Selfhood and Motherhood in The Awakening by Kate Chopin

â€Å"By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I cant convince myself that I am (216)† Kate Chopin Kate Chopin’s The Awakening depicts Edna Pontellier’s struggle to find and assert herself within the cultural constraints of late 19th century America. Like her name â€Å"Pontellier†, which means â€Å"one who bridges,† it implies that Edna is in a transition between two worlds but not fully embedded in either. Her intent is to bridge the limited world of the mother-woman to that of selfhood. In The Awakening, the mother-women were â€Å"women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels (Chopin 19).† They readily relinquished their individual identities. Madame Ratignolle exemplified the role of the mother-woman as she was defined by and found pleasure in her roles of both wife and mother: she â€Å"played [the piano] very well, keeping excellent waltz time and infusing an expression into the strings that †¦ inspired†¦ keeping up her music on account of the children†¦ because she and her husband both considered it a means of brightening the home and making it attractive (Chopin 61).† Although Edna revels in motherhood, she believes that there is an ideal truth beyond it. This truth, according to Dyer, cannot coexist with the social, the moral, or even the biological obligations of motherhood (105). Edna, therefore, findsShow Mor eRelatedKate Chopin s Life And Feminism1281 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopin’s Life and Works- Feminism Kate Chopin, born on February 8th, 1850, was a progressive writer in the midst of a conservative and unequal time. She exposed the unfair undertones of society in such a way that made people outrage and condemn some of her works. However, in the early 1900s, her works were examined again and people started to listen to her ideas. One of these main motifs that Chopin’s works kept bringing up were feminism and equality. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, a radicalRead MoreEssay on The Significance of Art in Chopins The Awakening873 Words   |  4 Pagesartist. As Edna awakens to her selfhood and sensuality, she also awakens to art. Originally, Edna â€Å"dabbled† with sketching â€Å"in an unprofessional way† (Chopin 543). She could only imitate, although poorly (Dyer 89). She attempts to sketch Adà ¨le Ratignolle, but the picture â€Å"bore no resemblance† to its subject. After her awakening experience in Grand Isle, Edna begins to view her art as an occ upation (Dyer 85). She tells Mademoiselle Reisz that she is â€Å"becoming an artist† (Chopin 584). Women traditionallyRead More Choosing between Family and Individuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening2309 Words   |  10 PagesChoosing between Family and Individuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopins The Awakening focuses on a womans struggle to become an individual while still being a mother and wife. In the process of this journey, the female heroine discovers that establishing her own identity means losing a mothers identity. Edna looks to be the brave soul, a soul that dares and defies (Chopin 61). Ednas society looked down upon females who seek anything other than attending toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Daily Life Of Edna s, The Awakening s Protagonist2355 Words   |  10 PagesGrand Isle. They are rather close companions; Robert has chosen to follow her around for the summer, as is later revealed to be his custom. It’s revealed that Edna is an American woman from â€Å"the old Kentucky bluegrass country.† As the day progresses, Chopin details the tiny minutiae of married life that have disappointed both Leonce and Edna; Leonce feels hurt by her dismissiveness- â€Å"He thought it very discouraging that h is wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in