Edna Pontellier's Attitudes Toward Motherhood In The Awakening

as b dl "The Awakening" is a phrase which symbolically describes what happens to the main character, Edna Pontellier, as she becomes an aware and conscious human being in the course of this book. What is she conscious of? Mostly the fact that her life has been constrained by her role in her family, and that there’s more to Edna than wife and mother extraordinaire. symbolism, metaphor 16- at a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life- that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.

When an individual looks at Edna Pontellier they see a fasciated woman, but they do not know the rebell Edna inside. She is a woman of many personalities, yet she always keeps her composure in front of others around her. The first portrait of Edna features her proper etiquette of being a lady like. Mrs.Pontellier makes sure to keep up her appearance in demonstrating having a good time with her friends. “It was very warm, and for awhile they did nothing but exchange remarks about the heat, the sun, the glare” (Chopin 15). The quote supports the image Edna creates for herself in how she spends time with Madame Ratignolle. Another one of Edna’s impression is showing the love between Mr.Pontellier and herself. In having a quaint town they often spend time with everyone around. “After Mrs.Pontellier had danced twice with her husband” (Chopin 24). Edna always makes sure to publicly show affection and love towards to her husband to those around her.

In Kate Chopin’ s novel, The Awakening, there are three identities inside of the female leading role, Edna Pontellier, being a wife, mother and own self. Edna was born in 19th century at the Vitoria period, a patriarchy society, women have low freedom to achieve personal goal. She married with Léonce Pontellier, a wealthy man with Creole descent. After having a child, her life is still unchangeable and as bored as before. Until she encountered Robert Leburn, Mademoiselle Reisz, and Alcée Arobin, her value of self-cognition has changed.

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. Edna outwardly conforms to society’s expectations by marriage.

Lisa Cifuentes 5th Pd. AP English IV Mrs. Zimmerman 4 December 2015 Edna Pontellier’s Awakening In “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the title holds great significance, symbolically 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

Albert D. Saba Mr. Amoroso AP Literature Period: 3AP Topic: 1 LAP The Awakening A novel by Kate Chopin Will the chains and the unspoken pain unshackle through one’s heroic individualism? In the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier becomes a heroic figure to herself as well as for women through the search of her self-identity.

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.

Within the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Madame Ratignolle’s character possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast the characteristics and behavior of Edna Pontellier. Despite being close friends within the novel, Adele and Edna have contrasting views and behaviors that illuminate the theme of female freedom and the tradition of female submission and male domination. Madame Ratignolle and Edna Pontellier are close friends, but their views toward raising children differ fundamentally. Madame Ratignolle would sacrifice her identity to devote herself entirely to her children, household, and husband, whereas Edna would not. Besides their views towards raising children, how they raise their children also differs.

In the mid to late 1800’s women are viewed as homemakers, “Men demonstrate their dominance over women by generally confining them to the devalued registers of the home and the kitchen” (Brightwell 37). This is an era of raging patriarchy, if a woman is devoting time to something other than raising a family, she is looked down upon. Chopin emphasizes this through the social contrast between

In the 1800’s, the societal niche of married women was clearly defined: they were meant to devote every aspect of their lives to their husbands and children. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, struggles to adhere to these standards, and eventually rebels against them. The harsh standards placed on Edna and other women in the novel are like the cages around the metaphorical birds Chopin uses to represent them. Edna's unhappiness in her societal role is realized in the ocean, which symbolizes this awakening and her attempt to escape the gender roles of the nineteenth century.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening takes places in the social world of New Orleans, in the 19th century, were the notion of motherhood and femininity was controlled and enforced fiercely. Women could not own property, vote or work. The only use society had for them was to stay at home and take care of their husbands and children. Motherhood is displayed through three characters in the novel: Adele Ratignolle who is the symbol of The Angel in the House or the mother woman, Mademoiselle Reisz who although physically old represents the new woman, and Edna Pontellier who is stuck in between motherhood and her thirst for independence.

The unavoidable, unshakable feeling of hopeless resignation that she could never escape the roles she had fallen into (i.e. mother, wife, follower of religion) led Edna Pontellier, the proto-feminist main character of The Awakening, to an untimely demise amidst the waves where she had finally decided her life was one she didn’t feel was worth living any longer. Several aspects of Mrs. Pontellier’s life drove her to suicide, such as: feeling as though she was just another piece of Léonce Pontellier’s property, not being able to truly explore the undeniable love she bore for Robert, and feeling trapped by what society deemed “ proper” mother-woman.

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.

The author uses a comparison and contrast between Madame Ratignolle and Edna Pontellier to show how these two ladies are different from one another. Chopin emphasizes how feminine Madame Ratignolle is to demonstrate how Edna seems to be an outcast from the Creole society. Chopin chooses to incorporate the appearance of the two ladies to support the fact that Edna feels like she does not fit in, especially when Leonce refers to Madame Ratignolle in some parts of the novel. How Conventionality is Being Challenged “She was blindly following whatever impulse moved her, as if she had placed herself in alien hands for direction, and freed her soul of responsibility.”

In Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” shows a controversial protagonist, Edna Pontellier. The character in the novel showed different expectations for women and their supposed roles. One literary critic, Megan Kaplon showed how this novel can be viewed as a struggle of the world or society around her. Edna in the story is trying to find freedom and individuality Kaplon mentions that “one of her most shocking actions was her denial of her role as a mother and wife.”