Restrictions of Society in The Awakening Essay -- Kate Chopin

Edna Pontellier’s Struggle for Freedom in The Awakening by Kate Chopin In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the constant boundaries and restrictions placed on Edna Pontellier by society will lead to her struggle for freedom and her ultimate suicide. Her husband Leonce Pontellier, the current women of society, and the Grand Isle make it evident that Edna is trapped in a patriarchal society. Despite these people, Edna has a need to be free and she is able to escape from the society that she despises. The sea, Robert Lebrun, and Mademoiselle Reisz serve as Edna’s outlets from conformity. â€Å"Edna's journey for personal independence involves finding the words to express herself. She commits suicide rather than sacrificing her independent, individual existence as social conventions demand of her† (Ewell 153). There are constant boundaries and restrictions imposed on Edna Pontellier that initiate Edna’s struggle for freedom. Edna is a young Creole wife and mother in a high-class society. The novel unfolds the life of a woman who feels dissatisfied and restrained by the expectations of society. Leonce Pontellier, her husband is declared â€Å"†¦the best husband in the world† (Chopin 6). Edna is forced to admit that she knew of none better. Edna married Leonce because he courted her earnestly and her father was opposed to her marriage to a Catholic. â€Å"Edna felt that her marriage would anchor her to the conventional standards of society and end her infatuation† (Skaggs 30). She is fond of Leonce, but he does not incite passionate feelings. Edna represents women in the past that were suppressed. These women weren't allowed to give their opinions and were often seen as objects, which explains the way her husband never really saw Edna as his wife, but more as a mate rial possession. â€Å"You are burnt beyond recognition, he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered great damage† (Chopin 2). In this society, men viewed their wives as an object, and she receives only the same respect as a possession. Edna did not respect her husband as the other women did. While he talked to her, Edna was overcome with sleep and answered him with little half utterances. â€Å"Leonce thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so litt... ...e interest of ending the monotony she lives with as a result of her being confined into her aristocratic society. Throughout the novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna seeks independence from society. Her series of awakenings are mostly about achieving this goal. The sea, Robert Lebrun, and Mademoiselle Reisz are her awakenings. In the end, Edna's freedom takes place in death. This is the choice that social convention allows her. Edna cannot have anything she desires in this world, and therefore removed herself from it in a final â€Å"awakening† of her soul. Her thoughts as she walks into the sea comment profoundly on the identity problems that women face: "She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul" (Chopin 152). Works Cited Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Bantam Books, 1992. Dyer, Joyce. â€Å"Symbolism and Imagery in The Awakening†. Unveiling Kate Chopin. Ed. Emily Toth. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. 126-130. Ewell, Barbara C. Kate Chopin. New York: The Ungar Publishing Company, 1986. Skaggs, Peggy. Kate Chopin. Boston: Twane Publishers, 1985.