The enigma that is Edna Pontillier paints the theme in question quite literally. The feminist undertones of The Awakening along with Edna’s self-realization bring forward the theme of Identity in Kate Chopin’s last novel. Throughout the everyday tasks of her life, Edna realizes that she has been changing, and seeing the world from a strange new view. Edna’s identity search consists of both her individual freedom and of the start women’s freedom everywhere. The search for identity in Edna’s life is exemplified through her pursuit of romance, denial of family life and her personal desires and passions in this fictional home by the sea.
Marriage and romance are a large portion of the development of the identity theme, from passion and love affairs …show more content…
Edna is a painter, in love with it and completely content with it. In an argument with her husband, Leonce, she replies to his accusation of her “neglect” of wifely and motherly duties in order to be distracted by a mere hobby by exclaiming that painting is not a distraction or hobby, but that she does not aspire to be a perfect motherly woman, and through this exclamation, provides a clear feminist identity forming in the protagonist, Edna Pontillier. In solitude, Edna realizes that she views the world much differently now than she had last summer, all her passions and desires seeping through. This different view is a realization of who she is becoming. Her chats with a friend, Adele, on the beach led Adele to worry that she will stray from Leonce because of Robert, a thing not expected of any wife in this creole site. Adele’s suspicion here makes the reader really think about how Edna is changing and how that causes suspicion in her close friends. Edna’s change visibly impacts her mood when the narrator tells us of the joyful, melodious days she has in pure bliss just being alive in the sunshine, and also the days she feels a dull, dragging depression, holding no will to live on others. This change, if compared to the other mother-women, is incredibly drastic! It is barbaric and frowned upon to even think such sadness when one is depended on by her loving family, and a happiness so beautiful is only handed to a woman with an equally happy husband and children. Edna’s transformation causes her to feel emotions as an individual woman, as opposed to a mother, a wife, or a piece of property. Finally, Edna’s thoughts revolve much around the transformation she is realizing is happening inside her, one specific instance is when she refers to herself in two ways; the outward existence and the inward life. The outward existence is a shell of a mother-woman that Edna
Marriage and romance are a large portion of the development of the identity theme, from passion and love affairs …show more content…
Edna is a painter, in love with it and completely content with it. In an argument with her husband, Leonce, she replies to his accusation of her “neglect” of wifely and motherly duties in order to be distracted by a mere hobby by exclaiming that painting is not a distraction or hobby, but that she does not aspire to be a perfect motherly woman, and through this exclamation, provides a clear feminist identity forming in the protagonist, Edna Pontillier. In solitude, Edna realizes that she views the world much differently now than she had last summer, all her passions and desires seeping through. This different view is a realization of who she is becoming. Her chats with a friend, Adele, on the beach led Adele to worry that she will stray from Leonce because of Robert, a thing not expected of any wife in this creole site. Adele’s suspicion here makes the reader really think about how Edna is changing and how that causes suspicion in her close friends. Edna’s change visibly impacts her mood when the narrator tells us of the joyful, melodious days she has in pure bliss just being alive in the sunshine, and also the days she feels a dull, dragging depression, holding no will to live on others. This change, if compared to the other mother-women, is incredibly drastic! It is barbaric and frowned upon to even think such sadness when one is depended on by her loving family, and a happiness so beautiful is only handed to a woman with an equally happy husband and children. Edna’s transformation causes her to feel emotions as an individual woman, as opposed to a mother, a wife, or a piece of property. Finally, Edna’s thoughts revolve much around the transformation she is realizing is happening inside her, one specific instance is when she refers to herself in two ways; the outward existence and the inward life. The outward existence is a shell of a mother-woman that Edna