The Awakening

I thought that the whole story line of The Awakening was intriguing. It must have been really difficult for Kate Chopin to write about something that would appear so outlandish in this time. I have to admire people who have the determination to make their opinions known in order for them to bring about change. I felt that the concept of Edna's awakening and her transformation from being an object to being a subject with an active role in her life was interesting and inspiring. However, I don't believe that suicide was the answer to the problems that Edna was facing. Although, I believe that it was a strong, radical, message that reinforced Chopin's purpose in writing the novel. Edna can be a role model in the respect that she is not willing to submit herself to a man's dominance. She takes a stand on women's individuality by speaking up for herself, especially at the end of the novel when she says "I'm not going to be forced into doing things" (Chopin 111). Robert is even taken aback by Edna's lack of a need to be "owned" by a man, as he dreamed about the day when he could "own" her himself.However, I believe that a mother should be more willing to give more of herself for her children, unlike Edna, who claimed that she was unwilling to give herself for her children.

I thought it was interesting that Professor Messner introduced the idea of individual acts of creative rebellion. Although I wouldn't necessarily consider it creative, Edna's suicide certainly stands out as an act of rebellion against the social mores that she was expected to uphold. The Awakening itself is an individual act of creative rebellion. I also found it interesting that Professor Messner highlighted the need for these individual acts to be combined with an organized movement so that the collective efforts of these will all be able to transform the values of society.

I would ask "What would have happened if Robert didn't leave?"