Gender Roles In Kate Chopin's The Awakening
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, fits into a feminist lens as the text is greatly affected by the way the characters from the book are expected to act. Each character’s role correlates with their gender, and how a person of their gender is supposed to behave during the late 1800s. Women were treated unequal to men, and because of this, husbands were very oppressive to their wives as evidenced by the way Leonce treats Edna. The characters in this book are expected to submit and act according to their gender roles; in other words, males being dominant and females being subordinate. In the beginning of the text, this is the way Edna behaves; however, she transforms throughout the book and becomes a very different person as she breaks away from society’s …show more content…
She begins to break away from societal constraints and starts making her own decisions. Edna’s transformation begins when she first goes into the ocean with Robert. The ocean represents Edna’s freedom. Even during the ending of the book, when she swims into the distance of the ocean and dies, she is finally free. The first time she goes out into the ocean with Robert, she takes off her ring, showing that she is not Leonce’s property anymore and she is her own person. In addition, she later teachers herself how to swim, showing that she is independent and can do things on her own. She swims further out than any other woman has swam before. This symbolizes that she is acting like no other woman has before, and trying to revolutionize the way women are treated. After coming home from her distant swim, Edna lays outside on the hammock. When Leonce demands Edna to come inside, Edna responds by saying “’I mean to stay out here. I don’t wish to go in, and I don’t intend to. Don’t speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you’” (Chopin 41). This is the first time she stood up to her husband by not obeying him. Edna then places another milestone during Mr. Pontellier’s trip to New York. She begins to have a life of her own. Edna goes out to horse races and starts seeing another man, Arobin. Most importantly, she decides to move out and buy her own small house. She makes up her mind that she wants to be with Robert instead of her
Men In The Great Awakening
947 Words | 4 PagesShe gets extra jealous when he writes to Madame Lebrun, but not to her. Later, Edna returns back home to New Orleans as a whole new woman. She declares herself independent, and tries to forget Robert by seeking out Alcee
Edna Pontellier's Character In 'The Awakening'
1283 Words | 6 PagesAfter swimming successfully, she develops feelings for Robert. After this awakening, Edna starts to step back and rethink her entire life; her marriage, her role, and even herself. She realizes she feels sort of imprisoned in this life she has had for so long. Edna finally starts doing things for her, she is letting herself feel an attraction for another man even though she is married and she also gets into art and has everyone in the house model for her. Rather than doing things to get the house ready for her husband or spending time playing with her children, she is distracted by all her newly found
What Is Edna's Allegory Of The Cave
1171 Words | 5 PagesThe ocean, and by extension swimming, serve to symbolize liberation and the pursuit of that thereof. Edna grew up as a respectable woman in Kentucky, a landlocked state with no land connection to the ocean. After settling into marriage with Léonce Pontellier, she moves out to coastal Louisiana and spends summers out in Grand Isle, surrounded by ocean. Grand Isle is where Edna meets Robert, and where she experiences her awakening. While there, Edna begins learning to swim, and as she learns to control the water she in turn discovers that she has agency over her own body.
The Awakening Rhetorical Analysis
1266 Words | 6 PagesSyeda Ahmed prompt 5 The Awakening AP LIT Mr. Amoroso 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.
Outward Conformity In Kate Chopin's The Awakening
825 Words | 4 PagesEdna fully understands that society would brand her as a terrible woman, but she does not view herself as a bad person. There is an external and internal difference that Edna hopes to one day reconcile. Chopin, instead of creating tension within Edna, created tension within the society and Edna with her newfound independence does not mind how society classifies her. Decisively, it can be concluded that the tension between outward conformity and inward questioning builds the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.
Ocean Symbolism In The Awakening
925 Words | 4 PagesIn 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.
Conformity In The Awakening
849 Words | 4 PagesEdna tries to satisfy this desire by taking part in an adulterous affair with Alcee Arobin, a known playboy. However, this relationship doesn’t satisfy Edna’s wish for companionship as she uses Alcee only to satisfy her sexual desires. This all changes once Edna meets Robert Lebrun, who invokes a sense of excitement and love in Edna. Edna sees her relationship with Robert as her only chance to gain freedom from the confines of society; additionally Robert gives Edna the chance to have a fulfilling relationship as opposed to her loveless one with Leonce. Although the two are deeply in love with one another, Robert is unable to reciprocate Edna’s desires to be together.
Edna's Characterization In The Awakening
467 Words | 2 PagesHer ability to swim starts in chapter 10, and ironically Edna’s happiness then eventually leads to her bismal ending in chapter 39. Another interesting example is Edna’s relationships with Arobin and Robert, where Edna chooses to act rebellious and choose her own terms for two affair-like relationships. Either case, Edna felt “as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to took upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and brutality” (Chopin 84). Her relationships tore her emotions apart, but in the process angered and falsely strengthened her; this is an example of the “masking” of her characteristics. In reality, Robert and Arobin
Moral Ambiguity In The Awakening
1909 Words | 8 PagesEdna's struggle to reconcile her desires against traditional expectations provides insight into her moral and ethical dilemmas. Looking closely at her relationships with both of these men, Chopin elucidates Edna's changing understanding of morality and what is truly meaningful in her life. By examining Edna's interaction and feelings for both Leonce and Robert, Chopin provides a glimpse into her inner moral confusion and her eventual decision to choose an unconventional path. As a married woman, Edna frequently interacts with Robert without divulging the truth to Leonce. Though Robert and Edna both recognize the potentially scandalous nature of their relationship, he willingly engages and encourages Edna's feelings for him.
The Expectations Of Women In Edna Chopin's The Awakening
944 Words | 4 PagesI’m not going to be forced into doing things. I don’t want to go abroad. I want to be let alone. Nobody has any right-except children, perhaps”(Chopin 116). Edna’s usage of the word “perhaps” represents her hesitation and details how inner edna wants something that outer edna is not inclined to do.
Edna's Roles In The Awakening
1386 Words | 6 PagesThe other reason makes Edna realize her own self is swimming, as if a release to her. Refer to what she said in the novel, to beyond other women, it can express that her aspiration on being alternative and get rid of the constraint from the society. Also that is the first body contact with Robert, she find herself in the ocean, and there is the place she longing, also aware of the freedom. Robert, is a boy she falls in love with, yet she aware of that, if she marries to Robert, her future just same as now, she will lose her freedom.
Gender Roles In The Awakening
1178 Words | 5 PagesIf he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at the both of you” (108). Throughout the story Edna’s feelings for Robert grow stronger and deeper, so that by the end of the novel she simply longs to be with him. Yet parallel to that growth Edna has discovered her self and developed her own identity. The idea of a transfer of ownership of her person from one man to another is abhorrent to her, so much so that it would cause her to abandon her dream of being with Robert. Though she wants that very much, she is unwilling to lose her own identity in the process as she did when she was with Mr. Pontellier.
Motherhood In The Awakening
919 Words | 4 PagesSoon after Edna moves out, many of her intimate desires had been awakened. She begins to open herself up to her sexual wants and begins to explore her sexuality, though she does know that it is inappropriate. In the nineteenth century, women were looked down upon for having sexual thoughts or desires towards other men besides her husband (Adultery). Despite the societal restraints, she begins to fantasize about Robert Lebrun and goes on to have a meaningless affair with Alcée Arobin, which was only driven by her own sexual desires.
The Awakening Conflict Essay
1124 Words | 5 PagesEdna begins to become more aware of her position in her relationship with her husband. She is now comprehending the feelings she associates with the Apollonian and Dionysian influences in her
Handmaid's Tale Identity
871 Words | 4 PagesEdna’s inner identity reaches the breakpoint where it is necessary for her well-being that it is expressed. At this point, nothing else matters besides her intuitions and desires. This brings difficulty to her familiar relationships and friendships due to her rejection of living according to her role as a mother and a wife. Even though this conflict is addressed, it does not make an impact on her decision to remain a bit selfish through this time that she is finding herself. As a way of explaining her state of mind, Edna states that she "would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself.
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