Breaking Through the Trappings of Stereotyped Femininity
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date published 24/04/2008
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SummaryEdna Pontellier is a victim of the mother/whore duality, unable to escape the conditions of her culture that prevent her from being capable of self-actualization, and so walks into the ocean and never comes out again. This is the conclusion to Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, in which she creates a character struggling to reinvent herself in the midst of oppressive expectation, to discover that such reinvention is impossible. It is easy to derive hopelessness from such a dismal ending, or a sense of moral redemption for Edna’s sinful character (as many critics of her time did), but it is important that Chopin’s readers instead consider how the story of Edna Pontellier lends itself to the larger discourse of and about women in a male-dominated society, as she both adheres to and strays from traditional depictions of women. It is through Edna Pontellier and the people in her elite sphere that Chopin makes room for dialogue about what women are up against in seeking liberation from male dominance by trying to level the playing field (sexually and otherwise).
Table of Contents
- Predominant theme of the novel.
- The expression of desire takes precedence in The Awakening.
- Mrs. Ratignolle is the epitome of what a woman is supposed to be.
- Much of Edna Pontellier's story is based around the search for a feminine voice.
- Edna Pontellier wants to thrive as a human being.
- Edna is unable to become whole, despite finding a voice in art and nature.
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