The Character Of Edna Pontellier In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Often times, literary works can easily distinguish between a good character or an evil character. Other times, a character can be very complex, which makes it difficult to characterize the character as good or evil. This complex character complex is known as Moral Ambiguity. In other words, readers are discouraged from identifying a character as purely good or evil. One particular character that can be views as morally ambiguous is a woman named Edna Pontellier. Edna from Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” can be perceived as morally ambiguous because of her affiliations with other men, and role-defying actions; however, both contribute to “The Awakening” as a whole.

After Edna goes to be with Adele Ratignolle during the birth of her child, Edna goes back home to the “pigeon-house” and finds that Robert is gone but he left a note for her. The note says, “Good-bye, because I love you…”. Robert leaves Edna this note saying that he has to leave her because he loves her too much. He realizes what he has done and how he feels about Edna but that Edna is married and has a family, therefore, he can not be with her.

describing the transformation that Edna Pontellier undergoes as she realizes that the conventions of her society have been constraining her from becoming her true, independent self. Edna’s awareness of her duality of self, her private emotional life, and the loneliness that accompanies her newfound freedom are all clear evidence that she truly becomes enlightened and revived by the end of the novel. The inability of the other characters in this novel to hinder Edna’s transformation is a reflection of society’s complete powerlessness against the inner flame of emotion

It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.

She did not wish to break their home apart. She felt guilty because she wanted to keep them protected. After exhausting all options, she realizes that she cannot be the woman everyone wanted her to be. Nature was of some comfort to her, she felt almost free outdoors. The outdoors caused her to taste the freedom, she could in vision her life as she pleased. After trying to convey some tiny shred of hope for her life, she realizes the outdoors only hears a mournful lullaby. Eventually Edna cannot help her desires and her awakening begins. After having an affair with Robert, she realizes she’s fallen in love with him. As her affair continues, her affections grow for Robert while she begins to resent her husband more. After taking as much as she can from her husband, she moves into her own home, away from Leonce. Even though Edna does not love Leonce anymore, she makes it a point to stay in her children’s lives, even if she is rarely involved. The separate house stays in between Leonce and Edna, but they are still considered married.

For many years, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was considered perhaps one of the most scandalous novels written by a woman about a woman’s sexual and spiritual liberation and independence. Much of Chopin’s fiction has been praised as a celebration of female sexuality, conspicuously highlighting the tension between erotic desire and the demands that come from marriage, family life, and society (Martin 1). Unlike other literary contemporaries, Chopin does not attempt to moralize her heroines’ moral frailty, and more importantly she unapologetically allows her heroines’ unconventional sexuality to thrive (Martin 6). Only recently has The Awakening been acknowledged as a well-crafted narrative of Edna Pontellier’s struggle between individuality and

In this essay of Kate Chopins’ book The Awakening, the major character is Edna Pontellier some other important characters would be Adele, Mr.Ratgnolle, Robert, and Leonce Edna husband who are all Creoles. Creole men are very dominant. Creole's don't really let outsiders into their social environment very often, and the women are suppose to keep the homes clean and take care children. They are two women who are totally different. Adele is the type of wife who always listens to her husband no mater what. Edna is a woman who rarely listen to her husband. Kate Chopin uses Adele to let you really see how these two are so different.

While being a woman in modern times is difficult enough with all of our adversities, one can truly appreciate the strength of a woman in 1899. The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a short intimate novel about a woman named Edna who slowly registered her individuality. In the beginning of the novel Edna was glimpsed as a woman of her time, maintaining the societal appearance with her husband and children. However, later on in the novel she surpassed her time by defying the norm and taking the “unknown road” toward independence as a result of her awakenings. The course of Edna’s awakenings was very emotional, unexpected and unfamiliar.

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, mother and wife Edna Pontellier experiences a life-changing awakening in late 1800s New Orleans, Louisiana. Edna and her husband Léonce are prominent figures in the Creole society, though Edna has no love for her spouse. While it is unacceptable to have an affair in this time and culture, Edna falls in love with a younger man, Robert Lebrun, while on summer holiday in Grande Isle. Here, she begins her awakening. When the two part ways, the known womanizer, Alcée Arobin, enters her life. She has a physical relationship with him while still married, yet in love with Robert. Edna battles with her emotions to find what she wants in life. Edna finds the outcome to be that she will never be able to have what

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.

The Awakening showcases Edna Pontellier, a housewife residing in New Orleans, Louisiana during the early 1900s. Edna Pontellier is married to Leonce Pontellier and they have two sons together. Edna is consumed in internal conflicts throughout the entire novel. She is trying to find herself in a society where she has many duties and responsibilities.

The moral conflict that Edna Pontellier experience begins when she is unable to control her urges as a result of her new sexual desires and willingness to break Victorian social conventions. She quickly leaves her family in order to pursue a life free of her children and husband. There are times when the internal more conflict shows and her old morals return for a short period of time. For example, when she visited her children in the country and expressed how much she missed them, even though she left them within a week. Edna sees that an adulterous relationship is wrong, but she continues to live the fantasy life with Robert and Arobin. Her childish attitude, irresponsibility, and her anxiousness to break social restrictions, allow her to

A passage from the novel “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, “She would give up the unessential, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children.” (Page 155, Chopin) The novel “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin emphasizes the ideas of feminism, motherhood, and the social expectations of an individual in the time period. This novel is about a married woman exploring for more personal freedom and a more fulfilling life. In 1899 when the novel was first published, both critics and the public felt that the novel was so disturbing and morbid that it was banned. Readers of the novel argue on whether Edna Pontellier is considered justified or not justified from abandoning her children and withdrawing from her marriage. Many readers question whether Edna Pontellier is considered heroic or cowardly. Edna Pontellier is far heroic due to her act of independence. Edna Pontellier is a very brave character.

Edna Pontillier in Kate Chopin’s novella The Awakening seeks independence and freedom via an unconventional lifestyle that creates her internal conflict. The conflict is sparked by the Apollonian and Dionysian ways of life that surround Edna. The two contrasting forces influence her decisions and the way she interacts with others. Edna’s Dionysian and Apollonian influences effect the way that she treats her children, interacts with her husband, and relates to other women in her town. The freedom from responsibility and rules is attractive to Edna; however, it is a challenge to escape the rigid order of the Apollonian lifestyle. Edna’s struggle exemplifies the challenge facing all women of the nineteen-hundreds who strived to go against

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.