Please choose one of the following questions to answer. Then respond to one of your classmates' responses.
1. Give examples from the novel that exemplifies this quote: "it is the outward life that conforms, and the inward life that questions." Be sure to argue your point with specific references from The Awakening.
2. Edna struggles to establish an identity outside of her husband and children. Discuss how she is trapped by the confines of her gender and culture. Use specific examples from The Awakening.
Edna Pontellier transitions from traditional housewife to independent, self-actualized woman as she begins to express her inner life through her outward behavior. At the beginning of The Awakening, Edna’s life, as with the lives of so many women in the 19th century, is devoted to caring for her children, attending to her husband, and running the household. She behaves as society expects her to; she considers the idea of being spoken to lovingly by a man other than her husband “unacceptable and annoying” (Chopin 21). However, as she spends more and more time with Robert Lebrun, with whom she can interact in a pleasant, easy manner, she begins to feel dissatisfied with her marriage, and “[follows]…one of the two contradictory impulses which impelled her” (Chopin 25). These two contradictory impulses are behaving as she ought to, and spending less time with Robert, or behaving as she wants to, and spending more time with Robert: the latter is the impulse she obeys. The feelings which Edna develop for him transform her, though at first she does not consciously realize the impact of their relationship. Her previous romantic experiences were internalized and left unexpressed except as a vague feeling and memory; they “went the way of dreams” (Chopin 32). Robert’s departure and Edna’s subsequent misery awaken her to previously unacknowledged inner feelings. Edna slowly lets her duties go unattended while she paints in her studio and moves freely about the city instead of commanding the servants or hosting dinners. Her inner life, which until she befriended Robert consisted only of a vague dissatisfaction, begins to affect and eventually dictate her outward behavior. At this point, the life of a traditional housewife is no longer satisfying for Edna; she moves out of her husband’s home, leaving the structures and rules of her previous life behind without “shame or remorse” (Chopin 140). When Robert returns from Mexico, Edna is able to express the love she feels for him; her outer life no longer disguises, but rather demonstrates, her inner feelings. Her transformation is complete; by the end of the novel, she is completely free of the control of “outward life”. Robert has abandoned her. When she commits suicide, she is completely guided by her inner self, not by the rules of society or exterior pressures.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the details and analysis that you have provided in your blog. Edna at first feels reluctant to free herself from the constraints that society and her husband had set on her, but as the story progresses she slowly builds the courage to break free from those limitations. It started with her first swim in the ocean while on the Grand Isle. This event marked her first experience of feeling free and the first time she displays any sort of confidence in herself: "She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before" (Chopin 47). This foreshadows what will happen at the end of the book. When she commits suicides she completely frees herself from society both literally and metaphorically. When she kills herself, she literally frees herself from society since she is no longer alive to listen to society's rules. Metaphorically, however, like you said, she does not follow the rules of society or the exterior pressures, but rather she does it according to her own self belief. At the end of the novel she is completely free from the restraints that society has placed on her since she followed her intuition and not that of society's.
DeleteEdna Pontellier struggles to express her individuality as society mandates that she act as a devoted housewife. The society that Edna lives in does not have high expectations for women and does not treat women as human beings: “looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property...” (Chopin 7). Edna’s husband and society view women as property, thus Edna struggles to find her true identity when society believes that she should act as property by entertaining and serving her husband. Mr. Pontellier idolized women such as Adele Ratignolle, who represents the ideal woman in that society: “ it was a joy to look at them when she threaded her needle or adjusted her gold thimble to her taper middle finger as she sewed away on the little night-drawers or fashioned a bodice or a bib” (Chopin 17). The accepted behavior for women consist of appearing beautiful and acting as a housewife by performing tasks such as sewing. Therefore, Edna finds it difficult to create her own identity when society shuns women who do not follow these acceptable expectations. Society expected women to act as mothers first and occupations and hobbies such as the arts would come second to their jobs: “Then in God’s name paint! but don’t let the family go to the devil” (Chopin 95). When Edna paints she can express her individuality and she feels free from the constraints that her family and society puts on her as a housewife. However, she starts to ignore her duties as a wife more to pursue her love of painting and this greatly upsets her husband who believes that a woman’s primary job consist of looking after the family. Hence, she struggles to make an identify for herself as she finds it difficult to balance her domestic job as well as her creative one. Society has placed a limited number of acceptable tasks for women to perform and women such as Edna who fail to conform these expectations are shunned, thus making it difficult for her to express her individuality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of Edna's struggles. The evidence you used of Edna's husband looking at her like a piece of property really highlights how women were viewed in the 19th century. I was going to use that quote, but it didn't fit with my analysis. I agree that she finds balancing her domestic duties along with her personal desires difficult and challenging. I feel as if Edna gained more acceptance with trying to do both, she could have done it. She may not have been born to be a mother but she was coping with it very well. However, I believe that her husband shunning her wishes and not being supportive as you said is what pushes her over the edge and ultimately drives her to abandon all domestic duties and expecations.
DeleteI believe that the first part of your analysis really captured the treatment of women in the 19th century; the quotes about Edna's husband viewing her as an object and idolizing the "perfect" housewife like Adele Ratignolle are very effective. However, I disagree that Edna had difficulty balancing domesticity and her personal desires, especially in the second half of the novel. This part of her journey towards "awakening" is accompanied by a rejection of traditional household duties; Edna stops attending to the running of the household, as well as her social responsibility. Her husband's opinion is of limited relevance to her; his attempts to make her return to her "proper" place are met with derision from Edna. Additionally, society is never given an opportunity to shun Edna, as she no longer goes on the expected rounds of visits, instead choosing to spend most of her time with Mademoiselle Reisz, who encourages her to follow her own desires.
DeleteEdna Pontellier endures constant pressure from society that forces her into a predetermined identity. Her biggest oppressor is her husband, Mr. Pontellier, who "has the privilege of quitting their society when [it] ceased to be entertaining," (Chopin 1). Edna is forced to converse with other well-to-do women in Grand Isle such as Adele Ratignolle, while her husband comes and goes as he pleases. After a night of gambling, Mr. Pontellier returns home and wakes up Edna, demanding that she go and check on their children. He exclaims "if it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?" (Chopin 12). With this openly expressed attitude, Mr. Pontellier clearly puts his wife in her place as a "mother-woman," or the ideal 19th century woman who "idolized her children and worshipped her husband," (Chopin 19). Despite Edna's lack of enthusiasm and failure to see herself as such a woman, she abides by both her husband's and society's expectations, therefore ceasing to find her true identity. Considering Edna has been overwhelmed by such expectations, she has not yet had a chance to delve deeply into herself and uncover her true emotions and identity. For this reason, she refers to the sadness and disorientation she feels as "an indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness," (Chopin 14). Clearly, Edna Pontellier feels out of place in the life she leads, but originally does nothing about it due to the entrapment of her gender and culture. This confinement is so ingrained in Edna's mind that she cannot fathom anything beyond conforming to society, and therefore struggles for a long time to break free and find her true identity.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with bits and pieces of your response, seeing as how we had to either argue Edna's forced conformity or her limitations from others; however I don't believe Edna is as oppressed as she makes herself out to be. While appearing in the storyline, Mr. Pontellier is an excellent husband to his wife, Chopin notes this. He provides her with gifts, is not all too demanding, and allows her to express herself creatively. It is ridiculous that Edna would be surprised at her husbands anger, which was caused by her total rejection of what little responsibilities she was tasked with. The family had a quadroon, a squad of maids, a cook, more than enough assistance to manage their few children. Edna was gifted with a wealth of free time and had an incredible access to resources, given her husband's financial status and generosity. Even with her vast ability to experiment in 'being her own woman,' Edna chose to whine about society's restrictions rather than do what little work it asked of her. So after Edna experiences her personal awakening and does her own thing for a while she still feels oppressed, and her solution to that is suicide? What is Chopin trying to say with this? Edna killed herself because the sea was the only thing that accepted her, so she submitted herself to it. Is the resulting theme therefore, embrace what accepts you if nothing else is going to? I honestly believe that Edna is too busy complaining about how she feels she is being oppressed by a generous man and an easy-going society to realize that she is fine, and should not try to escape an overwhelming feeling of oppression that seems to come out from absolutely nothing. Edna is selfish for ditching her children, she has no work ethic, and overall is a pitiful mess of flesh and complaints that never really had anything to awaken from, save stupidity.
DeleteI agree strongly with Christina, I as well believe that Edna's struggle with searching for her true identity results from the identity that is forced upon her by society. I feel as though Edna's passionate and at times reckless search for her own identity directly results from the pressures of society around her. Before realizing her desire to be free from the pressures of society around her, Edna was in a sort of sleep in which she simply conformed to the pressures and influences of the world without giving it a second though. Therefore, when she awakens and discovers the oppression in her conformity, Edna desires to escape the identity that has enveloped her due to the pressures of society and therefore makes a multitude of rash decisions to form her own identity quickly so that she may escape her oppression. Edna, being fully awake to the oppression that she faces, thus desires to free herself from the bondage of her perceived identity. Edna, simply desires to make up for all the time she has lost, being influenced by the world, when taking part in her reckless and intense attempts to form her own independent identity.
DeleteI strongly agree with Isaiah and Christina. Edna's struggle with finding her identity is directly related with the roles that she feels are forced upon her by society and her husband. Being a mother and a wife was never something that came easily to her as most other women during this time period, and she felt trapped within her life because of these roles. Her husband constantly reminded her what she lacked as a care giver to the children, and constantly reminded her of the life she was trapped in because of her gender.
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DeleteEdna Pontellier is restricted largely by the gender limitations set forth by the expectations of women in a Creole society. Edna's personal awakening as a female drives her to experiment living womanly in her own way, however she does not want to accept the seriousness associated with the lifestyle. In the Creole society, women are regarded more so as possessions than as individuals, and are therefore treated as such. Therefore, Edna's husband finds it ridiculous that she would seek out painting as a pastime, while also letting "the family go to devil." (Chopin, 95). In his eyes, Edna is the woman of the household, and so it is her duty to see after the functioning of the family. The society expects the wife to take charge of the children and the house while the husband provides income. When Mr. Pontellier learns that his wife wishes to sever herself from this, he reprimands her for suggesting such a ridiculous idea. In addition to the restrictions created by the Creole culture's sexist definition of a woman's purpose, Edna's gender itself leads her to struggle establishing an identity outside of her husband and children. Isolated from the freedom of men on account of her gender, and separate from other Creole women on account of her unwillingness to conform; Edna's unique outlook on her place in life is relatable only to the see. Wanting to break the confines of her gender, Edna views the sea as an outlet to "[reach] out for the unlimited...to lose herself." (Chopin, 48). The vast expanse and bareness that is the sea symbolizes an uncharted frontier by which to begin her new life. However, Edna continues to struggle with the confines of both her gender and the expectation of Creole society, ultimately preventing her from exploring her own limitless sea.
ReplyDeleteEdna explores her limitless sea throughout the entire novel through her small rebellious acts. the expectations she is forces to follow are slowly loosing their grip on her throughout the novel until she finally leaves them all behind. Those expectations are the weights that kept her from being able to swim into the sea "her new life" as you put it but she doesn't not explore it as you say. She readily searches for it and even finds it, the only problem she faces is acting upon the freedom and life choices that face her when she has the opportunity to change her life. The expectations o society are still a small enough weight upon her until she finally looses them completly
DeleteEdna's dreams and ambitions as a child were her early awakening, an insight she lost under the pressures of her role in society. He rediscovery of herself through the love she finds for Robert are a direct attack upon the societies expectations of her as a mother and wife. It is often seen as she goes out with Robert during the summer or when she paints instead of devoting herself to her children. The most startling example is when she says she would give her life for her children but not herself. The "self" she has finally begun to rediscover with Robert. She conects so deeply with the sea because of its distance, it's limitless expanse but also it's defiance of rule, something she wishes she could have and use freely but is sadly stifled by the expectations society placed upon her as a young girl and expectations she herself began to believe.
ReplyDeleteEdna Pontellier began as a devoted housewife, who behaved as her Creole society expected of her. She breaks away from this conformity and into a life that she controls. As Edna spent more time with a young man named Robert, she slowly starts to realize how unsatisfying her relationship with her husband is. She wants to venture out on her own and be her own woman. Even though Edna knows that it is wrong to betray her husband, she gives in to her impulses to be closer to Robert. She just could not resist the way “…his hair is brown and grows away from his temples…" the way "his nose is a little out of drawing…” (Chopin 135). As her feelings grow stronger, and they grow closer, Edna realizes the changes in herself. Edna has always had her own little world away from society as “Even as a child…she apprehended instinctively the dual life – that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (Chopin 26). Once back at her home after vacation, Edna slowly disregards any duty in which a housewife would perform. As her life with her husband no longer satisfies her, Edna leaves him and every rule that ever threatened to force her to conform. Edna soon after confessed to Robert exactly how she felt for him, becoming almost completely free of the control that her Creole life had over her. Robert then abandons Edna, leaving her behind him, with no regrets. By the end of the novel, Edna is totally free of any influence that the Creole society may have had over her, “But they need not have thought they could posses her, body and soul” (Chopin 190). In a final act of rebellion, a refusal to sacrifice her free will by being controlled, Edna committed suicide, and in a way proved that she was in no way being forced to conform to what society expected of her.
ReplyDeleteEdna Pontellier undergoes an immense, struggle filled, identity transition as she changes from a dependent housewife, to an independent, self-determined woman. In the initial chapters of the novel, Edna appears as a classic Creole wife in the 19th century, due to her submissiveness and subordination to her husband. For example, while lounging outside of her room in chapter 11, Mr. Potellier repeatedly requests and demands that Edna to return to their room, out of the cold. After hearing Mr. Pontellier's continual requests to return to their room it becomes apparent that "...she would have gone in at his request...she would through habit, have yielded to his desire...unthinkingly, as we walk, move, sit stand...(Chopin 52). Edna would not appeal to Mr. Pontellier's wishes out of agreement or understanding. No, Edna simply obeys Mr. Pontellier's orders because she understands no other way of life. Edna, at this point, only understands subordination in an equal way to that of a daily tasks such as walking or moving. Obeying her husband simply is life for Edna Pontellier. Therefore, in the early pages of the novel, one can see that Edna's identity is rooted in her marriage and role as a subordinate housewife. However, as the novel progresses, Edna begins to reveal her desire to escape the limitations placed upon her, and this leads her to take a multitude of self-focused actions. One of Edna's greatest acts of self-interest appears when she decides to buy the "pigeon house" as her own home. Upon purchasing the "pigeon house" Edna believes that the house "...at once assumed the intimate character of a home..." (Chopin 156). Thus, the "pigeon house" no longer is a just a house, it becomes a "home" to Edna. The "pigeon house" replaces Edna's old house, and its seclusion from Mr. Pontellier reveals Edna's new found independence and escape from the expectations placed upon her as a housewife. The purchasing of a new home, proves to be a major step for Edna in her pursuit for independence and "every step she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual" (Chopin 156). Therefore, with each step Edna takes away from her past identity of a simple dependent housewife, causes her to become the strong, independent, and self-sufficient woman she desires to be. However, in the end, Edna steps too far while trying to escape her past identity, as she eventual takes her own life. In a final attempt to free herself from the past identity she so greatly despised. Overall, as Edna beings to awaken to the oppression and limitation of her marriage and motherhood she begins to undergo an advancing identity metamorphosis which transforms Edna Pontellier from a typical Creole housewife, into the self-determined, independent and strong woman that she so desperately desires to be.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with Isaiah in that Edna is in complete submission to not only her husband, but society in the beginning of the novel. During her transition, her determination to become someone who was no longer dependant on her obligations to society and to become herself drive her to push out the things of her old life. I like how you used the 'pigeon house' as a part of your analysis to explain how she escapes the bounds that she is under in her "pursuit for independance".
DeleteEdna encounters the suffocation of her conformity while she is at the Grand Isle, feeling trapped within the roles of being both a mother and a wife. Being immersed in the Creole culture forces Edna to be surrounded by "mother-women" that "...seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle."(Chopin 16). These women were mothers and wives and were good at it. Edna feels out of balance and out of place because of the fact that she "was not a mother-woman."(Chopin 16), and it does not come naturally for her to have a constant notion for her children and her husband's welfare. Edna's husband, Leonce, neglects her for his work and personal interest, often leaving her to be by herself, and shows that he only cares about the roles that she plays as a mother and his wife, especially when "He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? "(Chopin 12) Marrying Leonce meant marrying conformity, although Edna did not know it at the time. She even states that her marriage to Leonce was "...purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate...As the devoted wife of a man that worshiped her,she felt she should take her place with a certain dignity in the world of reality, closing the portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams." (Chopin 32)She dutifully follows the expectation of society to marry someone suitable, and that loved her, even when she did not feel much in return. Edna, being regularly left by her husband is alone, and thus breaks the consistency of conformity that he indirectly represents. She is left to think about who she is and what she wants throughout her solitude and time with her friend Robert, who constantly remained by her side at the Isle until he left early for Mexico. He makes seemingly innocent advances, which she refuses subconsciously under the notion that she is married, but, as she continues to discover herself on the Isle, towards the end of her trip there she discovers that she is in love her friend Robert, who filled the void that her husband was never able to fill, and manifests into her outer being when he leaves for Mexico, knowing full well that the feelings of comfort, companionship, and eventually sensuality that she shared with him were not shared with her husband Leonce, and reaches a point where she does not care. Neglecting everything that she knows she should do as the woman of the house when she returns to her home, she lets her emotions control her resolve. She knows what society tells her about what is wrong and right in terms of her marital fidelity and societal roles as the woman of the house, but dismisses them, going out instead of receiving calls on her designated Tuesdays, strolling through town without a care in the world, carrying on with a man that was not her Robert to fill the void that he left, all in the name of what she wanted, and felt like doing, and ultimately expressing what was in her innermost being while shedding what had lain on the outside.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the novel, Edna struggled to find an identity beyond being a mother and wife. Society's expectations for her were to be a constant care giver for her family, which left her feeling trapped. Her husband was able to come and go the family as he pleased on business, giving him the ability to live any life he wanted. Edna believes that her husband "has the privilege of quitting their society when [it] ceased to be entertaining." (Chopin 1). He is able to leave on business while she is stuck on the island with other mothers who are devoted to their families, constantly reminding her of the women that she was not.
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