A Fatal Struggle

In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, readers are constantly reminded of womanhood disadvantage throughout history. Edna Pontellier's constant use of both inward struggle and outward conformity portrays the sad reality of Edna's life and every woman ever to be born before or after her. 

Every person lives in struggle from within. contrasting thoughts, makes one think twice before acting, contrasting points of views make one love a person for many reasons but hate them just as much for other reasons. But the level of struggle that Edna suffered from within was more than just feelings; it turned into her entire Awakening. And it is even more fascinating to look at how this mental struggle, this internal crisscross Edna goes through was quickly turned into rebellious actions like stomping on her wedding ring but then putting it back on.

These actions are soon turned into a dead end highway for the simple fact that Edna did not handle the whole situation very well. Chopin’s intent to make Edna’s awakening a rebellious one, soon turned to dust for the simple fact that the awakening mirrored a teenage rebellious act, pinpointed against a part of society that did not care how she changed mentally or emotionally, only how well she performed as a mother, a wife, and a beautiful porcelain silent statue. Which is why, only until about half of the novel, Edna did nothing but think about all that she could be and all that she was missing out of because she was tied to her children and husband- she did not even imagine to act upon her feelings and thoughts until Robert left and she felt truly desperate to do something other than sit around all day at home.

And in some way, the sequence of radical rebellious acts she does when Robert leaves do not give her an independent image; it just adds to the painting of her outward conformity. because it tells readers that the conformity inside her had been building up so much that she couldn’t think of another way to express her emotions to the cube- minded society she lived with.

A wife through history has always been seen as a trophy. A living certainty that two families will join kingdoms or the oldest daughter of the richest merchant in the land, or simply living proof that whoever marries her will have the most beautiful children in the city. And in this case, the 1800’s, the idea of a wife was not at all different from this one. That is why these two things happen to Edna at once: she has always been trained to be silent and to follow her husband’s orders, which makes her conform outwardly. But at the same time, her mental struggles have been strengthened so long by the lack of outward communication that become too large to keep within and that is why she acts upon them. Yet it is visible how that controversy is fatal to the character, as Edna swims to her death out in the ocean.