The Awakening Literary Analysis Essay
Amanda Tharp
ENGL 2328-WS1
L. Ranta
7/25/2013
The Awakening Analysis Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a novel critiquing society’s treatment of the late 19th century’s woman. The story opens in a New Orleans summer in the 1890s, introducing the story’s main character, Edna Pontellier, and her husband, Leonce. She’s, what you might call, a reluctant, respectable, 1890s gentlewoman. Later on, we are introduced to Adele Ratignolle, the ideal housewife or mother-woman, Robert Lebrun, the young gentleman who takes great joy from entertaining married women, Mademoiselle Reisz, the eccentric elder lady who Edna admires, and Alcee, the first man Edna experiences passion with. We follow Edna throughout her journey of self discovery and her …show more content…
Adele cannot understand what she means by the unessential and
also cannot fathom how giving up one’s life is not the same as giving up one’s self. He brings his
point full circle when he describes her suicide. He states that when she walked into the ocean,
subsequently drowning herself, she gave up the unnecessary, her body, and herself was freed, her
soul, and also viewed it as a sacrifice since she was thinking of her family while walking into the
sea. I personally agree with this author. Edna was not defeated by committing suicide, but she
actually was victorious in achieving ultimate freedom from all of the limitations society
entrapped her. This article embodies the true nature and symbolism of the suicide of Edna
Pontellier. The suicide of Edna embodies the ultimate self sacrifice, also can be seen as
ridiculing society for expecting a woman to completely sacrifice everything for domestic duties.
The comparison between Smith and Edna is that of contrasting what Edna would have ended up
like if she hadn’t drowned herself. The last phrase of the article is quoting Smith talking
ENGL 2328-WS1
L. Ranta
7/25/2013
The Awakening Analysis Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a novel critiquing society’s treatment of the late 19th century’s woman. The story opens in a New Orleans summer in the 1890s, introducing the story’s main character, Edna Pontellier, and her husband, Leonce. She’s, what you might call, a reluctant, respectable, 1890s gentlewoman. Later on, we are introduced to Adele Ratignolle, the ideal housewife or mother-woman, Robert Lebrun, the young gentleman who takes great joy from entertaining married women, Mademoiselle Reisz, the eccentric elder lady who Edna admires, and Alcee, the first man Edna experiences passion with. We follow Edna throughout her journey of self discovery and her …show more content…
Adele cannot understand what she means by the unessential and
also cannot fathom how giving up one’s life is not the same as giving up one’s self. He brings his
point full circle when he describes her suicide. He states that when she walked into the ocean,
subsequently drowning herself, she gave up the unnecessary, her body, and herself was freed, her
soul, and also viewed it as a sacrifice since she was thinking of her family while walking into the
sea. I personally agree with this author. Edna was not defeated by committing suicide, but she
actually was victorious in achieving ultimate freedom from all of the limitations society
entrapped her. This article embodies the true nature and symbolism of the suicide of Edna
Pontellier. The suicide of Edna embodies the ultimate self sacrifice, also can be seen as
ridiculing society for expecting a woman to completely sacrifice everything for domestic duties.
The comparison between Smith and Edna is that of contrasting what Edna would have ended up
like if she hadn’t drowned herself. The last phrase of the article is quoting Smith talking