Imagine being a woman in the Victorian Era, a time where the social expectation for women were the following: to get married, have kids, and perform maternal responsibilities. What if you did not meet the expectations of being a mother? Would you endure being frowned upon by society, during a mid-life crisis? Evidently, there is a possibility of being forced to deal with adversities. Given the setting there are consequences for betraying these social expectations. Edna Pontellier was a woman born during this time period in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin. She was forced to go through the hardship of completely leaving her place in her life, emotionally and physically. Edna went through the struggle to find her inner peace.
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It is a recurring motif in the novel. Edna feels trapped like she can't breathe; the cage portrays everything in her current place in life. Her husband, kids, and house. I say house because a house is not the same place as a home. Her "home" later in the book is named the "pigeon house", a better fitting name that follows the theme of Edna being a bird trapped in a cage. Although, the house symbolizes her obtaining her freedom that she so deeply longed for. (CHOPIN 72) "When Edna was at last alone, she breathed a big, genuine sigh of relief. A feeling that was unfamiliar but very delicious came over …show more content…
This shows that her husband Leonce is not only to blame for he is simply following societies expectations. However, men do deserve some blame for their actions and women also take part in their own demise. They simply let themselves be victim to societies expectation of them, then men simply play the role of dominance. (JOHN MILL) "The ideology of women seen as their husband’s property was viewed by Victorian moralists as the perfect ideal wife. Throughout the Victorian period the perfect lady was an ideal of femininity. Women who deviated from the narrow definition were branded as virile and even sharp tongued". John Mill describes how women during that time period were described for betraying the social expectations.
The suicide of Edna Pontellier can be looked at as a paradox. On one hand it could be an act of self-release, she killed herself because she could not handle the adversities and did not want to deal with those problems anymore. On the other hand, it could be seen as her going against societies expectations and making a stand for herself. All other women can see this act as a final stance against society to prove she wouldn’t conform. (CHOPIN
116) " She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a
It is a recurring motif in the novel. Edna feels trapped like she can't breathe; the cage portrays everything in her current place in life. Her husband, kids, and house. I say house because a house is not the same place as a home. Her "home" later in the book is named the "pigeon house", a better fitting name that follows the theme of Edna being a bird trapped in a cage. Although, the house symbolizes her obtaining her freedom that she so deeply longed for. (CHOPIN 72) "When Edna was at last alone, she breathed a big, genuine sigh of relief. A feeling that was unfamiliar but very delicious came over …show more content…
This shows that her husband Leonce is not only to blame for he is simply following societies expectations. However, men do deserve some blame for their actions and women also take part in their own demise. They simply let themselves be victim to societies expectation of them, then men simply play the role of dominance. (JOHN MILL) "The ideology of women seen as their husband’s property was viewed by Victorian moralists as the perfect ideal wife. Throughout the Victorian period the perfect lady was an ideal of femininity. Women who deviated from the narrow definition were branded as virile and even sharp tongued". John Mill describes how women during that time period were described for betraying the social expectations.
The suicide of Edna Pontellier can be looked at as a paradox. On one hand it could be an act of self-release, she killed herself because she could not handle the adversities and did not want to deal with those problems anymore. On the other hand, it could be seen as her going against societies expectations and making a stand for herself. All other women can see this act as a final stance against society to prove she wouldn’t conform. (CHOPIN
116) " She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a