Essay Comparing Pride And Prejudice And The Awakening

In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna is portrayed as the main symbol of the desires that every man or woman has. She feels the need to be different and to be free. Her lust for freedom from the societal views and expectations has drawn her to a point of drastic decisions. Each man and woman has a point that will bring them to do nearly anything to get what they ‘need’.

Edna’s characterization throughout The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, describes Edna as someone with burning passion who desires to improve not only her life, but the lives of future generations. However Edna’s actions make her often seem weak to the oppressive people around her; sometimes, and in this case unfortunately, good ideas and beliefs are stopped cold by one’s surrounding influences. Edna’s feminist attitude, though formidable, is no match for the individuals who accept the current society’s customs. I find Edna to be a weak person from a general standpoint. However the story masks this obviousness fact by illustrating some of Edna’s questionable actions.

“Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her.” This, in short, is the beginning of her true awakening to her individuality and awareness of self. Though not entirely aware, Edna had always attempted to be different, to go outside of the lines people had drawn her in and do the exact opposite of what they wanted. For example, Edna Pontellier had ultimately only become Mrs. Pontellier because of her sister’s and father’s heavy disapproval of Léonce’s

“She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (47). In The Awakening, the narrator, Kate Chopin writes the eye opening story of Edna Pontellier. One summer, Edna, her husband, Leonce, and her kids go to a resort in Grand Isle for vacation. There Edna made several friends who change her life. During her vacation she becomes freer, more individualistic, and finds her true self. As she gets to know more about Robert, she develops feelings for him and goes through an internal conflict of whether if she wants to be with her husband or Robert. When she chooses Robert, he leaves for a business trip. Edna gets depressed and grew as an individual and away from society’s expectations.

In The Awakening, Chopin uses other characters to display Edna Pontellier’s desires and social limitations to shape her new outlook on life. Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle play different roles in Edna’s development throughout the novel by influencing her to become a new woman in society.

There is a perceived split between “outer Edna and inner Edna” that is constantly disrupting Edna and her desires. Outer Edna is supposed to be recognized as this ideal wife who obeys her husband and does what he commands-similar to her friend Adele. This lifestyle that Edna is supposed to live by cannot be achieved due to “inner Edna’s” desire of being free and independent. “Outer Edna” conforms to society expectations even if it is not what she desires, while “inner Edna” seeks independence and

These rules include cooking, caring for the children, cleaning the house, and never disrespecting the husband, or whomever the man of the house may be. Although she doesn’t agree with these rules, Edna accepts them most of the time and takes the role as a wife and mother. She usually respects her husband, Leonce, and does try to be a good mother to her children. It is hard for Edna to be a good wife when Leonce is always in the city conducting business, and working out of town. Edna’s trying ways does not last long as for the narrator describes Edna the opposite of "women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it as holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels."(Chopin 10). Edna does not idolize her children, nor does she worship her husband. In chapter one, she leaves her son alone, sick in bed with a high fever...forgetting to check on him. She also has affairs on Leonce. Edna realizes motherhood and family life is not for her. Helena Lopata, author of the article Self Identity in Marriage and Widowhood, describes self identity being “formulated in a complicated process of social interactions which involves symbolic definitions of the self, the other, and the situation” (Lopata 407). Edna begins to discover her own self identity while swimming in the ocean with Robert Lebrun, a man who she has

A struggle between Edna and her independence is showing in The Awakening. The Creole culture in which she lives in has an expectation for women. The expectation is the women have to adore their kids and take care of their husbands.edna does not want to abide by these guidelines. When edna figures out that she does not want to follow these standards she starts thinking more independent and about her needs and what she wants out of life. Edna’s family which consist of leonce and her two children are vacationing in La Grande Isle for the summer. Edna and Leonce marriage is one sided, Leonce loves Edna but Edna does not like him back. Leonce is focused on his job because he wants to be an ideal husband for his wife who does not return the favor. When she decides to do life on her own that troubles leonce into a frustration.

In The Awakening the main character Edna is going through a life changing event. Edna unfortunately is living in an era where women are supposed to be dependent and devoted to their husbands and a full time mother. Edna doesn’t want to play that role anymore and she wants to become independent. Edna’s want for independence and becoming her own person is finally achieved when she sacrifices her life and kills herself. Edna sacrificing her life shows how her values begin to change from only caring about her family’s needs to now caring about her own needs/wants. This sacrifice also portrays the meaning of the work as a whole which is finding freedom from the constraints that society not only puts on Edna but on women in general.

As Ednas sexual desires awake from deep within, she becomes aroused by the thought of making “love” with another man. As Edna puts to trial that sex is not just an action committed between two people, but rather an intimacy and connection she has with another person. This intimacy is what drives her to experience sex with different people. “He seated himself again and rolled a cigarette which he smoked in silence. Neither did Mrs. Pontellier speak. No multitude of words could have been more significant than these moments of silence , or more pregnant with the first felt throbbing of desire” (Pg. 30) the sexual impulses that had once died down first became awakened at this point of the novel. Edna Pontellier resurrected the optimistic view of lovemaking once more, but is usually never cognizant of the actions she commits. Ednas sexual awakening is split into two parts, emotionally and physically. Edna Pontelliers emotional sexual awakening is brought to life by the hands of Robert. When Robert leaves her the first time, she is upset, unable to believe he left so abruptly, and without saying goodbye. “And to hide, even from herself as she would have hidden from another, the emotion which was troubling tearing her,” (Pg. 45) it becomes clear that Edna is experiencing an emotion that was never experienced and her sexual emotions stir within her, forcing a tear upon her cheek Through her experience with Robert, Edna learned to keep her emotional distance from men, in case she be hurt again. Another man comes into the life of Edna and completes the other half of her sexual awakening. Alcee Arobin notorious at being involved with many women, provides the catalytic path for

Kate Chopin's The Awakening is a novel full of symbolism; even down to the title. By giving this novel the title, it is great symbolism of what the story will be about. The title gives a vague mental picture for you that cannot be fully understood until the reader has finished reading. It is also full of other symbolisms, such as clothes, houses, birds, swims, and the ocean. All of these elements are powerful and add great meaning to the characters and the novel itself. After finishing, The Awakening, the reader will understand that the title is about the main character, Edna Pontellier, and her sexual awakening and her figurative rebirth.

Over 50 % of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression. Depression itself is often seen as a growing dilemma in Edna Pontellier's life, as she grows more and more intolerant towards her problems of being enslaved by her children and dominated by men. However, throughout the storyline of The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses the sea and music as symbols to reveal Edna's compelling desires to be free and how one must break away from society to achieve an independent self unit. In effect, these symbols help the reader understand the ultimate surrendering Edna has to undergo to unshackle herself from Victorian reform.

Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin in 1899. As in many of Chopin’s writing, this novel concerns itself with morality and identity.

The Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin that tells the story of Edna Pontellier. The beginning of the novel takes place in Grand Isle, which during the summer is inhabited by upper-class Creole families from New Orleans who want to escape from the heat and relax by the ocean. During one particular summer, Edna meets Robert Lebrun, who every summer shadows a particular women. Throughout the course of the summer both Edna and Robert become inseparable and Edna begins to grow fond of Robert; emotions that Edna have never experienced before even as a married women. These emotions bring a sense of change in Edna. Upon returning to New Orleans, Edna, and her new awakened self, begins to act in an uncharacterized way. She consistently thinks of Robert, who left to Vera Cruz after the summer at Grand Isle, and finds out that she does not love her husband. She also begins to have an affair and then decides to move out of her husband’s house. The novel ends with her deciding to go back to Grand Isle swimming into the ocean until she grows exhausted and ultimately ends her life.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God are two similar and dissimilar books. One of the most frequent and recurring themes are the two main characters in the novels, Edna Pontellier and Jaine Mae Crawford. Both females long for freedom from the constraints of their society, which have made them dependent and inferior to men. While both main characters of their novels wanted equality, their living conditions and qualities of life varied drastically. The conditions that each woman was subject to were quite dissimilar as well due to life choices and intuition.