Social Constraint In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Even though Leonce is wealthy and spoils Edna, she is not happy with her marriage and seeks to get out of it. Mr. Pontellier expects Edna to take care of their children and run the family by herself, given

Immediately, she says, “'Leonce, go to bed, ... I mean to stay out here. I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to. Don't speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you'” [Edna] (Kindle location 589). It is here that she anchors her freedom. Her role as an obedient Creole wife has ended.

Edna becomes so caught up in wallowing in the instant gratification Robert used to provide her with that it “did not strike her as in the least grotesque that she should be making of Robert the object of conversation…” (47). Edna feels no shame in her infatuation with Robert. While she claims she loves Robert, he only sees her relationship with him for its short-term effect on her mood and not as a viable option for her future. Similar to Robert LeBrun, Alcée Arobin provides Edna with a false intimacy; but instead of emotional support, he offers Edna an outlet to act on her more carnal desires. Edna even acknowledges the fact that her affair with Alcée means nothing to her, but she still allows herself to submit to his intentions, only pausing briefly to wonder what Robert, not her husband, would think (77). At times, Edna exhibits a sense of morality, but she immediately silences her conscience whenever it is advising her not to do something that would yield immediate pleasure. Léonce is losing his wife, and Edna offers him no explanation as to why she is no longer

But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul" (504).  Although Edna did perform her duties as a wife for some time, she is not the typical housewife.  She does not worship her husband or idolize her children, which makes both Edna and Leonce begin to sense that Edna is different from the other mother-women (Lin 1).  Edna never realized the reasons she neglected her duties as a wife until she fell in love with Robert and acknowledged that her desires and needs exist outside of her marriage.  Thus, after her experiences with Robert, Edna is ready to neglect her husband even more, because she now realizes that her husband is holding her back from her needs.  When Leonce tries to make Edna act like the other women that obey their husbands, his attempts to control Edna further instigate Edna's desire for independence from him.  For example, the scene when Edna is lying in the hammock, Leonce says: "I can't permit you to stay out there all night.  You must come in the house instantly," Edna replies: "I mean to stay out here.  I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to.  Don't speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you" (492).  Edna is carefree and spirited, and she refuses to conform to her husband because she does not want to lose herself.  Becoming the perfect, obedient wife would mean losing her individuality, and Edna realizes she can gain no fulfillment

Of course, when she left her children alone their defiance took root. When Edna returned, her son was not sleeping as the rest of the children were, but instead he had refused, slowly getting caught up in his night robe and yet still trying to remain in control. His little act of course had no effect on his authority, as Edna’s acts of staying up and then going to the cherniere did not give her any control over her husband. These acts of defiance, trying to break little rules, occur because she can simply not break the major ones. Leonce is not yet mad at Edna but you can see for the first time the difference in how he treats her. He is nervous when she does not immediately return and wants to go look for her, as a concerned parent would look for their child. This shows how Edna is looked at as a child, similarly as to how the boy must be coddled in order to get him to sleep Edna receives the same treatment in order to get her to behave. In the same ways that Edna was reprimanded for acting out, she reflects toward her

In first paragraph of the novel, Kate Chopin describes an image of a bird that is restrained from its freedom just as Edna feels held back from hers. “A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door...” (Chopin, pg#) There is symbolism behind the caged bird, which refers to Edna’s feelings of imprisonment. The bird symbolize Edna at home, a place she can’t escape from and has to live with under her husband’s “ruling”. There is a saying in Spanish that states

In Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier came in contact with many different people during a summer at Grand Isle. Some had little influence on her life while others had everything to do with the way she lived the rest of her life. The influences and actions of Robert Lebrun on Edna led to her realization that she could never get what she wanted, which in turn caused her to take her own life.

The oppressive way of society which is educated, elevates men from different generations to restraint women from doing the contrare of their expectations. It is inaccurate for a woman to go against their natural expectations as a mom, daughter, wife, and in general as a woman in the late 1800 's. The character Edna in the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin, has various men in her life which include her husband Leonce Pontellier, her lover Robert, and her father the Colonel who all attempted to repress her which caused her ambivalence in her existence and rebel against the gender barriers.

The birds speak French and Latin with the extent of permissions to do anything they want. However, they “were the property of Madame Lebrun” (Chopin 1), so they could not roam outside the Lebrun household. The observation of the birds entails the similar situation of Edna being the wife of Leonce Pontellier, but she owns many privileges and wealth that anyone could dream of. However, she does not want to take role as a wife and mother.

In the story about Edna Pontellier a major theme is her omitted self discovery. In the story we can see how Chopin uses style, tone and content to make the reader understand how it was for a person challenging many of the beliefs of the society at the beginning of the twentieth century.

To what extent does Edna Pontellier, in Kate Chopin's The Awakening, mark a departure from the female characters of earlier nineteenth-century American novels

From even the first few chapters of the novel it is evident that Edna is becoming aware of her concealed wants and desires as she begins to distance herself from the society that she considers herself to be an outsider in. While walking in town Edna

She leaves the care of her children to her grandmother, abandoning them and her husband when she leaves to live in the pigeon-house. To her, leaving her old home with Léonce is very important to her freedom. Almost everything in their house belonged to him, so even if he were to leave, she would still feel surrounded by his possessions. She never fully becomes free of him until she physically leaves the house. That way, Edna has no ties whatsoever to that man. Furthermore, Edna indulges in more humanistic things such as art and music. She listens to Mademoiselle Reisz’s playing of the piano and feels the music resonate throughout her body and soul, and uses it as a form of escapism from the world. Based on these instances, Edna acts almost like a very young child, completely disregarding consequences and thinking only about what they want to do experience most at that moment. However, to the reader this does not necessarily appear “bad”, but rather it is seen from the perspective of a person who has been controlled by others their entire life and wishes to break free from their grasp. In a way, she is enacting a childlike and subconscious form of revenge by disobeying all known social constructs of how a woman should talk, walk, act, and interact with others.

As the novel progresses, Edna is able to escape from the hands of Leonce Pontellier, and she moves into a small house down the street in which she calls the pigeon house. The symbol of the bird is used here by saying she may be able to release herself from Leonce but she isn’t able to release herself from society, that she if forever trapped. In the end of the novel, before Edna’s tragedy, a bird with a broken wing crashes into the sea. This bird can be connected with the advice that Mademoiselle Reisz told Edna that she needed strong wings to soar. The connection for shadows Edna’s tragedy, and reveals her complete failure to find complete freedom and happiness.

In the beginning of the novel, Edna seems to have the perfect life— she is wealthy, beautiful, married, and the mother of two little boys. Yet, she is unhappy. Throughout the novel, it becomes increasingly obvious of Edna’s difficulty in the field of marriage. She is married to Leonce Pontellier, who is, by the standards of his day, considered the perfect husband. He makes a good living, is a popular figure in society, and gives Edna plenty of money and gifts. However, he expects Edna to be a perfect wife in return— a woman who takes care of the house, dotes on her children, and keeps up with