How Does Edna Pontellier Contribute To Self Destruction

The Awakening by Kate Chopin 1st half: Page 1-60

Plot Summary: Leonce Pontellier and Edna Pontellier take their children to Grand Isle to spend their summer vacation. While on that trip Edna learns how to swim which becomes a huge revelation to her, in a sense of gaining some control over her life. Also Edna makes a great connection with Robert Lebrun, a charming man who pursues to obtain Edna's attention and affections. As he flees to Mexico, the narrative of the story shifts to Edna’s complexed feelings towards Robert and her search for social freedom. With the summer being over and Edna going back to New Orleans with her husband, Edna gradually re-evaluate her priorities
(In the era that Edna lived in, the gender roles were set in stone, men would work and women would be set to be home and take care of the kids and house, women like Edna were seen as possessions and trophies.) * Identity: Dissatisfaction with the labels put on individuals can result in the loss of identity and the desire for independence outside of society. ( The discontent with the labels Edna has as ‘wife”, “mother” has resulted in the loss of her true identity, however the desire to gain back her identity leads her to social alienation and many
Her face was captivating by reason of a certain frankness of expression and a contradictory subtle play of features. Her manner was engaging" (4).Wife of Leonce and a mother. Is presented as a complex and dynamic characters that develops throughout the story. Edna a very preserved individual who follows the attributes of society, develops quite aggressively from being a conserved young women to an individual who violets all of the morals that were set in her society. * Robert Lebrun: A complex character who encounters himself in a love triangle with married woman, he plays a big part in Edna’s awakening. As he escapes to Mexico to flee from a relationship that was not allowed to happen, leading the novel to hit the climax of the story. * Léonce Pontellier: is described as “wore eyeglasses. He was a man of forty, of medium height and rather slender build; he stooped a little. His hair was brown and straight, parted on one side. His beard was neatly and closely trimmed." (1) Edna’s husband, Leonce plays a big part in the novel, he is a man who treats women as properties and values, very materialist and spends his time away from home doing