Edna Pontellier's Self-Transformation In The Awakening

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One Woman’s Self-Transformation
Edna Pontellier’s suicide is viewed as both a willful act to overcome society’s confining expectations, and as a weak resort to escape her fears of conforming to what a Creole woman is. At the same time Brother Odd from Good reads states that “drowning oneself and leaving one's children without the guidance of their mother is a tragedy”, I disagree and say it is a triumph. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, a distant wife and mother, overcomes the oppressive nature of the Creole society through her heroic journey of self- transformation.
In her “ordinary world”, Edna Pontellier is not aware of the world she was put in and does not know how to deal with her growing situation. When Leonce, her husband, sees …show more content…

It causes Edna to sacrifice herself in order to be uncorrupted and forced to change to be a typical Creole woman. She gives out in the ocean, “exhaustion was pressing upon and overpowering her…it was too late; the shore was far behind her, and her strength was gone” (177). Edna is an example of a woman who tries to discover herself in a world where it was wrong to. 123HelpMe.com states that in the Creole society, “There was no room for free thinking women. She had two choices these being either to live her whole life in misery and hide her spirit and soul”. Edna had no choice but to sacrifice herself. She pushes her limits, and commits suicide in order to be free from the oppressive nature of her environment. The life she lived was one she knew she would not be able to fulfill her wants and needs in. Buddha believes that “to conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.” Edna needs to overcome her fear of going where no woman has gone in order to overcome society’s constraints. She finally has the courage to give herself up to break free from the chains the Creole Society has clasped onto

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