What Is Edna Pontellier's Role In The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the gender roles and expectations of the novella’s time period were challenged, primarily through the character Edna. Edna was a married woman with two children who had never been fully comfortable with her role as mother or wife. Despite her dissatisfaction with her life, she unthinkingly “[went] through the daily treadmill of the life which had been portioned out to [her]” (Chopin 31) until she met Robert Lebrun, a young and interesting man who awoke the infatuations that Edna had tried to leave in her youth. This also awakened in her a newfound longing for complete ownership over herself, a radical notion for a woman in her position. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier’s realization of the desires and discontentment …show more content…
While on Grand Isle, Edna met Adèle Ratignolle and Robert Lebrun, the former of whom made her wish to emulate the grace with which the other woman held her traditionally feminine role, and the latter of whom made her want to leave behind what she thought she knew of femininity and give in to her desires and impulses. After completing a painting of Madame Ratignolle that Edna was eager to work on and that was “a fair enough piece of work, and in many respects satisfying” (Chopin 12) but bore no resemblance to her friend, Edna ruined the image with a broad stroke of paint across the canvas. She looked forward to painting an accurate image of her friend, just as she wanted to be an accurate imitation of her in order to better play the role that she was expected to play as a woman and a wife. In stark contrast to this desire, Edna also desired a more intimate relationship with Robert, who captivated her in a way that her husband could not and was not disappointed in her like her husband was in regard to the care she gave their