the late nineteenth century, this was not the case. Women could survive solely by relying on their husbands to take care of them. Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” was one of these women until she was exposed to a group of free-thinking Creole women after spending a summer vacationing in Grand Isle. Through a series of experiences, or “awakenings,” Edna becomes a shockingly independent woman, who lives apart from her husband and children and is responsible only to her own urges and
backlash that is typically seen from society when one behaves out of the norm. Edna Pontellier, a 28-year-old woman, suddenly finds herself dissatisfied with the conservative lifestyle that she has to live. Edna discovers ways to express herself, the main way being through art, which leads to the surprising surface of her long-repressed emotions. In the Awakening by Kate Chopin, Self-expression is a recurring theme in which Edna expresses herself during a spiritual journey through the way she begins to
Voyage of Self-Discovery: Edna Pontellier’s Awakening in a Stifling Society Edna Pontellier is a woman out of time. Born into the patriarchal society of the late Victorian era, she is pulled into a loveless marriage and struggles in vain to fulfill her axiomatic duties. But Edna possesses an inner soul that constantly questions her position in the universe and pushes her to satisfy her most basic desires. Kate Chopin’s novella, The Awakening, illustrates the voyage that Edna undertakes in order to fulfill
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, the protagonist, struggles to find her identity as a woman in a society that emphasizes very little on a woman’s role. Edna encounters not only her own personal boundaries with her two small sons and finding where her priorities lie concerning them but her society’s ideals of a true Victorian mother and woman and all that role encompasses. Victorian society in New Orleans at the time believed that the role of a woman should be restricted simply to
apply to people’s lives today. A theme may be stated directly or indirectly in a literary work. A theme differs from the topic or subject of a literary work. Instead, it involves a statement or opinion about the topic. In the novels Beowulf and The Awakening, the author uses themes that may be relatable to people’s lives. In addition, there are a significant amount of relatable themes to my personal life from literary works. Both authors use foreshadowing to create themes in their works. The two novels
revolution. (Walder, p.257) Paradoxically, Edna’s awakening is cumulative and complex as she experiences a powerful, emotional and physical awakening and becomes enlightened to her inner-self. The omniscient narrator describes the process as “Mrs Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the world as a human being, and to recognise her relations as an individual to the world within and about her.” (Chopin, p.16) Peculiarly, Edna’s sexual awakening is comparable to animals in that her sexual impulses