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¶ … Awakening
Edna Pontellier- a failure
Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" is a novel, which projects an entirely different perspective of women during the late nineteenth century. It is generally considered as a daring attempt to portray women as a self-reliant and independent being in a male dominated society. Through the character of Edna, the protagonist of the novel, the author tries to create a revolutionary change in the society. In the novel the author walks us through the different phases of Edna's life culminating in her committing suicide. Let us study the character of Edna and analyze if she was successful in achieving her objective of freedom and independence.
A view Edna's life as a failure from the perspective that she succumbs to the rejection from Robert and chooses to end up her life. The main feature of the novel is Edna's quest for freedom and liberation form the traditional outlook of society. Certainly Edna did achieve a certain degree of freedom by compromising on moral considerations. Edna's bold attempts at her freedom however do not reflect...
The very fact that she is not able to face society and stand up to her wishes indicates that her life was a failure. When it comes to analyzing how best the independence that she gained helped her with her life we are certainly faced with doubts. That Edna is not emotionally developed to handle a crisis situation, which results when Robert leaves her, puts the whole idea of independence to question. It only seems to attest the fact Edna isn't matured enough to handle life's exigencies. In fact she is kind of trapped between two extremes of life unsure as to where exactly she belongs.
We can only draw two conclusions from her suicide. Either Edna intended to show her rebellion attitude or she succumbed to social pressure. Either way her decision was a wronged one and is an acceptance of defeat. That fact that Edna chooses to end her life seems to indicate her acceptance of the reality of life. The tragic end to the novel emphasizes the predominance of reality over wishful thinking. Also the fact that after all her striving for independence and selfhood, in…
Edna's behavior has been foreshadowed through a conversation about her past with Mrs. Ratignolle in which Edna tells Adele of her childhood and the actions she took and the choices she made. Edna tells Adele, "I was a little unthinking child in those days, just following a misleading impulse without question" (61). Edna has not come far from her childhood days of defying what society thought should be done with
Kate Chopin lived and created in a time when society could not or was not willing to handle her. When she died, in 1903, it felt like the world was putting her on hold. She was a woman ahead of her times who rang the "awakening" for a cohort of women. Her tolling bells would only be heard more than half a century later when a man, a Norwegian professor
Awakening Kate Chopin's the Awakening is a tale of rebellion against social norms and the danger of venturing too far away from traditional conventions. The protagonist, Edna, is married to Leonce Pontellier, a businessman from New Orleans. They have a beautiful house on Esplanade Street and are as one would say, respectable society. The novel opens on Grand Isle, just outside New Orleans, where the Pontelliers and their small children are
Chopin's The Awakening Edna Pontellier's Quest for Freedom in Chopin's the Awakening Kate Chopin's The Awakening revolves around Edna Pontellier and her quest for self-discovery. During the course of her journey, Edna breaks away from the socially acceptable behavior expected of women at the time. As a woman, Edna was expected to marry "and take part in [her] husband's interests and business" (Appell). Additionally, "women were not…allowed to be educated or gain
Mallard locks herself in her room and looks to nature for consolation, a situation that seems to dissolve the tension that she was subjected to, and Mrs. Sommers goes on a shopping and fun spree that ends up in the movie theatre. Finally at the end of the three stories there seems to be a successfully resolved situation for the tension that was, Calixta seems at peace with the
Kate Chopin (1850-1904) was born Katherine O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1850. She didn't begin her writing career until after 1882, the year in which her husband, Oscar Chopin died (Toth). She spent several years publishing short stories, based on the Creole and Cajun cultures of Louisiana, where she and Oscar had lived. Her first novel, At Fault, was published in 1890. It was her second novel The Awakening