In the Awakening, Kate Chopin takes the readers on a journey surveying the gender norms of a small town in St. Louis. Each gender in this subculture seems to take certain roles in daily life. Females are destined to perform housewife duties and to nurture the children, while the males are more involved with the worldly business situations.
Edna Pontellier, the female protagonist, is portrayed as a woman who seems to rebel against the norms expected from her. While most women from her era view their duties as satisfying and fulfilling, Edna finds herself interacting with her children perfunctorily, with no inner joy. Her other wifely duties bring her no excitement, only disappointment. The gender set rules hinder Edna’s character in many ways. These norms limit her freedom, but more importantly, it compels her to feel trapped within a society bound by expectations. Furthermore, it influences her outlook on life and perhaps the state of her personal life, which causes her to be more self- involved. And if this selfishness continues, it may be detrimental to her family and herself.
On the other hand, the gender norms seem to compliment Edna’s individualism as she attempts to stand on her own ground. Although, it may not be appreciated by the people surrounding her, Edna’s rebellion against the “suitable”
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Pontellier is dedicated to the economic sections of the world. He concerns himself with the status he and his family presents to the public. And his character is hindered by the norms set for him. Since his focus remains on business and worldly situations, he neglects his marriage and acts as if it is a transaction with business agreements of which job belongs to whom. After he returns from a busy day of work, he finds that one of his children has fever, therefore, he ridicules his wife of her negligence. This does not indicate a partnership as a marriage should, but it reveals his outlook of this marriage as a business
To break the traditions of a womanly role Edna had to first challenge her husband’s authority over her. Edna is sleeping outside waiting for Léonce to come home, and finally he comes home in the wee hours of the morning. Then, Edna wouldn’t come in the house after Léonce called her into the house. Léonce says, “’Edna, dear, are you not coming in soon?’
Edna broke free from the mold of her society. She was trying to find her purpose and her worth in a world where she did not have many rights or individual stability. Edna Pontellier worked to disregard the influence and power of men and society as a whole to discover more about herself and what she really wanted out of life (Bommarito). She gave up the “unessential” such as her home, possessions, and reputation to do things for
Deciding to forsake the title of “mother” and its inherent burdens, Edna misaligned herself from society’s framework in order to safeguard her individuality. “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman.” (Page 8) Ideally, a mother is selfless and nurturing, personality traits that Edna utterly rejected. Edna’s disregard for her assumed societal
Edna is introduced to the reader well within social norms. She is a wife and mother. We can suppose that she entered this role happily and with an intent to fulfill her part in society. She appears to lack for nothing in her lifestyle. However, at some point she becomes dissatisfied with what society has placed on her.
Women during Edna’s time were supposed to be dedicated to their husbands and children, however, Edna yearned for her own independence, and as a result of wanting her own independence Edna knew that she was seen as a terrible person. For instance Edna wanted to “…try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't know. By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I can't convince myself that I am. I must think about it" (27.4).
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).
Edna continually questions whether or not she is destined to live a life of subordination or if she can find her own freedom. Edna Pontellier’s defiant nature is brought out
Some of Edna’s most obvious decisions immediately question her weakness to handle pressure. Edna’s inability to show compassion and care for her children challenge this normalcy for a mother of the time period; Edna considered her children “like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days” (Chopin 115). The children almost seemed like a burden, or a detriment to her. Edna’s doctor visit nearly foreshadows this mindset, where the doctor notes that
Societal expectations of women during this time period were for women to follow orders from their husband no matter the conditions. A man would not necessarily get married for love, but rather for the ownership of the women. Edna’s attempt to become an independent women is made difficult due to the the expectation from others, including her husband. When discussing with Doctor Mandelet about going away with her husband, Edna responds, “Perhaps-no, I am not going.
Moreover, when her children tumbled, she will not pick them up just let them get up on their own. In contrast to Adele, Edna is not contributing herself to her family as well as Adele. Edna tries to fit in as the role to be a good mother, but, she cannot definitely, to be a mother-woman cannot fulfill her eagerness to be a special, independent and egocentric person. In Chapter XVI, Edna said to Adele, she would give her money and her life to children, but never herself. And that is what she is trying to understand and recognize.
Morbid, vulgar, and disagreeable are just a few descriptors used by critics to describe Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Chopin is amongst the first feminist writers of the twentieth century writing two novels and about a hundred short stories, most of which the protagonist is a woman. Although Chopin wrote other short stories that were considered controversial none of them received as much criticism as The Awakening. Set in the late nineteenth century the story follows Edna Portellier who has been awakened to her own desires and even though she has a husband and children she decides to pursue those yearnings.
And with Leonce and the children’s absence, Edna branches off even further buying her own house and sustaining herself with a small income from her paintings. This allows Edna to gain even more independence from her household, children, and spouse, to the point that she has gone against the female submission rule in societies conventions. On the other hand, Adele is obedient and submissive to her household, husband, and children, rarely leaving the premise of her house. Because of Adele being the “mother-woman”(p.8) and following societies conventions, she is granted very little freedom as she can’t leave her house because of the duties she is expected to complete on a day to day basis. Adele’s obedience and Edna’s defiance contraste each other, effectively highlighting the themes of female submission and female freedom within the
In the late 1800s society assigned to women a specific role to play. The role included bearing children, caring for them, and honoring their husbands. People saw women who took jobs outside of the home or who never married as deranged. Kate Chopin highlights the female duties of the time in her novel, The Awakening, through the use of foils Edna and Adele. Adele represents the model of how an ideal women of the 19th century should behave and feel.
This socially constructed identity is the first of the many that Edna grapples with in the text. It is the identity of women within the time period of the text. In the words of Dix, Edna’s identity is meant to be that of a typical American wife who will control the home, children and entertain socially yet remain obedient to her working husband (146). ‘Looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property’ (Chopin 4). The
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.