The Awakening Self Discovery

The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, tells the story of one woman’s path to finding self-discovery. Edna Pontellier, the lady, who transforms herself from an obedient housewife to a person who is alive with strength of character and emotions which she no longer has to repress. How an individual’s true nature could conflict with societal expectations is revealed. It deals with the day-to-day realities that a woman may face if she chooses to pursue her own needs and desires that do not fit with what society expects. To remain true to one’s conviction a woman must have relentless strength and courage. This metamorphosis is shaped by her surroundings. Just as her behavior is more shocking and horrifying because of her position in society, it is that very position which causes her to feel restrained and makes her yearn to rebel. Yet, this story shows how the good and bad that comes along with choosing to live outside of society norms. Another point that Chopin makes is how devalued a husband can make a wife feel. This treatment could lead to a woman finding and pursuing different desires that she would not have otherwise pursued. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin’s main character, Edna Pontellier is “awakened” to a desire to live a life free of the accountability of her existing life as a wife, mother, and a homemaker in order to be the independent woman that realizes she wants to be. She awakens first to a discontentment in her life, then to a mental awakening, to the passion of music and art, to the pleasure of her own body, and finally, to boundaries that she no longer wishes uphold. For Edna that was a life of solitude, which was unbearable for her to accept. Chopin reveals how a person can gradually become affected by her enviro...

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...lfill her newly awakened self. Edna finds suicide as the only option to pursue when she see that living in her world is purposeless and maintain her newfound identity is impossible. Within Edna was the desire that is within nearly every human being, the desire to be born free, to have live their own life, to, quite simply, embrace the value of independence. Edna drowning herself and not killing herself, draws a symbolism of the water as a representation of realizing freedom. Her suicide was meant to be a demonstration of her finally realizing that she couldn’t controlled by societal roles and expectations. Also, the symbolism of the bird offers a slightly different alternative; as a bird with a broken wing, Edna is a victim of fate and her society. Edna’s wings are not strong enough to overcome gravity; she weighted down by the forces that society imposes on her.