The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna is the rebellious woman so unseen in that time. Women were supposed to be submissive and content in their male dominated world; Edna was not. It is interesting to me how far society has come since then, something so “radical” back then is now mundane. Divorce rates are up and adultery is common, yet the yearning women have for “more” is ever present. Even in today’s time when women have more rights than ever, there is still a push from feminists to do more, be more, and want more. I myself have never thought that there were things that I couldn’t have just because of my sex, and it saddens me to think that women of Edna’s time didn’t have that same kind of freedom, and in the same sense I revere Edna for not letting social constraints stop her from pursuing what she wanted and what she thought would make her content.
It interests me that Edna got married and had children because she felt compelled to by society, it is for this very reason that she ends up ultimately leaving her husband and children. It seem to me that the social constraints placed on her forced her to do things that hurt other people, because she wasn’t doing things for herself, only for other people. This was such a negative impact on her husband and children and disheartening to hear, but I think that it would have been avoided if society had fostered a more supportive atmosphere for women to pursue their own happiness. I am glad that in today’s time women have the freedom to do so, and so possibly some husbands and children were spared the same hurt Edna’s husband and children experienced. I personally blame the social constraints in Edna’s time for her actions and the hurt she put on her family.
Question: Do you think that families themselves have benefited from the independence and freedom women have accrued over the years? More so, do you think that bad family situations have lessened because of the women’s revolution, or that families have actually suffered because their mothers are encouraged to be independent and pursue their own happiness?

Blog #5 Erin Walker

Question: How does Edna reject the ideal family structure and values of the 1900’s?

 

The family structure that reigned during the 1900s focused on the distinct roles of the mother and the father.  The father was supposed to be the provider.  He was to work and bring in an income to support his family.  The wives and mothers in the family had the sole responsibility to care for the home and their children.  The mother’s power in the household would be secondary to the father’s authoritative status.  In many families of the 1900s, the wife/mother was seen as an object of the father’s, which would further place the wife/mother in a powerless position.  Throughout the novel The Awakening, Edna rejects the objectification of most women in family structures.  Not only does Edna refuse to be identified as the mother of her children (she loves her children very much, but would not give up herself for your children), but Edna also moves out of the home to further challenge the “ideal” physical familial structure.  Edna seeks to find her own identity through her self-discovery rather than following the trend of letting her other family members define who she is.  Although the other characters of the book deem Leonce, Edna’s husband, to be the best husband in the world, Edna disagrees.  Perhaps most women find him to be the best husband because he adheres to the definition of husband/father of the 1900’s.  However, as Edna seeks autonomy and independence as a woman (rather than the notion of the “mother-woman”), she is repelled by Leonce’s behavior and contribution to the objectification of women.  Chopin also includes the fact that Edna married out of obligation, which sets the stage for Edna’s rejection of the presiding norms revolving around familial structure and relationships.  Through her actions, Edna clearly rejects the subservient, passive nature of the woman-mother figure that is idolized in the early 1900s.

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?"

the Awakening

Question:
How does Chopin describe Edna’s process from being a subject to her husband to be an independent woman? With a notice, how the racism in the book shown? What some symbolism in the book?

Comment: The awakening shows us the story how Edna to be an independent woman through out her lives. In the book, Chopin starts with the parrot in the cage in the beginning. It symbols Edna’s life that is constrained by the society and people around her. However, Edna is looking for a life for herself. She is not a mother figure at all who is supposed to be a housewife rather looking for something else outside. She hides her sexuality because she is afraid of being isolated by the society. Meize is her role model but she is afraid of being her because she might be alone all life long. She wants to be an artist, express her ideas and doing what she wants to do. In order to demonstrate herself, she learns to how to swim, listening to Meize playing piano and rent a house to live on her own. Finally, she figures out how she is going to do to be independent

The Awakening

The initial metaphor of the bird trapped in the cage carries through the novel as Edna being trapped by her surroundings from a feminist point of view. Various aspects of her life stifle her such as her husband, children, and, especially, the social responsibility she holds as a women. She is neither required to educate herself and go into the work force not to devote herself to household as she has employees to take care of that. Edna is respectable due to her individuality and conviction to stay true to herself and not worry about societal implications. She does what she wishes and does not let herself be negatively affected by what people attempt to demand of her. She is constantly doubted and criticized by her husband, not wanting his ‘property’ to be damaged or out of the ordinary. She is not willing to lose herself to society, her husband, or her children. She is willing to give up her belongings and any material possession for her children and even give her own life. However, she is not willing to give up herself; she is not willing to lose her identity for her children. This is an admirable trait of Edna as she is committed to holding true to her own personality, yet, at times, it is very selfish of her. In the beginning, when her husband begs her to go check up on their children, she is very unwilling to do so, and, when she finally does, she has little concern for children. She does not have a consistent care for them when she is not around them and does not dote on her children. She is the exact opposite of Adele, however, this is only good to a certain extent. If Edna showed a bit more concern yet still held true to her own set of beliefs, she would be more admirable of a mother. Simply not performing the tasks expected of her does not make her a strong character but rather one to ignore her responsibilities, the most important being her children.

            Does Edna’s individuality prevent her from being a compassionate mother responsible for caring for them? Does her dedication to preserving her identity cause her to be irresponsible and careless to any degree?

The Awakening

This book seems to represent the independence of a woman (or women, in general) in a negative light. At the beginning of the novel, Edna is on a vacation with her husband and children and she is portrayed as dependent because she has a family and she has to take care of the children. Furthermore, Chopin describes that Edna has an identity created within her family. However, Edna finds her own individual identity separate from her husband and children which was partially "inspired" by Edna's relationship and interaction with Adele. Since Adele was the epitome of womanly elegance, she had no problem conforming to the identity of being a wife and mother. On the other hand, Edna did not feel this way and the relationship between Edna and Adele sparks this epiphany that Edna must find her individual identity and become independent. I find it interesting that Edna did not feel independent whilst being a wife and a mother. In addition, I bring up the notion that women's independence is cast in a negative light because of the actions that Edna performs while searching for her independence, including outwardly looking for someone to satisfy her sexual needs (adultery) since her husband is always away on business matters. Furthermore, she becomes close with Robert, but Robert refuses to engage in an adulterous relationship with her. Edna and Robert's contrast of values and morals is also interesting. Typically, women are supposed to "do the right thing", but in this case, Edna is breaking all kinds of rules during her search for independence. Lastly, she commits suicide at the end of the novel, leaving her children all alone - but she justifies this action by telling herself that she has not been there for her children much anyways, so it would not make a huge difference.

So why is it that Edna's independence is cast in a negative light instead of portrayed as a positive thing? And why do you think Edna and Adele's relationship sparked Edna to find her own identity and independence instead of motivating her to become a great wife and mother?

The Awakening

After learning about Kate Chopin in class and reading The Awakening, I was intrigued by her writing and wanted to learn more about her. So, after doing some research I found that she had strong independent women as role models in her childhood and consequently she herself was one therefore this reflected in her characters, like Edna. Chopin only wrote two books and The Awakening was her second, published at a time the feminist movement had only just begun and only gained momentum in certain parts of the country.

More specifically, Edna Pontellier was a women striving for things that her society didn’t believe she should be entitled to including freedom, individuality, love, sex, and equality. I feel this struggle is ageless and every woman has felt this way at some point in their lives - the desire to escape to find more, more meaning, more depth, more worth. For Edna, despite being reminded by her husband that she should be happy and fulfilled by her role as wife and mother to their children, she is unable to find the contentment. It is interesting when Edna realizes in the book that there is nothing wrong with wanting more in her life and that really what’s wrong are the rules she must live by.

I have a few questions…How are mothers represented in The Awakening? What about single/independent women? Do you think Edna is a good role model to young women today and why/why not? If you were to meet Edna Pontellier, what would you ask her and say to her in response to her actions? And If the Awakening were to be turned into a movie today which actress do you believe would do Edna’s character justice? Why?