Entrapment in Kate Chopin’s the Awakening
Jullian Collins
October 28, 2011
ENG 212
Entrapment in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is entrapment by social decrees, circumstance, and desire for personal independence. I enjoyed the plot and the twists and turns throughout the story, which I noted that during the time period it was written was categorized by a society which the patriarch is the center and leader of the family. (This is a very long and confusing sentence) But to a certain extent Edna did as she pleases.(Verb tense consistency-does as she pleases) The protagonist, Edna, was a very interesting character. During the Pontellier’s vacation to Grande Isle, Edna’s freedom from Leonce due to his working schedule, Edna befriends quite a few people. She takes a quick liking to Madame Adele Ratignolle and Robert Lebrun. She spent most of her time with Robert and ultimately falls in love with him. Edna begins to experience and learn new things that enable her to believe she can be more independent. Her new freedoms, which she enjoys, only briefly as the orders of society do not allow for such freedoms for a married woman with children. (Awkwardly worded—“She briefly enjoys her new freedoms because. . .”)Basically, she is trapped by the conditions within society. The harsh restraints placed upon women in the society which Edna lives make total freedom and independence unachievable. In a moment of clarity Edna states, “The years that are gone seem like dreams- if one might go on sleeping and dreaming- but to wake up and find- oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.” (Chopin page #) Edna’s inability to escape her husband and her connection to her children led to her ultimate and fatal downfall. Having nowhere to escape to, she commits suicide, which she believed was her only means of attaining freedom and releasing herself. (Rather abrupt. . .you really need to build to this
October 28, 2011
ENG 212
Entrapment in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is entrapment by social decrees, circumstance, and desire for personal independence. I enjoyed the plot and the twists and turns throughout the story, which I noted that during the time period it was written was categorized by a society which the patriarch is the center and leader of the family. (This is a very long and confusing sentence) But to a certain extent Edna did as she pleases.(Verb tense consistency-does as she pleases) The protagonist, Edna, was a very interesting character. During the Pontellier’s vacation to Grande Isle, Edna’s freedom from Leonce due to his working schedule, Edna befriends quite a few people. She takes a quick liking to Madame Adele Ratignolle and Robert Lebrun. She spent most of her time with Robert and ultimately falls in love with him. Edna begins to experience and learn new things that enable her to believe she can be more independent. Her new freedoms, which she enjoys, only briefly as the orders of society do not allow for such freedoms for a married woman with children. (Awkwardly worded—“She briefly enjoys her new freedoms because. . .”)Basically, she is trapped by the conditions within society. The harsh restraints placed upon women in the society which Edna lives make total freedom and independence unachievable. In a moment of clarity Edna states, “The years that are gone seem like dreams- if one might go on sleeping and dreaming- but to wake up and find- oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.” (Chopin page #) Edna’s inability to escape her husband and her connection to her children led to her ultimate and fatal downfall. Having nowhere to escape to, she commits suicide, which she believed was her only means of attaining freedom and releasing herself. (Rather abrupt. . .you really need to build to this
Cited: Cather, Willa. Willa Cather 's Essay:Kate Chopin. 8 July 1899. Web. 15 October 2011. . Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Penguin Putman, Inc, 1976. Print. contributors, Wikipedia. The Awakening (novel). n.d. Web. 4 October 2011. . Ewell, Barbara C. Kate Chopin. New York: Ungar, 1986. Print. Papke, Mary. Verging on the Abyss: The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Print. Skaggs, Peggy. Kate Chopin. Boston: Twayne, 1985. Almost, pretty good.