“Edna felt that her marriage would anchor her to the conventional standards of society and end her infatuation” (Skaggs 30). She is fond of Leonce, but he does not incite passionate feelings. Edna represents women in the past that were suppressed. These women weren't allowed to give their opinions and were often seen as objects, which explains the way her husband never really saw Edna as his wife, but more as a material possession. “You are burnt beyond recognition, he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered great damage” (Chopin 2).
I can't make it more clear; it's only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me….but a woman who would give her life for her children could do no more than that” (Chopin.64). Both Edna and Adele have contrasting ideas about motherhood. Since Adele’s personality causes no cognitive dissonance she has no idea what Edna means when she says she would not give up herself. But while Adele pitys Edna , Edna is also pitying Adele. Because even though Adele is happy and free of anguish Edna is experiencing she lives in this colorless existence unknowingly following a path society said she must.
The longer she stayed in her marriage, the more she realizes that the passion she needed was not there with her husband, nor was the motherly affection she should have felt for her children. Lost in mixed emotion and longing to be free, Edna’s actions not only affect her husband life but also the future of her children. Even though Edna is selfish, in the end she realizes everything she has done will harm her two boys. She is not strong enough to be free without the love of Robert Lebrun and in the end decides she will not go back to the gilded cage of the life she led before. In the thoughts of her children and the life she is not strong enough to keep, she returns to the sea.
Creon decides Antigone’s fate for her when he sends her to her death. However, Antigone bravely states to Creon, “I knew that I must die–how could I not? / even without your edict. If I die / before my time, I say it is a gain” (460-462). This statement truly exemplifies Antigone’s recognition of her fate due to her actions.
Kate wrote with a sense of realism and naturalism and she created a voice that is unique and unmatched. The voice gave a view of the female role in society and contributed to the beginning of the later feminist movements. In 1915, Fred Lewis Pattee wrote, "some of Chopin's work is equal to the best that has been produced in France or even in America. She displayed what may be described as a native aptitude for narration amounting almost to genius" (qtd. in Amazon.com “About the Author”).
In The Awakening by Kate Chopin the main character Edna Pontellier married her husband and moved to New Orleans just as Kate did with Oscar. Edna and Leonce would vacation on Grand Isle during the summer, which was a very familiar place to Chopin seeing as she would also go there with her family for their little vacations. Edna was not a very good mother and did not pay much attention to her children, she was always out of the house and giving her responsibilities to the nurse. Unlike Edna Adele Ratignolle, one of her friends, was “... the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. If her husband did not adore her, he was a brute, deserving of death by slow torture.” (?)
In fact, the poem was written about Byron's cousin, Anne Wilmot, who was dressed in a black mourning gown brightened with spangles. (Norton 556) This fact lends support to understanding the orig... ... middle of paper ... ...an implies that these attributes have created a perfect balance within her. The use of the opposites darkness and light has helped to create this balance. The language, rhythm, and the use of human characteristics have proved that external and internal beauty can be viewed on the same scale, as well as darkness and light. Works Cited George Gordon, Lord Byron.
(http://www.bl.uk) It is therefore fair to suggest that Blake was an early romantic poet and incorporated some of the themes seen in Romantic poetry into his own work. For the purpose of this essay the following themes will be used, natural instinct, visionary, morality, mysticism and childhood. Where possible, comparisons will be made to other Romantic poets who explored these themes
The typical women “were women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels” (Chopin). Edna was unlike these women because she did not idolize or worship anyone. She was willing to do many things for her children but she plainly stated that she would never give up who she was for her children. She would die for her children but never give up her identity, personality, and beliefs. Edna was also never described as a beautiful woman, “she was rather handsome than beautiful” (Chopin).
Oparajita Orthi ALC 29 January 2018 In the novel, The Awakening, author Kate Chopin portrays Edna’s dispute with society. Chopin coveys the attitudes of society toward women through the characters in the story, using Leonce and Madame Ratignolle as an example of what is considered adequate. Edna is on a transcendental journey of self-discovery and finding out what it means to be a woman. Throughout the novel, Edna undergoes a transformation, she wants a life full of passion and love which cannot be achieved if she is confined by her children and husband. Edna’s process of awakening begins at the sea after her baptismal swim in the ocean, she is reborn and begins to deny being identified just as a “mother-woman”.