Analysis of The Awakening Essay

The Death of Edna Pontellier: A Rebellious Defeat

Even from its first publication, Kate Chopins novel The Awakening has caused controversy. While today The Awakening is praised for its feminist undertones, the piece was first criticized for its lack of representation of American values. Instead of depicting a main character that embodied the Victorian ideal of a woman fulfilling the role as an Angel in the House which was the norm for American women during this particular historical period, Edna was a rebellious wife and an adulteress, whose desires and yearning for independence lead her to make many radical decisions throughout the course of the novel from inwardly questioning her role as a woman in society, to taking action by moving out on her own, and in the end by taking her own life as she swims in the gulf waters off the coast of the Grande Isle, grows tired, and drowns. This death creates a sort of unfinished ending an aesthetic device that allows the reader to question the meaning behind Ednas demise. To some scholars, Ednas death was simply an accident rather than a suicide. Edna, who was an inexperienced swimmer, simply became tired, panicked, and couldnt find the strength to make her way back to shore. However, others argue that Ednas drowning was in fact a suicide, that when Edna stepped into the gulf waters, she knew that she wouldnt return to land. If this is true, it promotes another question, Is Ednas suicide recognizing a defeat or is it a final act of rebellion? Whatever the answer, the crux of Chopins ending to The Awakening remains the same; it is the result of Ednas desire for freedom and societys condemnation of that desire.

Even at the very beginning of the novel, one can see Ednas relationship with the sea. Living in Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico plays an important role in society. It provides support for the areas economy through fishing, but at the same time it also geographically isolates Edna Pontellier on the Grand Isle. While isolated for the summer on the island, Edna is at first reluctant of the waters because she does not know how to swim, yet she is always intrigued. When the reader is first introduced to Edna, she is emerging back with Robert from a lazy day at the shore. After spending the day on the beach with Robert, Edna begins to ponder why she did so, and as she wonders, Chopin tells us that her thoughts turnand she is beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Chopin 544). Immediately following that, her thoughts transition to the sea. But the beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing. How few of us ever emerge from such beginning! How many souls perish in its tumult! But the voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace (Chopin 544). The sea is a constant presence in Ednas life it is always near her yet at the same time it is also new to her. Since it is a territory that is still unexplored for her, it strongly beckons her, and in a way becomes for Edna an embodiment of what she wants most freedom. In the article Surviving Edna: A Reading of the Ending of The Awakening, Treu makes a reference to Patricia Yeagers analysis of The Awakening in which Yeager describes the voice of the sea as more than a sign of dark and unfulfilled sexuality (Treu 27) but as a voice that expresses Ednas incessant need for some other register of language, for a mode of speech that will express her unspoken, but not unspeakable needs (Treu 27). The sea calls out to Edna even from the beginning of the novel, and at the end of it, Edna responds by giving herself to it completely when she drowns.

If Ednas death is seen as a suicide, then the question of whether or not it can be interpreted as a defeat or a final act of rebellion becomes prevalent. It is no question in the end of the novel, Edna finds her situation to be one that is inescapable. Her inability to resolve her internal conflict due to social barriers and her need to be free literally drown her. While it is hard for readers to pinpoint exactly what is Ednas direct motivation for taking her life, there are some understood reasons for it. As a woman Edna cannot handle the consequences of having an affair, but at the same time she is not willing to live without fulfilling her desires. This is especially difficult for her since she is a mother and therefore cannot fully become an autonomous individual (Treu 29). In addition, she has lost all hope that the American social structure will change for her and she is left with a sense of failure in particular a feeling that, according to Treu, she has failed as an artist which is particularly devastating because art exemplifies a freedom of expression. Some suggest that when Edna drowns, she is succumbing to the reality that she cannot fully gain her freedom based on the historical context, gender roles, and social norms. While Edna does have reason to feel hopeless, the novel would feel hopeless as well if Edna didnt gain something, even in death. Treu stated that Ednas desire for freedom and societys condemnation of that desire are set against each other and the resolution provided by Ednas suicide (Treu 29). If this is true, would Chopin want to convince the reader that society will always triumph over women?

Chopins character of Edna Pontellier serves as a voice of the unspoken Angel in the House. It seems as though the novel wouldnt be serving its purpose if Edna wasnt victorious in the end. The novel is used as a tool to critique society so change can occur, not merely to state something fixed. Perhaps Chopin used Ednas suicide as a way to print a otherwise ignored and overlooked problem on paper. Chopin didnt provide an easy and triumphant ending for Edna but perhaps this is because none was available in the world she knew (Treu 30). Instead, Chopin wrote an ending in which the conditions of her social world are shown for what they are, and the door opened for discussions of the future (Treu 30). When the ending is viewed for this purpose, it becomes apparent that Edna was victorious at least in the fact that she opened others eyes to her situation.

In the final chapter, as Edna swims further and further out to sea, it becomes apparent just how much she has transformed throughout the course of the novel. She will not settle for a short swim under Lonces supervision. She now has the strength to take greater risks and she does so (Treu 32). Edna may not emerge from the water because Chopin wants to show that the risks Edna has taken are real. However, so are the rewards. Her longing for freedom is what pushes her underwater. With every stroke she is one step closer to finally taking her life in her own hands. She went on and on. She remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the terror that seized her at the fear of being unable to regain shore. She did not look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the bluegrass meadow that she had traversed when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end (Chopin 625). This is how the novel ends; it doesnt end with Ednas thoughts, so the reader doesnt hear her express why she has chosen to end her life at this time and in this fashion. Instead, it allows the reader to contemplate the possibilities rather than make a final judgment. This is what Chopin wanted for her ending, she wanted Ednas suicide to be victorious when the reader stopped to reflect upon the why why Edna felt so desperate to take her own life, and why society had been so blind to not see how something like this could occur.

Edna Pontelliers death at the end of the novel brings Chopins piece to full circle. When the reader is first introduced to her, Edna has not yet awoken to see her full potential, not just as a mother and wife, but as an individual. As the novel progresses, one can watch Edna grow more confident, yet one can also see that as Edna grows more aware of herself her dissatisfaction grows as well. She is not a mother-woman and certainly does not desire to remain as society deems appropriate for women-- an unmoving fixture in a home. As Edna stated earlier on in a conversation to Robert, I give myself where I choose (Chopin 619). In the very end, Ednas suicide reflects both the despair and admonishment she feels due to society and male oppression. Society had turned her internal struggle into an inescapable problem, coercing her into taking her own life. Chopins ending was designed to turn Ednas inescapable problem into a public issue by allowing the reader to ponder the reasons for her characters death and to bring about discussion. In this case, the specifics arent as important as purpose to inform the reader of a commonly ignored but prevalent issue and to encourage reform.

Works Cited

Treu, Robert. Surviving Edna: A Reading of the Ending of The Awakening.

College Literature, 27.2 (2000): 21-36. Print.

Baird