The Awakening 3

A detailed Summary of The Awakening 3

What is the purpose of life? What are we all reaching for? Many have pondered on this subject and have come to one conclusion - happiness. However, it is our choice whether to reach this state or not. In Kate Chopin's work, "The Awakening," the main character, Edna, made her choice. She chose to be a slave to the world. She chose to live in the shadow of her husband. She chose to give into her society. It was these choices that kept her from her true passions and dreams, which was to live for herself. As one can see, sacrificing oneself for the good of another inhibits one from attaining true happiness.

Many philosophers have dealt with the question of whether to live a life of servitude or to pursue one's greater happiness. Immanuel Kant stipulates that the more people cultivate their reason, the less likely they are to find happiness. He states that "everyone is/should be aware of his/her duty, or how one ought to act." Everyone has a goal within himself/herself, and it is his/her responsibility to reach for it and achieve it. In "The Awakening," Edna does not take responsibility. She tries her entire life to fit in the prescribed mold that her husband set for her. She invests so much tim

Edna had made her choice. This choice was to live a life of servitude to others. After time however, she realizes this was the wrong choice. She realizes living for her husband and living for her children does not make her happy. She also realizes that happiness only comes when she lives for herself. Nonetheless, it was too little and too late. She had nowhere else to turn. Her only choice was breathing her last breath, suicide. This was the only way she could free herself of the world. She had done too much to go on, and too much to turn back.

Edna was not engaged in the pursuit of her finest abilities. She lived her life for others, not for herself. She was often put down because she "failed in her duty toward their children." For the duration of her marriage, she stayed in her place as a childbearing wife, doing little but existing for the pleasures of her husband more as prized token than a companion. Her whole life, she lived the life her husband wanted her to. She never lived the life she wanted to. "She had lived her own small life all within herself." She never challenged the extent of her abilities. She never attempted to transgress what was set for herself in her life. She never experienced what life had to offer or what she had to offer. She kept her abilities within herself, and that is what kept her from moving on and doing what made her happy.

e into duty and responsibility that she loses any happiness that she hoped to achieve. She was not aware of her "responsib

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Approximate Word count = 1019
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels