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Individualism In The Awakening

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In her feminist novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin criticizes the sexist ideals of society. By drawing attention to the objectifying nature of 19th century marriage and romance, the confines of motherhood, and the negative reception of women’s self expression and individualism, Chopin advances her argument of the adversity women face.
Throughout the novel, Chopin uses the Pontellier’s marriage- a thing of obligation to Edna, and an institution of control to Mr. Pontellier- to criticize marriage and the idea that women belong to their husbands. Chopin establishes early on that Edna, revealed to have married Mr. Pontellier to rebel against her family, feels no real love for her husband and only cares for her children somewhat despondently; she has no interest in being a tradition “mother woman.” Mr. Pontellier loves Edna, …show more content…
Edna, who refuses to be an object, spends most of the book desperately trying to escape the stigma of being anyone’s property, only to find Robert also considers her something to be owned. She tells Robert, “I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, ‘Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,’ I should laugh at you both” (119). Edna yearns to be an equal to the men she loves. In the end, Chopin makes a statement with Edna’s suicide by highlighting how the near impossibility of escaping the idea of being a man’s object through marriage or romance. In The Awakening, Edna consistently struggles to fulfill the role of a doting mother. She is consistently expected to be a classic “mother-woman”, where her life’s purpose to is attend to her family unit. Chopin writes, “In

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