The Awakening

From a modern perspective, The Awakening is not excessively scandalous nor revolutionary. As extramarital affairs are commonplace in both everyday life and the media, the story of a woman falling in love with a man other than her husband is not appalling or unheard. However, when Edna Pontellier's story is analyzed utilizing the mentality of Kate Chopin's age cohorts, the topic becomes progressive. Compared to Adele Ratignolle, Edna is everything that a women should not be. She does not care for her children: when her husband comments that their son is ill, she declares that he is fine without really checking on him or showing any care. Edna is not a doting wife: she falls in love with another man and refuses to respond to her husband's commands. While Adele adheres to the quintessential domestic ideal, Edna defies it. Interestingly, by today's standards, Adele is the unusual one. Edna represents the makings of the strong, independent woman who feminists admire. Adele, on the other hand, is the subservient housewife who lives off of her husband's success. By demonstrating that this was once the ideal, The Awakening indirectly highlights the changes that society has undergone.

The notions about the role of the female highlighted in Kate Chopin's The Awakening were revolutionary for their time. If Kate Chopin were to be writing in the present day, how would the presentation about the role of women be the same? How would it differ?

The Awakening

Kate Chopin brought up a taboo issue back in the day and seemed to agree with it, which stirred criticisms from the media. However, today the story of women infidelity is not as shocking anymore. I think that the story really marks an awakening in the history where women, previously constricted in a tedious marriage life and limiting social norms, were starting to become more independent, bold, and free to do one’s passions. Edna Pontellier’s character actually possesses many admirable qualities that many women would want to achieve: independent, somewhat rebellious, yet passionate and courageous. Her courageous step to break out of the stereotypes and the women expectations could make her seem like a hero or a role model for other women in that era, who were taught to be conformist and submissive. I feel that the ‘self-actualization’ that Edna experienced is still applicable today. Women can still relate to this experience and in various ways, which is probably one of the reasons why this book is a classic.

Question: What does committing suicide have to do with the awakening?

The Awakening

I think the most interesting part of The Awakening is how Mr. Pontellier reacts to his wife's actions. He is clearly concerned about his wife, as he goes to see the doctor, but he seems content to just let her do her own thing. It seems to me that in this time where the husband was supposed to have complete control over the wife that Mr. Pontellier would do more to keep his wife close. It seems possible that maybe he was just ignoring her actions, hoping that she would just snap out of it and that nothing bad would happen.

One question I had was about the relationship between Edna and Madame Ratignolle. As professor Messner discussed in class, it was not uncommon for women at the time to have very close relationships. At what point in history did this sort of relationship gain the stigma that it has today?

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?

Blog Assignment #5

In the middle part, the book does not really discuss whether Mr. Pontellier is aware of the seemingly affair between his wife and Robert Lebrun. For me, I think Mr. Pontellier is more of ignoring the fact of the matter (hoping that it would not be true) rather than being unaware of the reality. Moreover, the fact that Mrs. Pontellier was given so much freedom regarding her actions with other men, in the household, as well as decisions was just unreal for that time. It is amazing to see that despite the common norms then, where the women are supposed to follow the men, there has always been revolutionary women who stood up for themselves, such as Ms. Pontellier. In a way, she practiced feminism and contributed to the feminism phase even before these terms were popularly used or even recognized.

Question: Does the title "The Awakening" signify the revolution for only a few as mentioned in the book, or does it symbolize a bigger picture?

Blog Assignment - "The Awakening"

One thing about the novel that I found interesting was how it explores the fine line between between taking care of your own needs and desires and taking care of the needs and desires of those that you care about. Upon her introduction to the Creole culture and through the development of her relationships with Adele, Robert and Madame Reisz, she was able to rediscover the dreams and interests that she had set aside for the benefit of her family. Although this new freedom made her more independent and allowed her to better enjoy her life, it also caused her to begin to neglect her responsibilities as a mother and wife. From a femenist standpoint, her refusal to perform the duties expected of her as a mother and wife show that she is independent and places a great deal of importance on her own self-development and happiness. Those are positive things- but from a practical view, I believe that she was wrong to completely neglect her responsibilities- especially her responsibility to her children. All in all, Edna was simply a woman whose beliefs were before her time and her suicide and selfish behavior were both the products of the mixture of sadness, guilt and confusion she experienced throughout her life.

Question:
What causes Edna to become so distant from her family? What does her family and her obligations to her family members represent?

It is interesting to read how Edna rediscovers herself without using the social restrictions of the society that she has been living under. Because she is a woman, Edna is expected to devote herself to both marriage and motherhood. Edna finds that she is not content with playing these roles so she goes outside of social boundaries and follows her curiosity and desires. There was one symbolic moment that comes to mind that helps to depict her rebellion toward social confinement and it was when she swam out into the ocean for the first time after being so afraid to do so.

What other symbolic aspects within The Awakening help to portray what Edna is going through in the story?