The Awakening Final Essay
The novel titled The Awakening tells the story of a woman struggling to find herself during a time where society placed restrictions on women’s freedom of expression. The novel, written by Kate Chopin, takes place in the nineteenth century. The main character, Edna Pontellier, is a mother and a wife who is not content with the life she lives. Throughout the novel Edna goes through different stages and deals with many different people that contribute to her “awakening”. Edna struggles to find her purpose in this society that is holding her back. Edna’s encounters include two men she becomes romantically involved with, other than her husband, Leonce. The two men, Robert and Alcee, help open Edna up in some ways. A …show more content…
These two extramarital affairs brought Edna out of her comfort zone and allowed her to open up.”...because h e has two lips and a square chin, and a little finger which he can’t straighten…” (Chopin) This was Edna’s response when she was asked why she loved Robert despite not actually being able to love him. Robert was the one that Edna loved and wanted to be with, but she knew it was out of the question to develop a relationship with him considering she was married. No other person made Edna feel the way that Robert did so when he decided to move away, Edna was startled. Alcee in no way gave Edna a connected feeling but he was a sexual distraction from the emptiness she felt from Roberts moving away. Robert chose to spend some time away from Edna because he knew that it was impossible for them to be together. This is showing that Edna indeed experienced an “Awakening” throughout many phases in this novel. Her awakening was sparked and affected by certain people in her life. All the while she is dealing with these two other men, she remains married to her children’s father, Leonce Pontellier.”Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of fate.”(Chopin 7) Leonce is not in the marriage for the romance or a connection but because he is not willing to face society without having the “perfect …show more content…
She overcame so much just for it all to go to waste. “She walked out. The water was chill, but she walked on.”(Chopin 39) By committing suicide, Edna is failing. Giving up is not the way to finish her search of her Awakening. It was all too much for her to handle. “ ….the moral implications of her role are so deeply a part of Edna’s psyche that there is no way to remove them, except through death”. (Dyer) By choosing to end her life, Edna is finding a way out of reality. She has found her Awakening but instead of pushing forward and fighting more to get to that level of confidence that she so badly wants, she gives it up by killing herself. This evidence points to Edna’s suicide as more of a failure than anything
The novel titled The Awakening tells the story of a woman struggling to find herself during a time where society placed restrictions on women’s freedom of expression. The novel, written by Kate Chopin, takes place in the nineteenth century. The main character, Edna Pontellier, is a mother and a wife who is not content with the life she lives. Throughout the novel Edna goes through different stages and deals with many different people that contribute to her “awakening”. Edna struggles to find her purpose in this society that is holding her back. Edna’s encounters include two men she becomes romantically involved with, other than her husband, Leonce. The two men, Robert and Alcee, help open Edna up in some ways. A …show more content…
These two extramarital affairs brought Edna out of her comfort zone and allowed her to open up.”...because h e has two lips and a square chin, and a little finger which he can’t straighten…” (Chopin) This was Edna’s response when she was asked why she loved Robert despite not actually being able to love him. Robert was the one that Edna loved and wanted to be with, but she knew it was out of the question to develop a relationship with him considering she was married. No other person made Edna feel the way that Robert did so when he decided to move away, Edna was startled. Alcee in no way gave Edna a connected feeling but he was a sexual distraction from the emptiness she felt from Roberts moving away. Robert chose to spend some time away from Edna because he knew that it was impossible for them to be together. This is showing that Edna indeed experienced an “Awakening” throughout many phases in this novel. Her awakening was sparked and affected by certain people in her life. All the while she is dealing with these two other men, she remains married to her children’s father, Leonce Pontellier.”Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of fate.”(Chopin 7) Leonce is not in the marriage for the romance or a connection but because he is not willing to face society without having the “perfect …show more content…
She overcame so much just for it all to go to waste. “She walked out. The water was chill, but she walked on.”(Chopin 39) By committing suicide, Edna is failing. Giving up is not the way to finish her search of her Awakening. It was all too much for her to handle. “ ….the moral implications of her role are so deeply a part of Edna’s psyche that there is no way to remove them, except through death”. (Dyer) By choosing to end her life, Edna is finding a way out of reality. She has found her Awakening but instead of pushing forward and fighting more to get to that level of confidence that she so badly wants, she gives it up by killing herself. This evidence points to Edna’s suicide as more of a failure than anything