The Awakening

For me, "The Awakening" clearly subverts the gender norm of male dominance and female submissiveness through the character Edna Pontellier. During those times, men are supposed to be dominating and in control of women's life and decisions. However, after reading the book, I feel that Mrs. Pontellier is more dominant from her husband and she has freedom and independence in making her own decisions and doing what she wants to do. For example, Edna is able to make the decision to move to a smaller house and not go inside the house when his husband told her to do so. Mrs. Pontellier is also not a traditional subordinate housewife who just stay in the house, nurture her children, cook and serve her husband, etc. She was able to find other useful things for her to do, she went out to meet and hang out with her friends and find her passions in art. I feel that this book supports and emphasize on women's power, independence, and dominance.

This book raised a lot of questions for me. Were there a lot of other women during those time who are as independent as Mrs. Pontellier? What were the society's reactions to dominant woman like Mrs. Pontellier? Were the gender norms of male dominance, female submissiveness, and female's nurturing roles in the household, clearly and strictly applied? If the norms exist then how could Mrs. Pontellier able to subvert these norms by not being submissive to her husband and give the role of nurturing her children to the maids and she spent most of her time out of the house having affairs and hanging out with her friends? Were affairs allowed? What is the author's main purpose in portraying the main character in these way?