The Role Of Creole Society In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the main character is Edna Pontellier, a twenty-eight year old woman who married to an older businessman from New Orleans. She lives with no concerns for money, and over the course of one summer at Grand Isle, she “awakens” and sees that she is prevented from being who she wants to be by society. She learns to live freely throughout the novel, but faces many obstacles. These obstacles prove to be too difficult to surmount, and the novel concludes with Edna committing suicide in the ocean. While some readers of the novel say that Edna Pontellier took her own life because she was weak and defeated, her tragic demise, which was caused by the oppressions of Creole society, was really caused by Edna’s realization …show more content…
Edna had grown to love being friends with others. Her awakening instilled in her a sense of amiability, and her life would be alone without friends now. However, this newfound freedom made her have less time for her kids and stop her motherly duties. She could not be both a mother and have a self (Simons). Edna comprehends this, and discerns that she has only two available options: end up like Madame Ratignolle, being solely a mother and caring for her children, or end up like Mademoiselle Reisz, a phenomenal artist, but known for being unfriendly and crazy (Toth). Edna no longer appreciated the lifestyle of Madame Ratignolle, and she does not want to end up serving a husband once again. However, the life of Mademoiselle Reisz was also not a fit for Edna, as she was far too lonely for Edna to consider being like Reisz. Edna also did not want to have to do what Reisz did, dedicate her life to the arts, instead keeping her arts as a means to fulfill her social desires. Edna perceives both of these choices to be impossible, as she is unwilling to compromise her views (Bogard). Since she does not want to be like either of these women, she feels the need to be accepted by society to be the woman she now is. Many of the Creole society members already shun her, so her last vestige of hope lies in Robert. When Robert returns, he is stunned be her openness, and tries to avoid her. When she finally meets him, they express their true feelings of love, but Robert says that he is unable to be with her because of Creole opinions on adultery. With her last link to society gone, Edna realizes that her ideals of how to live freely as a women are unattainable. Since there are no further options for her in this world, Edna makes the bold decision to commit suicide. Karen Simons states that, “She would