Grand Isle

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is an artfully crafted piece of literature in the late nineteenth century. During this time, The Awakening is seen as vulgar and distasteful to many critics, but the book gave a much-needed “eye opener” to the perspective of women’s suffrage. This story is told in the eyes of Edna Pontellier, a wife and mother, who struggles with the ideas of freedom and self-awareness. Society’s expectations of women are to be a “stay-at-home” caretaker of the home and children…

will be home by herself. Edna is relived by this. She acts as though her family was a burden and she no longer has responsibility. When they leave she runs around the house as happy as can be abandoning her responsibilities freely. "That summer at Grand Isle she began to loosen a little the mantle of reserve that had always enveloped her. There may have been—there must have been—influences, both subtle and apparent, working in their several…

happiness of their families. Edna and Lucy did not fulfill these expectations. As a mother, Edna was supposed to stay home to look after their home and children. Edna, however, “was not a mother-woman. The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy…

Edna. The pianist stands for the life Edna can pursue: a life that is unconventional but would bring happiness to her. Mademoiselle Reisz was a widow who immersed herself in music; whereas, Madam Ratignolle was “the empress of the ‘mother women’ of Grand Isle.”(Showalter…

Society in the 1890’s had women subservient and ruled by men. Thus, women were often defined by a man, whether he was her father or husband, and if they were not they became separate from society. Edna Ponteiller in The Awakening by Kate Chopin is no exception. This novel reflects the idea that men in, specifically, Creole society in New Orleans greatly impact the lives of women. Edna desires a greater purpose in life, but her position limits her prospects. The men in Edna’s life, Lèonce…

master her feeling by not to showing outward and spoken feelings of affections, either in herself or in others. This common custom seems to be understood among wealthy married women and their husbands. However, one summer while vacationing at the Grand Isle, the reserved manner Edna always enveloped began to loosen a little and her soul began to awaken. That summer, a young man named Robert Lebrun stirred Edna’s…

Literary Criticism: The Awakening and the Failure of the Psyche It is apparent that one can correlate Greek mythology to The Awakening when reading Franklin’s criticism. Franklin associates the paradigm of Psyche to the pathological, internal struggle of Edna, where the fear of the confrontation of solitude is prevalent. Franklin first explains the irony in the title of The Awakening, given the fact that Edna sleeps, living in a world filled with fantasy rather than being psychologically and…

The Awakening Is More than "Sex Fiction" The audience was scandalized. The critics condemned the book as immoral. Some went so far as to call it "essentially vulgar" and "sex fiction" (Literature 20). This was the public outcry that Kate Chopin's The Awakening caused upon its publication in 1899. The reviews were overwhelmingly negative, denouncing the novel for its daring discussion of matters such as female sexuality and extramarital affairs. Since then, The Awakening has taken on a new…

selfish internal dilemma, which contradicts the idea of Chopin’s magnum opus being a feminist text. Earlier in the book, Edna has a very disrespectful encounter with a young woman Mariqueta. Mariqueta is a Mexican woman who also is staying at the Grand Isle for the summer, and she is often seen flirting with Robert or his brother Victor. Edna constantly belittles Mariqeta when describing or talking about her. She first refers to Marquieta as a “girl” and also calls feet as “ugly” and brown”.…

Edna Pontellier constitutes the modern day definition of a tragic hero, becoming the pioneer for the freedom of women against the social circumstances in the late Victorian Era. Within The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna stands as a testament for self-expression at the sacrifice of her social status, and as a result, falls as a tragic hero. Edna begins subtly defying her husband through ignoring his requests and denying his desires. She slowly breaks away to gain a measure of independence from…