Awakening to Freedom Essay - 613 Words

Awakening to Freedom Awakening or to awake means â€Å"to wake up; to be or make alert or watchful† (Webster 23). This is what Edna Pontellier experienced in The Awakening. There has been some discussion over the appropriateness of the ending to this story. Was it appropriate for Edna to commit suicide? Yes, this story of Edna Pontellier, including the ending, is appropriate to what a woman probably would have felt like if she were in that time feeling what Edna was feeling. Edna committed suicide because there was no other way out. She did not fit into society. Her thoughts and emotions were not the same as the thoughts and emotions of the other women of this time. Edna committed suicide so that she could be reborn in†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her† (547). She looked at and heard things as if for the first time. â€Å"The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier’s spinal column† (556). She decided that she would move out of her house with her husband and children and would move into a small apartment by herself. This is something that women of her day simple did not do. Edna was different. Everything seemed new to her. She began to paint for a living. Most women of her time did not work, but relied on their husbands for support. She rarely missed her children and only visited them once the entire summer. Edna felt alone. She attached herself to young men that she thought would take her away from the place where she didn’t belong. She fell in love with Robert because he was the one who started the awakening. â€Å"It was you who awoke me last summer out of a life-long, stupid dream†(620). She imagined that he would take her away to a place where they could be happy and she could be who she wanted. Edna was wrong. Robert was a man of the times. He didn’t believe in Edna’s ways. When Edna came back, Robert was gone. â€Å"I love you. Good-by---because I love you†Show MoreRelatedThe Struggle For Identity And Freedom In Robert Chopins The Awakening959 Words   |  4 PagesOne of the most important themes of the The Awakening is the struggle for identity and freedom. Edna Pontellier, a wealthy women living in late 19th-century New Orleans, attempts to pursue independence from her marriage and motherhood. The novel takes place in two different locations: Grande Isle, on the coast of Louisiana, and New Orleans. Each of these two distinct settings reflect a particular part of Edna’s journey and advance her character in various ways. While staying on Grande Isle, EdnaRead More freeaw Not Ready for Freedom in Kate Chopins The Awakening904 Words   |  4 Pages Not Ready for Freedom in The Awakeningnbsp;nbsp;nbsp; In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the main character, Edna Pontellier makes a very long, painful journey into her inner self. At the end of this journey she discovers that she is not strong enough to adopt a life in which a woman is her own woman and lives for herself. This forces her to choose the only other option available to her. I think the propriety with which Edna struggles (and most often gives in to) as she begins to discoverRead More Freedom iin Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay757 Words   |  4 PagesFinding Freedom in The Awakening In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin shows Edna Pontellier ¹s confrontations with society, her imprisonment in marriage and Edna ¹s exploration of her own sexuality. 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DuringRead More The Importance of the Sea in The Awakening Essay830 Words   |  4 Pagesof the Sea in The Awakening      Ã‚   Throughout her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses symbolism and imagery to portray the main characters emergence into a state of spiritual awareness. The image that appears the most throughout the novel is that of the sea. â€Å"Chopin uses the sea to symbolize freedom, freedom from others and freedom to be ones self† (Martin 58). The protagonist, Edna Pontellier, wants that freedom, and with images of the sea, Chopin shows Ednas awakening desire to be free