Edna Pontellier's Role In The Awakening

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“Critics called it morbid, vulgar, and disagreeable” a quote from Katechopin.org. about Kate Chopin’s book “The Awakening”. Not everyone was please with how Kate Chopin had her readers view the character Edna Pontellier in her book “The Awakening”. In the book Edna Pontellier was viewed as a lonely housewife who didn’t want to abide by the ways of the 1890s. She felt trapped in her marriage and didn’t want to be a mother to her children. Edna’s husband was oblivious to the fact that his wife felt this way he believed everything was good in his household. Edna Pontellier started to see multiple men throughout the book and the public started to talk. Soon Edna started spending all of her time with Robert, and she soon fell in love with him. Edna didn’t notice how people begin to illustrate her was a whore. In Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” the character Edna Pontellier gives the reader insight on how society viewed women in the 1890s. …show more content…

Edna live in an upscale house, had a rich husband, she threw the best parties. She had the best of everything but still wasn’t happy with her life. She felt has if she was trapped in this way of life with no way out. In Melissa Garcia’s essay “Selfish Unsatisfied Edna” she uses the text "her marriage to Léonce Pontellier was purely an accident... He fell in love...and pressed his suit with an earnestness and an ardor which left nothing to be desired. He pleased her; his absolute devotion flattered her". The texts are lines from the book that explains to the reader that Edna married her husband for selfish reasons. She married her husband [Leonce] because she knew he would secure her, she knew if she married well that she would be protected by his wealth status. She had maids to care for her children and do all the other things that normally housewives would

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