna began to disregard these duties. Edna’s behavior created rifts in their relationship is Adele feared the extent of the choices she was witnessing her friend make.

As she began to uncover her deepest desires, Edna began to disregard the emotions of others. The one thing she would not give away was herself, and since the personality she aspired to maintain was composed of music, painting, sensuality, and freedom, aspects such as her husband’s and her children’s emotions must be sacrificed. Edna mocked her husband’s doubts, left her children to pursue her own life, caused worry in her closest friends such as Adele, and ignored the concerns of her desired lover when he expressed the problems behind her affair. Though never specifically painted as wrong, Edna portrayed herself as being willing to disregard anything in her way in order to achieve her end goal. Being passionate, being driven by strong beliefs and emotions, is something Edna did seamlessly as she left her previous way of life to achieve the awakening she felt she