Edna Pontellier Essay

518 Words3 Pages
Held back by the burdens of marriage, children, and the lack of freedom, Edna Pontellier is a selfish, independent, and rebellious woman. The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a novel about a young woman who is trying to find her position in society by changing herself to who she believes that she should be rather than who society believes she should be. She begins to find that she does not really love her husband and she is not the ideal motherly figure towards their two children. Edna Pontellier is a selfish woman. Edna does not want to be like every other woman. Edna wants to be her own self. She does not want to be responsible for her children. She wants time for herself. Edna also sees other men because she wants some attention and to feel loved. “Her marriage to Léonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate.” On page 18 is a quote to show this. Edna’s selfish choices have caused her husband much grief. By doing what she wants to do, Edna is a strongly independent woman. Edna goes out and does whatever she wants. She learns to swim in the ocean, something that she used to be scared about. “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.” On page 27 shows how independent Edna is. By doing this, it shows Léonce that she will not listen to his requests for her to be known as society’s definition of “normal”. Another trait that describes Edna is rebellious. Edna does not respect her husband like she was taught to do. She refuses to take calls for her husband on Tuesdays. She rebels against society’s beliefs about being a good wife. On page 51, “’Nothing. I simply felt

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