The Awakening

A detailed Summary of The Awakening

In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the upper class Creole society, in the 1890s, has a strict idea of the appropriate lifestyle. Their expectations of women include nothing more than being devoted wives and nurturing mothers. Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier. Edna has always followed these beliefs and society's norm, until she awakens from this reality to find her life too boring and mundane. This awakening allows her to glimpse of an entirely different lifestyle, where she feels independent and free. Eventually, Edna comes to the realization that these dreams for a new life through the awakening cannot be reality. Gilmore states: "Edna resolves to commit suicide because she can find no room for her newly awakened self in the present social system" (Gilmore 62). She comes to the conclusion that the ideal life that she wants so badly to live is just a dream, and because it cannot become a reality, she would rather not live at all. Her awakening directly influenced her decision to commit suicide, in which she saw as her only option.

As a young woman, Edna chose to follow the path that society had paved for her. She conformed to their views, and, as a result, ignored her own personal feelings. Sh

Raising a family prevailed in the nineteenth century and women who tried to pursue a career or a hobby were shunned by society. Throughout her life, Edna listens to everyone else but herself. She accepts her assigned role in society and overlooks her passions, dreams, and desires to the deepest part of her soul. For many years she lives hidden beneath a facade, but the Edna who craves independence and romance begins to emerge throughout the summer. "In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her" (Chopin 17). Edna is no longer "devotedly" walking down the typical woman's path, but rather, she is exploring the opportunities around her. She awakens to a whole new world in which she has the courage and the independence to stray from her structured life.

e married and left her dreams and fantasies in the depths of the shadows. Chopin writes:

Edna realizes she can't return to the unsatisfying roles of wife and mother. She cannot continue her life with Leonce, but she is unwilling to hurt her children personally or socially with the stigma of divorce or open adultery. She is not strong enough to set herself free and soar on her own.

Water symbolizes life; ironically, Edna's awakening begins in the warm waters of the Gulf. Robert teaches Edna to swim, to face her fears and swim out farther than she had ever been. Swimming provides Edna with strength and joy, yet makes her feel just like a child. "But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who all of the sudden realized its power, and walks for the first time alone, boldly, and with overconfidence" (Chopin 47). It represents her renewal, or rebirth; she realizes her potential. Edna is alone in the water, no husband or child near, just her and the sea. Swimming in the Gulf is her outlet to freedom and independence; it is the beginning of her awakening. "Edna is awakening to herself, her individuality, her unique 'position in the universe as a human being'" (Skaggs 100).

"Thus woman's existence, first and last, intertwines with her material nature. Edna's sense of herself as a complete person make impossible her role of wife and mother as defined by her society; yet she discovers that her role of mother also make impossible her continuing development as an autonomous individual" (Skaggs 111).

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Approximate Word count = 1858
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English