Essay On Edna Pontellier's Role In The Awakening

A reoccurring character found within novels published is a female that is limited by the constraints of her era. During this period, many authors stressed the importance of revolutionizing into modernistic philosophies. In The Great Gatsby¬, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy Buchanan is the codependent, chaotic female character. While in The Awakening, the main character, Edna Pontellier, assumes the equivalent role. Pontellier and Buchanan are identically symbolic in their infidelity and lack of maternal instinct.

In the reading, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Modernism, the main character Edna is being described without providing spoilers to the novel. One of the attributes explained is, “She is described as the antithesis of the “mother-woman”

It states, “She freely chooses and pursues a sexual affair with Alcee Arobin for the sake of sensuous adventure, not because she loves him and not because she is his wife” (Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Modernism). This shows once again that Pontellier possesses a modernistic way of thinking. Daisy Buchanan is also motivated by the same reasons when she entertains an affair with Jay Gatsby. Both women are in love with the idea of having an affair for the thrill and excitement it provides. This showcases how modernism is effecting women’s mindsets and changing cultures of that time. Edna and Daisy engaging in extramarital affairs while disregarding their spouses is yet another way they are similar.

Edna Pontellier and Daisy Buchanan are comparable since both females express their sexuality by partaking in affairs and are deficient of a maternal instinct. In The Awakening and in The Great Gatsby both authors use Pontellier and Buchanan as a portrayal of modernism and the effects on women. Modernism allowed women to become more free and encouraged society to become more accepting. Since many writers emphasized modernistic thinking, it spread