The Implications of Self-expression "The Awakening"ÃÂ by Kate Chopin begins with 28 year old Edna Pontellier summering with her husband and their twin sons on Grand Isle. It is there on the island where she begins to change from an abnegated wife and mother to an independent and self-involved woman. This begins her journey into awareness, which sadly leads to her death. In this Strum und Drang novella, Chopin tells of the solitude and loneliness found through independence and self-expression. The author relies heavily on imagery throughout the story, surrounding the heroine with symbolic characters.
Marriage and independence, freedom and restraint: these are themes realized in the story. The expectations of tradition coupled with the limitations of law allowed women of the late 1800s very few opportunities for individual expression, not to mention independence. Mr. Pontellier was no different in his expectations of Edna; his demands often derived from what society expected.
Kate Chopin in 1894
Photoportrait of writer Kate Chopin
English: Underwater photograph of a woman plunging...His disappointment in his wife stemmed from her inability to become a "mother-women"àdescribed in the story as ""æwomen who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels"à(613).
Expected to perform their domestic duties and care for the health and happiness of their families, Victorian women were prevented from seeking the satisfaction of their own wants and needs. It should be pointed out that Edna does not face any explicit oppression. She is merely expected to run the house, care for the children, and do her best to please her husband. Nevertheless, she finds the role unbearable. But during her gradual awakening, Edna discovers herself and finds that she can not give her life, her identity, to others.
Edna's awakening isolates her from others and ultimately leads her to a state of...