Conformity In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Words: 1020

Pages: 5

Open Document

The feeling of conformity is never far from any teenager’s or adult’s mind. There is an idea in society today that in order to conform and fit in, someone has to look a certain way or complete certain activities. Each person comes to a point where they feel lost, lonely, and confined. They do not feel as if they are a priority. Similar to those in today’s society, Edna Pontellier feels confined and as if she can not express herself. The Awakening by Kate Chopin follows Mrs. Pontellier during her summer spent at Grand Isle and the following time she spends at her home in New Orleans. At Grand Isle, Edna experiences an illuminating moment when she swims extremely far out into the water. This realization in the novel by Chopin functions as a “casement” by showing that women are not confined, do not need to conform to society, and are free to express themselves. Edna’s moment of realization comes to her at a very unique time. She …show more content…
He is seriously concerned for her mental health. He believes that she is losing herself, yet he does not understand that Edna is finally becoming her true self. He has to make a business trip and invites Edna, but he does not push her to come or change. He does not encourage her to do anything. He leaves her by herself in a time where she is just learning how to live. Edna becomes involved with another man, moves into a smaller house, and takes back up her artistic endeavors. Mr. Pontellier truly does not what is going on for his wife or how to “fix” her. He is only concerned with making money and keeping up his reputation for him and his family. He wants everyone to know that he is still well-off, but he wants no one to know about his wife. He wants her to continue to do her Tuesday call days to keep up connections and her reputation as a housewife, but Edna will not conform to her husband’s

Individualism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

the major themes of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. The three main female characters of the story help to show the views of women to society, with Madame Ratignolle showing the example of the perfect woman, Mademoiselle Reisz representing the opposite of a proper woman of the time, and Edna representing the changing views of women and their roles. This is a prime example of how the role of women has changed over the course of the century and centuries before. The novel, the awakening was based in the late…

Words 599 - Pages 3

Motherhood In The Awakening

Motherhood and the presence of children affects both the heroine’s actions in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in similar, yet vastly different ways. They suggest that children can help in the attainment of identity, but in the sense of identifying as a mother. Both Linda and Edna do things for the benefit of their children, but in two completely different scenarios. They search for their fulfillment, but for Linda, it’s more about protecting her…

Words 522 - Pages 3

Essay On Edna Pontellier's Inner Conflict In The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier experiences internal conflict throughout her journey towards self-discovery. The juxtaposition of the two settings in which Edna finds herself makes her more aware of society’s flaws, causing her to distance herself from it in solitude, as a fruitless attempt to avoid suppression. Along with the setting itself, there is constant repetition of various symbols and imagery, such as that of the sea and birds, which serve to represent…

Words 1071 - Pages 5

Essay about The Awakening

dandelion on his lawn, but no one is able to kill it. Edna shows her resistance against her lawnmower of a society in Kate Chopin’s novella, The Awakening. She is the only woman who stands up for herself and her own liberties and is able to rebel against the characterizations and limits that society has thrust upon her. Edna continues to shine as an individual in a sea of conformity until she cannot take it anymore. Rather than surrender to society’s standards as every woman of her time seems to do…

Words 2121 - Pages 9

The Awakening and Edna Pontellier Essay example

Kate Chopin's The Awakening: Themes and Analysis by Ryan Cofrancesco When we meet Edna Pontellier early in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening she is living a prescribed life of nearly automatonic service. Although she is living in the upper echelons of New Orleans’ Creole society, she is not happy. She is bonded to the prominent aspects of her life by social obligation. Child care and social appearance attempt to act as a replacement in her life for aesthetic experience and personal accomplishment…

Words 1592 - Pages 7

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions 89S. Imagining War. Instructor M. Maiwald. WF 8:30-9:45 In this course, we will consider how the experience of war has been represented in American fiction, non-fiction, and film. We will investigate how attitudes toward war have evolved throughout American history: our timeline begins with the Civil War—the traumatic event that birthed the modern American state—and ends with the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In particular…

Words 9501 - Pages 39