Lyndsay Albright
Response to The Awakening
Spark
Edna Pontellier has opened her eyes to that of what a women can do other than take care of her children. And upon this discovery, she takes full advantage of her new found freedom.
The restrictions and expectations imposed on her in the first place are based purely on the fact that she is a woman. With a theme of this novel being that of femininity and women’s rights as they are, is what the protagonist is challenged with. Edna has other ambitions than to be a mother, a hostess, and a wife such as that of: artistic, financial, and sexual freedom. “I would give my money, I would give my life for my children, but I wouldn’t give myself” (Chopin 53) Edna first finds freedom when Leonce (her husband) goes to work in New York and the children go to Iberville to stay with their grandmother. Edna’s mood after these events is described as “A radiant peace settled upon her when she at last found herself alone. Even the children were gone” (Chopin 80). In the search for her identity, Edna has to oppose her society’s ideals of what it means to be a woman. …show more content…
Edna’s choices for a different life are exhibited by them, due to how different they’re compared to how most women lived and were expected to live at that time period. These characters are the examples that the men in Edna’s life compare her with as the type of women they wouldn’t want her or have any expectation of her wanting to be. Edna, however, she is unable to relate to either of the women’s lifestyles, as they don’t correlate to her own desires and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against both society and
Response to The Awakening
Spark
Edna Pontellier has opened her eyes to that of what a women can do other than take care of her children. And upon this discovery, she takes full advantage of her new found freedom.
The restrictions and expectations imposed on her in the first place are based purely on the fact that she is a woman. With a theme of this novel being that of femininity and women’s rights as they are, is what the protagonist is challenged with. Edna has other ambitions than to be a mother, a hostess, and a wife such as that of: artistic, financial, and sexual freedom. “I would give my money, I would give my life for my children, but I wouldn’t give myself” (Chopin 53) Edna first finds freedom when Leonce (her husband) goes to work in New York and the children go to Iberville to stay with their grandmother. Edna’s mood after these events is described as “A radiant peace settled upon her when she at last found herself alone. Even the children were gone” (Chopin 80). In the search for her identity, Edna has to oppose her society’s ideals of what it means to be a woman. …show more content…
Edna’s choices for a different life are exhibited by them, due to how different they’re compared to how most women lived and were expected to live at that time period. These characters are the examples that the men in Edna’s life compare her with as the type of women they wouldn’t want her or have any expectation of her wanting to be. Edna, however, she is unable to relate to either of the women’s lifestyles, as they don’t correlate to her own desires and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against both society and