Edna Pontellier By Society example essay topic

Edna's Struggle and Awakenings Kate Chopin by the means of creations like The Awakening is trying to make the female in society think about her condition and also push the feminism movement. Her depiction of The Awakening is realistic as she develops Edna Pontellier's character from a socially and morally respectable individual to an individual that turns her back on everything that was certain in her life to become independent. She struggles between her subconscious and conscious thoughts as unusual feelings stir unfounded emotions and senses. Chopin portrays Edna as a character who is struggling against the society throughout the story and is also going through series of 'Awakenings. ' The constant boundaries and restrictions placed on Edna Pontellier by society will initiate her struggle for freedom. Her husband Leonce Pontellier, the current women of society, and Grand Isle make it evident that Edna is trapped in a patriarchal society.

Edna is a young Creole wife and mother in a high-class society. The novel unfolds the life of a woman who feels dissatisfied and restrained by the expectations of society. Leonce Pontellier, her husband is declared. ".. the best husband in the world" and she is forced to admit that she knew of none better (Chopin 472). 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 explain the way her husband never really saw Edna as his wife. Leonce addresses Edna when she is getting back from the beach, "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 469).

Here, he views his wife as an object, and she receives the same respect as a possession or a thing. These reasons lead her to struggle for her freedom and she turns to the sea, Robert and Madame Reisz to seek this freedom. Along with struggling for freedom Chopin reveals Edna as a character struggling to maintain the social norms. She did not respect her husband like other wives in Grand Isle. She tells Leonce, .".., go to bed...

I mean to stay out here. I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to. Don't speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you" (Chopin 492). If this were some other husband asking his wife to come in, the wife would have just walked in and would have obeyed their husband. Being a part of the patriarchal society the women in Grand Isle had to do as they were asked to by their husband. This kind of a society gave the men power over the women.

Edna also fails to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother. The narrator describes, "If one of the little Pontellier boys took a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt to rush crying to his mother's arms for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, ... ". (Chopin 473). This indicated that the young Pontellier were not as dependent on their mother, Edna as the other children in Grand Isle. Edna and the kids had become distant from each other and she feels a sense of relief when the children go to visit their grandmother.

Edna's mind is at rest concerning the present material needs of her children. She is also often criticized by Leonce for neglecting the children. In fact the narrator tells us that, "He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children" (Chopin 471). Due to the distance from Edna, the children grow more close to their father even though Leonce is gone half the time.

As the story progressed Edna, the central character of the story goes through a series of awakenings. As Edna awakens to this new self she becomes self absorbed and chooses her satisfaction over her family. Her marriage to Leonce was not a love marriage, but more of a convenience. Edna wasn't in love with Leonce, but rather embraced the idea of defying her family. The narrator states, "Add to this violent opposition of her father and sister Margaret to her marriage with a Catholic, there is no need to search for the motive which led her to accept Leonce as her husband" (Chopin 481).

As time goes by she realizes that she doesn't really love him and that their marriage is not intimate. She also realizes that she is not made to fulfill motherly duties with time. The narrator says, "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman. The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle.

It was easy to know them... They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels" (Chopin 473). She does not feel like the other Creole mothers towards her own children. She sees them as an obstacle for her independence. The narrator tells, "The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days" (Chopin 558). She does see herself being committed to her children or feel responsible for them in any ways a mother should.

During her quest for freedom she falls in love with Robert, and he brings new emotions and self-awareness in her life. She is bold enough to have an affair with him, but later on she realizes that things are going to be the same with Robert and her self as it use to be Leonce. She tells Robert, "If he were to say, 'Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both" (Chopin 552). Towards the end of the story she realizes that she never will be able to live a free life with a guy. She tells herself over and over, "To-day it is A robin; to-morrow it will be someone else. It makes no difference to me, it doesn't matter about Leonce Pontellier - but Raoul and Etienne!" (Chopin 557).

She does not want to lose her independence and therefore she goes to the ocean and drowns herself, so she can be free for ever. Throughout the novel, "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, Edna seeks independence from society. Her series of awakenings are mostly about achieving the freedom she desires. The sea, Robert Lebrun, and Mademoiselle Reisz are her passage for her freedom. In the end, this courageous central character turned to death for her freedom.

Edna cannot have anything she desires in this world, and therefore removed herself from it in the final 'Awakening' of her soul.