The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin

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The Awakening of Feminism

In the novella The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin depicts the life of a female protagonist named Edna Pontellier. Edna, a wife, a mother and socialite, refuses her societal roles impressed upon her by her husband and peers. Two key female relationships in this story act as a catalyst to Edna Pontellier’s awakening. Edna’s dramatic discovery of self defines her character throughout the novella, detailing her feministic view on the societal roles of Creole women during the late nineteen hundreds. Edna chooses individuality by expressing her artistic interests and by exploring her sexuality. This newfound individuality frees her from her societal roles as a wife and a mother while her discovery of self and rebellion against conformity made Edna Pontellier a literary icon for feminist ideals.

“Mrs. Pontellier, though she married a Creole, was not thoroughly at home in the society of Creoles” (Chopin 10). Leonce Pontellier was by Creole standards a very attentive father and loving husband. “Mr. Pontellier was a great favorite, and ladies, men, children, even nurses, were always on hand to say goodbye to him” (p 8). Early in the novella it is established that Mr. Pontellier was considered by Creole society to be an excellent husband. Even “Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew of none better” (p 9). Leonce provides a luxurious upperclass lifestyle for his wife and children. Typically in the late nineteen hundreds no woman would have the will to expect anything more. However it is more than often that Mr. Pontellier leaves his wife in solitude or in the company of others. Perhaps the moments absent of a patriarchal influence is how Edna Pontellier apprehended “the dual life - that ou...

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Conclusively, Chopin uses Edna’s relationships with Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz to contrast conformity with individuality and mindless captivity with the freedom of choice. The everyday lives of these two women enlighten Edna’s path of discovery as she awakens from the roles of wife and mother and takes control of her humanly desires inadvertently making Edna Pontellier a literary icon for feminist ideals.

Works Cited:

Chopin, Kate, and Margo Culley. The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Biographical and Historical Contexts, Criticism. Second ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.

The Metaphorical Lesbian: Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, Elizabeth LeBlanc
Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature , Vol. 15, No. 2 (Autumn, 1996) , pp. 289-307
Published by: University of Tulsa
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/464138

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