Inequality In The Awakening

As Edna is walking into the sea, Kate Chopin expands on the setting and states, “The water was chill, but she walked on. The water was deep, but she lifted her white body and reached out with a long sweeping stroke” (176). The emphasis is placed on the water, explaining how it affected Edna. Kate Chopin utilizes anaphora to accentuate the choices Edna makes and how it defines the meaning of becoming aware and conscious of one’s self wellbeing over others. Furthermore, Kate Chopin continues with, “She went on and on.

This daring, adventurous desire stemmed from her husband, Mr. Pontellier, and his overbearing, possessive nature. This rebirth occurs, and over time Edna feels like herself, able to make her own decisions. Feeling alone, the “space and solitude” of the ocean emphasizes how Edna is different from the others in her society and seems rebellious to her husband (55). The freedom that

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 awakening is the realization that she is not - and has never been - truly free. This discovery leads her to question

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.

The concept of sharing her body with another being, becoming truly a part of something other than her individual self, is the opposite of everything that Edna has been looking for. She thinks of how Raoul and Etienne will be a constant presence in her life and how her natural position as a mother prevents her from being able to live a life without them. After all, a woman’s primary job is to bring her

The clothing symbolizes the desire that Edna is looking up to and eventually revealing her whole body and give up her life for her children also resemble the cruelness and how unfair for women during Victorian Era. Labor is a natural process that every woman needs to experience, and the result is children. This process is human nature and is irresistible, and the fact that Edna gave up her life in front of human nature relates the idea of Naturalism believe that nature is the law and forces that rule the world, and Edna herself cannot change the natural

This novel, The Awakening, is about a woman named Edna Pontellier learns to think of herself as an independent human being. Also, Edna Pontellier refuses to obey against the social norms by leaving her husband Leónce Pontellier and having an affair with Robert Lebrun. Kate Chopin describes societal expectations and the battle of fitting the mold of motherhood in the Awakening by how Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle contribute to their family in different ways. Edna Pontellier’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is not a perfect mother-women. Adele Ratignolle’s attitude toward motherhood is that she is a perfect mother-women.

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.”

In addition, the search for self-identity is viewed as important in today’s society. Thus, these confliction attributes lead the reader to identify Edna as morally ambiguous. Categorizing complex characters as purely good or purely evil is not one of the easiest of tasks. As a result, it is best to characterize them as morally ambiguous. In Edna’s case, she is morally ambiguous due to her romantic affiliations and role-defying actions, but both are immensely vital to Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” as a complete whole.

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 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.

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. Edna Pontellier had two young boys, Etienne and Raoul, who were ages four and five, respectively.

In the story, the only place where Edna could experience freedom and find her awakening was the sea. Thus, when she commits suicide one can see how the sea was the root for Edna finding her self-discovery. Through suicide individuals can see how it was the only escape for a woman who was living under oppression. Suicide not only shows that oppression was impossible to escape for a woman, but at the the same time it shows that suicide was the only way

As she did this, Edna faced many great challenges, but was able to come over some with the help of Romantic traits integrated in the story. The sea plays a big role in Edna’s journey to becoming free and when as they spent their summer near the ocean, she was able to realize that she wanted to escape and be free through its supernatural and romantic elements. This want escape was lead by transcendental influences from all around her. Once again, the sea is important in this because Edna decides to return to the sea and drown herself so she can be with nature and be free. Although Edna died her story did not die with her.