Societal Expectations Of Women In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

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Why is it that women fear society and their expectations as well as are unwilling to fight for their individuality? There is no book that tells women that they have to go by the rules of society and what they expect from them. They can be their own individual by disobeying societal expectations which is revealed in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin. This novel is about a woman named Edna Pontellier who goes against society and what it expects from women and along the way she discovers her true self free from her role as a mother and a wife. Kate Chopin utilizes societies rules today to further analyze that women should be their own, self-defined individual by disregarding what society expects from women through the relationship between …show more content…
Chopin describes Mademoiselle Reisz as a woman who inspires Edna throughout her awakening. Mademoiselle Reisz is a pianist who realized that Edna was the only one who was truly touched and inspired by the music she played. Through the relationship between her and Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna increased her passion for art which she realises that it is another form of expressing her true self. Edna was a great painter even though she did not pursue her career. Ever since the encounter with Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna expressed her true identity through painting as Chopin described when Edna was painting as her body "seemed to be one with sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day. She liked then to wander alone into strange and unfamiliar places" (112). Here Chopin uses the senses to imply how she was not herself when she was painting but was a different Edna. She was a person who can express her true self by art and not worry about the societal expectations. Chopin uses dialogue to show how Mademoiselle Reisz taught Edna to be an artist who dares and defies as Mademoiselle Reisz and Edna talk about what it takes to be an artist as Mademoiselle Reisz says "I do not know you well enough to say. I do not know your talent or your temperament. To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts-absolute gifts-which have not been acquired by one's own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul." Edna responds " What do you mean by the courageous soul?" Mademoiselle Reisz replies "Courageous, ma foi! The brave soul. The soul that dares and defies"(122). Chopin uses the encounter with Mademoiselle Reisz to further imply how the encounter led Edna to find another way to express her true self. This dialogue
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