Edna Pontellier is trapped both by who she is externally and internally. Edna resists against her natural temptation to be unmotherly when others are around, she marries a Creole, which she is not, and throughout the whole book is fighting to abandon her unknown psychological identity and discover her true one. The origin of this information is from The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin and published in 1899.
Edna Pontellier's attitude causes her to not fit in, so Edna, when around other people, always acts against her true self and pretends to be like a very interactive mother. One incident, Edna felt there was no need to make her children's clothes for the winter, but when Madame Ratignolle expressed her enthusiasm in it, Edna immediately agreed with her. "Mrs. Pontellier's mind was quite at rest concerning the present material needs of her children, and she could not see the use of anticipating and making winter night garments the subject of her summer meditations.
Kate Chopin in 1894
Edna Primrose Job Corps National Director (JCS)
English: First ed title pgBut she did not want to appear unamiable and uninterested, so she had brought forth newspapers..." (Page 11) Another incident is when Mr. Pontellier comes home and tells Edna one of the children is sick, and tells her she is not acting like a mother, "Mrs. Pontellier sprang out of bed and went into the next room."(Page 7) This shows she did not want to be accused and seen as not being a motherly figure. The last incident in which I found this statement to be true is when the book states Edna was relieved to not have her children around, and she would not admit it, even to herself. "Their absence was a sort of relief, though she did not admit this, even to herself."(Page 24) Even to herself, Edna does not want anyone to...