An Analysis Of The Last Resort In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

The Last Resort The Awakening by Kate Chopin was at one time considered to be scandalous by many critics in 1899. Chopin uses the character Edna Pontellier to express ideas, that, at that time, were completely oblivious to American society. Edna, an archetypal woman in society, being that she was married with two children, vacationed at a place named Grand Isle during which she began her awakening period with a man named Robert. Over the course of the book, Edna continued to meet influential people such as Adele Ratignolle, Alcee Arobin, and Mademoiselle Reisz, who all continued to spark her desire for independence from the restrictions of society such as her husband and children. Consequently, several incidents occur, such as the ring remaining intact, the party being a failure, her thoughts after she receives Robert’s letter, and a crashing bird that assure her that she will never truly reach the full liberation from the restrictions of society, because she will always have a connection to them in some way. Therefore, one can view these incidents in …show more content…
She was not strong enough to break her wedding ring, or capable of throwing a successful dinner, indicating that she failed in the aspect of being self-reliant because she could not control her emotions. Additionally, her time spent dwelling over Robert’s note, and the struggling bird allowed her to realize that she could not escape the restrictions of society like she wanted and that she basically had done everything for nothing, so she believed it was in her best interest to just give up. Through these examples, one can see that the ambiguous ending was centered around Edna finally being able to reach the peace that she deserved after desperately wanting freedom from unending