Character Analysis Of Edna Pontellier In The Awakening

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, tells the tale of a young orphan girl who is left under the jurisdiction of her dead uncle’s cruel wife and her family. Alone in the large estate and often subjugated to her aunt’s unjust punishments and her cousin’s fist, Jane becomes solitary and sensitive to the kindness of others. She awaits the liberation of adulthood to become self-sufficient and to find someone to love. Similarly, in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier grows up in a motherless household with her authoritative father and treacherous sisters. She is often considered the model of female oppression and empowerment in the late 1800s, but her “awakening” actually results from her experiences in a cold and distant family. Edna’s suppressive

Her father had “coerced his own wife into the grave” [94] and by these means, Edna never learns what a successful relationship look like. The nonexistence of her positive experiences with marriage means that she never learned to deal optimistically with minor difficulties like Leonce’s insistence of the children’s illness [7]. Her detached feeling towards her husband comes from this deficiency of an affectionate regard, but also because she cannot come to terms with being in such a formally polite relationship. Implied by her artistic nature and her pursuit of an extramarital affair, Edna holds notions of passionate love and because they are not refuted by the success of her parent’s equally loveless marriage, she believes in them. As is suggested by Edna’s disinterest at their injuries [10], her mother’s absence also encourages a laissez-faire attitude towards raising the children and lessens her obligation towards them. Her mother had placed her care in the hands of her sister and Edna similarly leaves her own kids to the quadroon. In result, she feels unrestricted to follow her

She is told by Adele, while she is in labor, to “think of the children” [146] and resolves to break off her affair with Robert for them. The magnitude and brutality of the birthing process reminds her of the strong connection she has with her sons and the duties which were painfully begotten. In realizing the impossibility of giving up what she has become, Edna hopes to save them from humiliation and embarrassment. She reflects on how they will grow up, reminiscent of her own motherless household, and the shameful reputation that will follow them. While she had these unselfish undertones, the ultimate reason for her suicide was the desire to not be possessed by anyone; she had considered the children but this final act was her defiance. Taking her mother’s lead, she decides to not run away and to face her separation through