Edna's Awakening's

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Week 5 Assignment 1 Discussion Question 2 “The Awakening” By Kate Chopin Eng1002 Dr. Becky By Chris Bates “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin was set around the main character Edna Pontellier. I’ve chosen to write about her varying behaviors. The way she acted throughout the novel was centered around her as a wife and as a mother. Yes she “lacked” in these areas, but I am going to focus on her as an individual and how it affected her varying roles. When the story went back and told how her and her husband met and came to marry it told an awful lot about who Edna was. They were not totally in love and the author stated, “The violent opposition of her father and sister Margaret to Edna marrying a Catholic” (Chopin. 1899) played a part in them getting married. Edna enjoyed the love Leonce showered upon her, but married out of spite in a sense. Edna was described as a “woman not given to confidences.” (Chopin, 1899) This was not an uncommon emotion nor were many of the other feelings she expressed all over the book. Edna was an uncertain woman and worked her way through her feelings. There were times when she could ”not have told you why she was crying or was bewildered.” (Chopin, 1899) Other characters in this story took this behavior to mean she was going crazy or losing her mind. My interpretation is she was merely “coming into herself and finally realizing who she was meant to be.” Some may say her behavior made her a bad wife or mother. I disagree. She found her destiny and went after it. References: Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 0. VitalSource Bookshelf. Originals, 1899, Tuesday, December 27, 2011.
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