Edna Pontellier In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

A modern woman emerging and developing ahead of her time, dealing with the challenges of gaining independence in a time period where woman weren’t human. This is Edna Pontellier’s conflict told in the novel the Awakening by Kate Chopin. Late in her already establish life Edna a wife and mother of two discovers herself to realize she goes against society’s ideals as a woman. Never truly attempting to fit into the “woman” role Edna finds herself stepping out of her cage through self-discovery. Author Kate Chopin creates and utilizes symbols and motifs to develop the multiple cognizances Edna undergoes. Edna deals with the repercussions of a society that isn’t as accustoms to a woman being

Willy Loman is the central figure of the play. He’s an untalented but energetic man gripped by the American dream. Willy’s personality disintegrates as he moves into his 60’s and his strength begins to fail him. He commits suicide in hope of earning thousands in life insurance for his wife and two sons. Over the course of the play, he is presented as a complex person who hides deep insecurity beneath bluster and drive, relying on his handsome and athletic sons to compensate for his own sense of inadequacy. His willful hopefulness and exaggerated expectations betray him in the end by rendering him incapable of accepting himself or his children for who they are (Nadine). In this play, Willy would be a representation of failure to the American dream. Willy believes that personality, not hard work and innovation, is the key to success. Throughout time, Willy wants to make sure his boys are well-liked and popular. In the story Willy has said,” You and Hap and I, and I’ll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ‘cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own. This summer, heh?” (Miller 1). Willy characterization of American people as kind and righteous to anyone who is personally good-looking signifies his faith in his own version of the American Dream. Willy believes that having a good personality will bring you to success in the American Dream, and having popularity will bring the American dream at ease. It was obvious that this didn’t work to Willy’s advantages,

describing the transformation that Edna Pontellier undergoes as she realizes that the conventions of her society have been constraining her from becoming her true, independent self. Edna’s awareness of her duality of self, her private emotional life, and the loneliness that accompanies her newfound freedom are all clear evidence that she truly becomes enlightened and revived by the end of the novel. The inability of the other characters in this novel to hinder Edna’s transformation is a reflection of society’s complete powerlessness against the inner flame of emotion

It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.

For many years, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was considered perhaps one of the most scandalous novels written by a woman about a woman’s sexual and spiritual liberation and independence. Much of Chopin’s fiction has been praised as a celebration of female sexuality, conspicuously highlighting the tension between erotic desire and the demands that come from marriage, family life, and society (Martin 1). Unlike other literary contemporaries, Chopin does not attempt to moralize her heroines’ moral frailty, and more importantly she unapologetically allows her heroines’ unconventional sexuality to thrive (Martin 6). Only recently has The Awakening been acknowledged as a well-crafted narrative of Edna Pontellier’s struggle between individuality and

This novel, The Awakening, is about a woman named Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an independent human being. Also, Edna Pontellier refuses to obey against the social norms by leaving her husband Leónce Pontellier and having an affair with Robert Lebrun. Kate Chopin describes societal expectations and the battle of fitting the mold of motherhood in the Awakening by how Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle contribute to their family in different ways. Edna Pontellier’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is not a perfect mother-women. Adele Ratignolle’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is a perfect mother-women.

Edna Pontellier in The Awakening strives to find her individuality and personal freedom. However, Edna lives in a time when women are expected to live their lives as wives and mothers, not as people with their own volition. When she begins to awaken from her state of submission she finds herself and strays outside the realm of social acceptance in doing so. She does not obey her husband’s will without question, she is not a mother-woman who devotes herself solely to her children. She would rather be wandering the city or painting than taking callers and keeping up the house. When Edna chooses to find herself as an individual, she sacrifices her social acceptance so that she can become a full fledged individual with opinions and aspirations of her own.

A passage from the novel “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, “She would give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children.” (Page 155, Chopin) The novel “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin emphasizes the ideas of feminism, motherhood, and the social expectations of an individual in the time period. This novel is about a married woman exploring for more personal freedom and a more fulfilling life. In 1899 when the novel was first published, both critics and the public felt that the novel was so disturbing and morbid that it was banned. Readers of the novel argue on whether Edna Pontellier is considered justified or not justified from abandoning her children and withdrawing from her marriage. Many readers question whether Edna Pontellier is considered heroic or cowardly. Edna Pontellier is far heroic due to her act of independence. Edna Pontellier is a very brave character.

Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, is a story about a protagonist named Edna Pontellier. Throughout the novel, Edna is striving for some form of independence. However, she had no way to obtain it as she felt trapped by her marriage. Eventually, Edna was finally “awakened” and started to act on her discovery of her true-self. This true-self was one that did not live vicariously through her kids or her husband. It was one that let her live freely without control from another person. In the late 1800s, the tradition paired with the limitations of the law gave women very few opportunities for individual expression. This, in turn, led to lack of independence for women at that time. Edna wished to be free from this theory, however, she did not

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel centered around a woman who is going through a journey of self-discovery and self-awakening, a book unlike any other. The novel sheds a new light on what is considered a conventional woman. According to “The Awakening: A Refusal to Compromise” by Carley Reed Bogard, Edna, the protagonist, refuses to give into traditional gender roles. According to Bogard, The Awakening “is an early and central statement of a developing twentieth century literary tradition which gives apt phenomenological description to female experience and presents a break from the male tradition which Lawrence and Joyce, among others, have defined”(1). The article goes on to explain how Edna's decisions dictated the direction of her

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. In Kate Chopin’s debated novel, The Awakening, the author utilizes the symbol of the sea to represent the rebirth of Edna’s soul and her escape from society.

In the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare showed how the lies and the jealousy of others can ruin a relationship . Throughout the history of this play people have understood it as a “triad of nobility,purity, and villainy.” A literary critic, Michael Andrews noted the significance of the handkerchief that was used in the play. “Othello tells Desdemona that the handkerchief is a love-controlling talisman his mother received from an Egyptian "charmer.” The gift that Desdemona receives is used to represent a symbol of Othello’s love.

A woman with an independent nature can be described as rebellious, passionate, and courageous. In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the reader is introduced to Edna Pontellier, a female who epitomizes the qualities of a woman with such an independent nature. Living in a “patriarchal society” that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers, Edna attempts to seek out her true identity as it becomes apparent how unsettled she feels about her life. Throughout The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, dissatisfied with her duties as a mother and wife, decides to pursue her own interests and express her true identity, resulting in an awakening and her finding the courage to make the changes she deems as necessary.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a piece of fiction written in the nineteenth century. The protagonist Edna is a controversial character, Edna rebels against many nineteenth - century traditions, but her close friend Adele was a perfect example in terms of a role of a woman, mother and wife at that time. Chopin uses contrast characters to highlight the difference between Adele and Edna. Although they are both married women in the nineteenth century, they also exhibit many different views about what a mother role should be.

Women’s rights have drastically improved since the 1800’s. The model of patriarchy was widely accepted as a social norm in America and many other countries until the early to mid 1900’s. Today women are still fighting the belittlement that the patriarchal model deemed acceptable. The character of the rebellious strong women is still one today that many women look up to; especially women in very oppressive middle east countries. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Chopin strives to argue social emancipation for women