ipl-logo

Edna's Role In The Awakening

1126 Words5 Pages

Of husband and wife, brother and sister, friend and friend, or any other relationship that is formed in one's life, the bond between mother and child is the strongest. Throughout The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna's children, by their very existence, serve as chains that keep her from pursuing her own goals and desires, as she is bound to them by her motherly duties. Edna's feelings of bondage by her children force her to remove herself from an innately meaningful relationship, in an attempt to elsewhere find meaning. This backwards mindset leads to Edna's eventual downfall, where, even then, she could not understand what she let go. Her stagnant thinking throughout the book reveals that she never had an "awakening", and she was doomed to …show more content…

She simultaneously loves and resents her children because, while she is their mother, she feels that they have taken away her freedom and self-purpose. As Edna journeys in her awakening, she strives to find meaning for herself as Edna, not her children's mother. To prove she is more than just a mother, she distances herself from normal motherly responsibilities. “He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?”(Chopin, 15) Edna's neglect of her children stems from others expectations for her to submit to and look after her …show more content…

The two kids never did anything against their mother, but she holds are grudge that stands firm while she drowns. In an essay, Suzanne Green describes Edna's state of mind at the end of the novel as, "incensed that her husband and children presumed that they could “drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days."".(Green) Green writes that Edna is "incensed" with her children, and quotes that Edna believed the kids were holding her soul as a slave. Edna was doomed to unhappiness from the beginning of her children's lives because of these thoughts. She holds an intense anger for the children and is convinced that they were keeping her in bondage and wasting her life. When a mother feels as though she is slaves to her husband and children, it is impossible for her to fell happy. However, Edna faces no harsh work, her husband is a wealthy man and buys her nice things, and she lives, and while her life is not one without any problems, it does not have any significant obstacles. This look into Edna's lifestyle asks the questions, How could Edna be unhappy with such a

Show More
Related

  • Edna's Suicide In The Awakening

    396 Words  | 2 Pages

    This shows how she wants to escape from her motherly responsibilities. In chapter eleven page 31, Edna realizes how she used to be so submissive and obedient to her husband. She is being told to come

    Read More

  • Examples Of Societal Standards In The Awakening

    1624 Words  | 7 Pages

    While at the Grand Isle, Edna meets several contrasting characters who help develop her defiant thoughts eventually leading to her awakening. One of her closest friends, Madame Ratignolle, is described as the ideal mother and wife; she is attentive to her husband and cares for her children above all else. Ironically, Edna feels the opposite way; she would “give up the unessential; [she] would give [her] money, [she] would give [her] life for [her] children; but [she] wouldn’t give [her]self” (40). When she revealed this opinion to Madame Ratignolle “a rather heated argument [followed]; the two women did not appear to understand each other or to be talking the same language” (52). Edna’s attitude toward her children compared to Madame Ratignolle’s is the first of many rebellious

    Read More

  • Edna's Role In The Awakening

    1236 Words  | 5 Pages

    Edna’s house in New Orleans that Mr. Pontellier owns represents her responsibilities as a mother and wife. There, she must abide by Mr. Pontellier’s rules as well as society’s expectations of her. Discontent with those rules, Edna attempts to break from those responsibilities by breaking the vase in her husband’s house after trying to ruin her wedding ring. Here, she is no longer submissive, but trying to set herself free. Eventually, Edna moves to her own house that her husband does not own, which allows her to make her own decisions and allows her to decide what she will do each day.

    Read More

  • What Is Edna's Allegory Of The Cave

    1171 Words  | 5 Pages

    Her frequent vacations to the island, like her frequent dips into the ocean, begin to spark a personal change within the woman. A Creole man, Robert, shows Edna a new dimension of feelings she never knew she lived without, and she begins to look through life through a new lens. Having been awakened for the first time, she sees injustice and mistreatment where she saw none before. Chopin uses Edna’s new observations and reactions to the culture around her to illustrate the myriad ways women were marginalized. In an ironic twist, the white woman from Kentucky proves to be more liberated than her more traditional husband, who grew up

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier's Attitudes Toward Motherhood In The Awakening

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Outward Conformity In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    825 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edna 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.

    Read More

  • Moral Ambiguity In Kate Chopin's The Awa

    603 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edna even says herself, “I would give up the unessential…my money…my life for my children, but not myself.” For her life, Edna realized that means her marriage and physical life. As far as her marriage, Edna was never truly happy with her marriage with Leonce. Furthermore, Edna states she truly cares for her children, but sometimes her search for herself may conflict with this. This then further discourages readers even more due to the fact that this gives insight to her actions, and somewhat justifies them.

    Read More

  • The Expectations Of Women In Edna Chopin's The Awakening

    944 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edna Pontellier in the novel, The Awakening, is a self-driven woman determined to become independent and free whilst undergoing a significant change in behavior throughout the novel. She attempts to withstand societal expectations by doing certain things that were not socially acceptable during this time period. While doing so, she experiences many different struggles during her awakening. These struggles that Edna undergoes may be described as internal as well as external. In the awakening, there is a constant conflict between inner and outer Edna.

    Read More

  • Edna's Roles In The Awakening

    1386 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Adele And Edna Pontellier In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    519 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Awakening

    1178 Words  | 5 Pages

    Even while in physical pain herself and needing tending, Adele focuses on children, believing that to be a perfect mother one must be willing to sacrifice anything for her children. Adele tries to get Edna to see her point of view and adopt it. Again, Adele’s unsolicited advice shows how passionately she feels about the subject, which is not her own idea at all but simply society’s rule imposed on

    Read More

  • The Awakening Summary

    1234 Words  | 5 Pages

    Edna is struggling to choose a identity between a mother, wife, lover etc. She seems to not want to be subject as the possession of anybody. She focuses on independence even denying Robert of her love towards him which if she chose to stay with him, she would be associated with him and therefore labeled. She looks up to Madame Reisz as an independent woman, pursuing her passions and doing as she pleases. "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn 't give

    Read More

  • Motherhood In The Awakening

    919 Words  | 4 Pages

    At the beginning of the novel, Edna had appeared to be recognizing the fact that her life revolves around her husband and her children, and that it is her main duty to care for them. It is mainly Mr. Pontellier, her husband, who tries to establish an image of her being a both a perfect partner and wife. He views her as an object that must be suitable for the eyes of society. According to him, his wife is a “valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage” (Chopin 2). He is controlling over her appearance and actions.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper And The Awakening Analysis

    1122 Words  | 5 Pages

    Edna’s life is less rough than the women because Kate Chopin the author of the Awakening plays with the connection of reality vs. appearance. This connection highlights the situation of people as she puts on a mask to fit the social expectations. In the novel we can see, Edna lives in a life with two different personalities. We can see this at the beginning of the book in chapter 7, “even as a child she had lived her own small life all within herself. At a very early

    Read More

  • Handmaid's Tale Identity

    871 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edna’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.

    Read More

More about Edna's Role In The Awakening

Open Document