Comparing Edna Pontellier's Journey And The Awakening

Initially, Edna is characterized as independent as she is following the Victorian orders for women which was to move aside her personality and care for her children and husband. At this point Edna has realized that her husband is weighing her down and she tries to find herself by separating herself from her family and home. She finds that she loves Robert after her “awakening” whilst he seems to acknowledge that he is trespassing a line between what he thinks is right and leaves Edna alone to face her awakening. Another theme represented in the book has to do with class and society. Was Edna going on a suicide swim or was it an accident due to the way society has made her believe things should be during this specific era and considering that Leonce was a well known man who traveled immensely and solely depended on Edna to fill her role while he was

This search for independence is interesting because I believe that it is something that I can relate to, even in this day and age. In The House of Mirth, Lily struggles with whether or not she should get married like all the other women that she knows, or if she should just accept the fact that she will not have a husband. Both Wharton and Chopin’s stories use similar themes and ideas in order to show that regardless of whether women were trying to find themselves or save themselves, things were different for them simply because they were females. In both The Awakening and The House of Mirth, the theme of “Freedom vs Slavery” is used to show that life was undoubtedly different for men and women. In The Awakening, the theme of freedom vs slavery is shown because throughout the novel it addresses that women are nothing without their men and that it is impossible for a woman to do anything better than a man.

When Edna Pontellier of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening realized that she was not satisfied with the life that she was leading, she began to gradually break free from the societal restrictions placed upon her. She seeks freedom from her role as a wife, first distancing herself from Mr.Pontellier by engaging in relationships with other men, then distancing herself further when she purchases her own house. During her pursuit for a new life, a wave of emotions that had previously gone dormant are revived. She finds herself increasingly attached to her new life: her paintings, her pigeon house, and her love for Robert. As the novella proceeds, Edna’s feelings for Robert intensify, and his final rejection of her leaves her heartbroken.

I must think about it" (27.4). Edna fully understands that society would brand her as a terrible woman, but she does not view herself as a bad person. There is an external and internal difference that Edna hopes to one day reconcile. Chopin, instead of creating tension within Edna, created tension within the society and Edna with her newfound independence does not mind how society classifies her. Decisively, it can be concluded that the tension between outward conformity and inward questioning builds the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.

Through these two practices, the two women become figures of imagination. There was a frequent reprinting of their tales in 18th, 19th, and 20th century romantic literature. Firstly, the fact that their tales were interpreted in romantic literature further emphasizes the point that the two women were largely being interpreted because of their femininity. These pieces led many girls and young women to feel imprisoned by the traditional ideologies of family and domesticity. Supplemental to this apparent domino-effect of Read and Bonny, in 1726 and 1728, Mary Harley and Mary Cricket cross-dressed to become pirates, likely because they were moved by the tales of Bonny and Read.

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, mother and wife Edna Pontellier experiences a life-changing awakening in late 1800s New Orleans, Louisiana. Edna and her husband Léonce are prominent figures in the Creole society, though Edna has no love for her spouse. While it is unacceptable to have an affair in this time and culture, Edna falls in love with a younger man, Robert Lebrun, while on summer holiday in Grande Isle. Here, she begins her awakening. When the two part ways, the known womanizer, Alcée Arobin, enters her life.

The beginning of the feminist movement in the 1900’s, sparked much attention from those who lived at this time. The changes in attitude brought forth from the feminist movement made many men feel threatened and uncomfortable. In 1899, Kate Chopin published the feminist novel, The Awakening, which created much controversy. The protagonist of the story, Edna Pontellier, emerges from her own “awakening,” and gains her own independence from breaking away from society. However, her struggle with herself and society overtakes her and Edna’s sudden awakening ends in tragedy.

Thus, women who aspire to be individualistic suffer under the intense regulations of the Creole culture. Edna, originally an American girl, struggles to adapt to the Creole way of life while directly juxtaposed by her peer, Adele. Society reacts differently to these two women depending on their lack of realization of the oppression of Creole society.

During the late nineteenth century, the time of the protagonist Edna Pontellier, a woman’s place in history was mostly confined to her children and her husband, with there being little of herself to enjoy. Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, embodies the triumphs and frustrations in a woman’s life as she struggles with handling strict societal demands. Defying the roles of a typical “mother-woman,” Edna battles with the pressures of her time that demand she be a devoted and controlled housewife. One of the first overtly feminist novels, The Awakening criticizes gender and social roles in ways that have now heavily influenced what we call feminism. One of the first ways that Chopin battles the nineteenth century Victorian era is with

This essay will analyze ‘The Necklace’ and how Maupassant uses the social context, characters and literary devices in the short story to illustrate his misogynistic viewpoints towards women. The protagonist of ‘The Necklace’, Madame Loisel, live a rather steady, ordinary middle-class life in the beginning of the story. However, she views that she is intended for a luxurious life, and, therefore, does not cherish what she has. She takes a step forward to her desires, as she was invited to a ball where all the upper-class woman would be, yet she was unhappy with the fact that she does not even have a stone to put on. With her greed for attention, she asks one of her upper-class friends, Madame Forestier, for a necklace that she could borrow for the ball.