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Example research essay topic: Chopin The Awakening Edna Pontellier - 1,398 words

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Edna's Struggle for Power in Chopin's The Awakening Kate Chopin's The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother living in the upper crust of New Orleans in the 1890 s. It depicts her journey as her standing shifts from one of entrapment to one of empowerment. As the story begins, Edna is blessed with wealth and the pleasure of an affluent lifestyle. She is a woman of leisure, excepting only in social obligations. This endowment, however, is hindered greatly by her gender. Being a woman, she is completely at the mercy of her husband.

He provides for her a lifestyle she could not obtain on her own and fixes her place in society. This vulnerability stops Edna from being truly empowered. To gain independence as a woman, and as a person, Edna must relinquish the stability and comfort she finds in the relationship with her husband. Mr.

and Mrs. Pontellier's marriage comprises a series of power plays and responds well to Marxist and Feminist Theory. Leonce Pontellier looks? at his wife as one who looks at a valuable piece of property? (7).

He views her as an accessory that completes the ideal life for him. Edna, however, begins to desire autonomy and independence from Leonce, so true to the feminist point of view. In Chapter III Mr. Pontellier enters their room in Grand Isle late one night, waking Edna. He is full of self-importance as he talks to her while he begins to ready himself for bed. Since she has just been awakened, Edna does not respond with the enthusiasm Mr.

Pontellier deems acceptable. He thought it very discouraging that his wife? evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation. (12) To assert his dominance, Leonce demands that Edna tend to their son Raoul, who he insists has a fever. He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. (13) He also takes this time to emphasize the difference between their duties: his being that of the provider while hers centered on caring for the home. Edna's assurances that Raoul was fine fell on deaf ears and she springs to action to appease her husband. This small interaction sets the tone for their relationship throughout the novel.

It establishes that there are underlying power struggles between the two characters and that Mr. Pontellier is the authority in their relationship. Edna experiences her first attempt to distance herself from the dominance of her husband by learning to swim: a non-confrontational step, but one that asserts her desire for independence. [T]hat night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child who of a sudden realizes its powers and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with overconfidence. (47) She swims beyond the others who were in her the party. She turned her face seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude? (48) She strives for autonomy from the group, for an experience all her own.

This sensation overwhelms Edna because she has never previously attempted to separate herself from anyone. Upon looking back toward the shore, she suddenly becomes afraid. [T]o her unaccustomed vision the stretch of water behind her assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome. (48) This quote not only depicts her real fear of drowning, but also expresses Edna's apprehension at the prospect of becoming truly independent. I thought I should have perished out there alone, (48) she says to her husband, looking for an acknowledgment of the feat she has accomplished. He dismisses her fears. You were not so very far, my dear; I was watching you? (48) On the surface this is a comforting gesture, assuring his wife that he will protect her. At the same time, the comfort in that stability is what Edna is fleeing from.

She wanted to set herself apart, but Leonce does not recognize her achievement. After returning to New Orleans, Mr. Pontellier expects Edna to resume her role as the dutiful wife of a businessman. One of Edna's obligations as his wife is to receive their friends and the wives of his colleagues on social calls. Traditionally, this has always taken place on Tuesday afternoons. At dinner one Tuesday, a few weeks after their return from Grand Isle, Mr.

Pontellier inquires about whom Edna had received that day only to have her explain that she had been out. He reprimands her for her thoughtlessness, as she had not even bothered to leave an excuse for her absence. Why, my dear, I should think youd understand by this time that people dont do such things: weve got to observe les convenances if we ever expect to get on and keep up with the procession. (85) It is not made apparent whether or not Edna comprehends the weight of her actions, but the act itself was one of rebellion. Mr. Pontellier recognizes this and is bothered by it.

Before the vacation to Grand Isle his wishes and the lifestyle he had chosen for them had never been questioned, and certainly not defied. Mrs. Pontellier acted according to his desires in the same unthinking manner in which she later resists them. After this confrontation, Edna is bothered. Alone after his departure, she paces the cage she feels to be in. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet.

When she saw it lying there, she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. (87) The wedding ring is a physical representation of her bind to Leonce. Her desire to destroy the ring indicates her displeasure in their relationship and in her situation. What makes this incident different from learning to swim is that she is now conscious of what she is railing against. Edna no longer feels content with the power that Leonce holds over her and any attempt to distance herself from him ends in misery.

Later in the novel Edna is left alone in New Orleans as Mr. Pontellier leaves for a business trip and the children go to stay with his mother. As she begins to spend time by herself, she becomes accustomed to the independence she feels. She also begins to resent that she does not have anything of her own to cherish. Im tired looking after that big house. It never seemed like mine, anyway-like home. (132) It bothers Edna that the house, the money that provides for it, are not [hers]. (132) She desires her own sanctuary and decides to move to a smaller house a few doors from her current residence.

Since she has been successful at the horse races and she has been selling her art, Edna has enough money to live on her own, without financial aid from Leonce. This act essentially relinquishes most of the power Leonce held over her. She no longer needs him for survival. By doing this, however, she has willingly surrendered her place in the social strata. In order to maintain his image, Leonce puts an ad in the newspaper that explains Edna's move as a response to the remodel scheduled for their home. Edna does not discount this, for she is not concerned with how people perceive her.

Her concerns center fully on obtaining her own happiness, a philosophy she has never been allowed to indulge in previously. The final scene of the novel depicts Edna's suicide. Although the reason for her decision does not spawn from her relationship with her husband, she cannot yield the independence she has won and return to him. In order to fulfill her quest, she must continue on her search for independence.

The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring and murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in the abysses of solitude. (189) She submerges herself in the ocean and in the solitude she has longed for throughout the novel. Only in her death is Leonce completely powerless. She has taken control of her destiny. Edna Pontellier as a literary character is shocking for her time.

She achieves true empowerment, a status not often experienced by women in the Victorian Era. She rebels against her husband and the social norms that he represents. True to the time, such a conflict could not resolve in her favor without sorrow, but ultimately Edna triumphs.


Free research essays on topics related to: edna, wedding ring, grand isle, edna pontellier, chopin the awakening

Research essay sample on Chopin The Awakening Edna Pontellier

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