Theme Of Edna Pontellier's Responsibility In The Awakening

What would your instinct be between a high moral desire and responsibility during the Victorian Era? During the 19th century there seemed to be a “woman code of conduct” per se. All woman were to sacrifice their desires in order to attend more attention towards their children and responsibilities, although in this book Edna Pontellier went more towards her desires rather than face responsibility. In Kate Chopin’s book The Awakening the main character, Edna Pontellier, is having trouble figuring out what she truly wants. Her husband, two children, and her spend the summer on Grand Isle living in a pension. The same upper-class Creole families vacation there for the summer in their own cottages, although they all eat together for dinner. Edna is friends with someone named Madame Ratignolle who in this specific era and society is characterized as the perfect example of a “motherly woman”. Madame sacrifices certain characteristics of personal identity in order to care for her

Initially, Edna is characterized as independent as she is following the Victorian orders for women which was to move aside her personality and care for her children and husband. At this point Edna has realized that her husband is weighing her down and she tries to find herself by separating herself from her family and home. She finds that she loves Robert after her “awakening” whilst he seems to acknowledge that he is trespassing a line between what he thinks is right and leaves Edna alone to face her awakening. Another theme represented in the book has to do with class and society. Was Edna going on a suicide swim or was it an accident due to the way society has made her believe things should be during this specific era and considering that Leonce was a well known man who traveled immensely and solely depended on Edna to fill her role while he was