Finding Freedom In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

In the “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the author centers the novel around Edna Pontellier who goes through a journey of finding freedom in environment with strict gender roles for women in the Victorian era. She proceeds to go on a journey of finding independence in a strict society by breaking the rules that has set up for her. There are several instances throughout the novel where she disobeyed the gender roles for the sake of her own freedom. An instance is when Edna was being defiant towards her husband when he repeatedly asked her come back to the house. Another instance is when she decided to leave her husband and live on her own little house. Edna becomes very courageous in her pursuit to find independence by abandoning the stereotype of a submissive wife through her drinking very unladylike and declaring herself free from her role as a wife. The importance of these scenes is to illustrate how Edna desire to be free results in her doing the courageous act of disobeying the gender roles. Chopin demonstrates this through dialogue in her novel. In the Victorian era, women always obeyed their husbands and were respectful to …show more content…
There are many scenes that illustrate her pursuit. Chopin uses small scenes that are easily overlooked as small details, but these scenes hold very deep meaning to understand Edna’s path to freedom. Edna is very courageous woman for trying to find freedom in a oppressive environment that confines women from having any kind of freedom. She followed her own mind knowing how dangerous her actions were, but she truly desires to break away from her society and be free. So the only way to do this was to break the gender rules set up for her. Chopin use of small details in her novel showcases that Edna is a very courageous because she is trying to break out of a role that she finds to restrict her way to being