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Rebecca Bussa
Mrs. Smit
12 AP Lit
3 November 2014
To Be Free:
A Feminist Look at The Awakening
Edna Pontelliers transition into the independent, defiant woman she had kept inside for
her entire life was shocking to the whole community. She broke free from the expectations of her
male-dominated society to follow her heart and the voice that had long been inside her. For
twenty-eight years, Edna lived a small life within herself, making her outward faade a
conformist to the nineteenth century expectations of a woman, but in her core she lived a
separate life which questioned society and its thoughts towards women (Chopin 57). Examining
a work through a feminist lens involves exploring the gender roles which reveal the inequality
between men and women. In The Awakening, Edna serves as a reminder that for women to break
free from the gender roles of the nineteenth century society, they must be strong and independent
women, yet they must stand together to succeed in their struggle.
At the beginning of the novel, Edna is first juxtaposed with the other women at the
cottages because she is not as motherly or womanly as she ought to be. The term her husband,
Mr. Pontellier, gives the women at the cottages is mother-woman. A mother-woman is
beautiful, embodies grace and charm, and idolize[s her] children, (51). The perfect motherwomen, he argues, is Adle Ratignolle, the epitome of all women. Madame Ratignolle would
have a baby every two years and begin to think ahead for the next child immediately after the
birth of the last. She would spend all day looking after her children, and caring for her husband,

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the duties expected of a nineteenth century mother. On the other hand, Mr. Pontellier does not
believe his wife to be considered under this category. Edna cares for her children, but does not
care in the same way Madam Ratignolle does. Mr. Pontellier notes that Edna has a habitual
neglect of the children because she is not one to get up and check on her children in the middle
of the night (48). Edna is not like the other women or mothers in the late nineteenth century. She
does not have an underlying desire to answer her childrens, or her husbands, every needshe
wants only to be herself and not have to worry about everybody elses needs. Also, Edna
proclaims that she will never sacrifice herself for her children (97). She explains that she
would give away the unessential like money or even her life, but she would never give up
herself. Some of the residents of the cottages do not understand the difference between giving up
herself and giving up her life. This is the difference between Edna and the other women at this
time period. She knows that giving up herself, as in personality or her own happiness, is different
than dying for her children. As Edna recognizes the differences between herself and the other
women, she begins the process of her awakening and breaking away from these women whom
she does not want to be like.
Next, in the novel, women are objectified and seen as another trophy to add to their
husbands collection, but in the process of her awakening, Edna realizes that she does not want to
be perceived as someone elses thing. Everywhere they go, the Pontelliers live a high-class
lifestyle. They have a large, charming, and ostentatious home. Mr. Pontellier owned the softest
carpets and rugsrich and tasteful draperiespaintingscut glass, [and] silver that he would
just walk around his house to admire (99). Mr. Pontellier coveted these objects and considers his
wife to be a part of his collection. At the beginning of the novel, after swimming, Edna comes
out of the water, sunburned and Mr. Pontellier looks at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece

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of personal property that he can sit around and admire at home (45). Later in the novel in midst
of her awakening, Edna decides to move out of her husbands house in order to escape from
being thought of as a possession. She does this to get away from all of the things that are bought
and owned by her husband. She wants to be economically stable on her own, so with the money
she received from her drawings she buys an apartment and only takes things from her old house
that she purchased with her own money. She considers herself free from the possession of her
husband because she can be her own supporter. But at the end of the novel, Robert muses about
his fantasies to marry Edna to set her free from her marriage to Mr. Pontellier. She is angered
that Robert says she needs to be set free. She proclaims I am no longer one of Mr. Pontelliers
possession to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose (167). Edna had spent too long
getting away from the possession of her husband only to be considered a possession by her new
love.
Finally, Edna is instructed that in order to be the strong, independent women that she
strives to be, she has to be strong-willed and able to defy society on her own. During one of their
chats, Madame Reisz questions Ednas love for Robert and determines that Ednas love for
Robert is true. On Ednas way out, Madam Reisz put her arms around Edna to feel her shoulder
blades to see if [Ednas] wings were strong, which is a metaphor to see if Edna was strong
enough to defy society on her own (138). Madam Reisz comments, The bird that would soar
above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings, saying that someone
has to be ready to rise above society and their prejudices alone because a bird who is weak,
bruised, exhausted, flutter[s] back to earth, and will be crushed for opposing society (138).
Madame Reisz believes that the power of the will of a single woman is enough to stand opposed
to the will of societies.

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It may be that one must be a strong, willful women to stand against what society expects
them to be. Originally, Edna is able to do this by herself for a while. But, Edna was alone. She
was alone in her way of thinking about her role as a women and even the person she loved still
thought of her as an object rather than her own being. Edna believed the only way that she could
be free of societal conventions was to die. But, before Edna went into the water to drown herself
she sees a bird with a broken wing [beating in] the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling
disabled down, down to the water (175). This symbolizes Ednas life and death. She tries to be a
strong person that soars above the conventions of society, but in the process her will was broken
and she was sent spiraling towards the earth and plunged into the ocean where she would die.
Edna Pontellier is a women who was born before her time. She had ideas and views that
were not accepted in her time. She spent her time living a double life where her inner self
opposed the mask she painted on to imitate society. When she fell in love with Robert, she daily
cast[ed] aside the fictitious self that everyone wanted her to be and became herself. To some,
like Mr. Pontellier, Ednas awakening made her seem mentally unstable, but to others she was
ravishing and did not seem like the same woman, because her metamorphosis into the
women she always thought she was made her happier and brighter. Edna had such strong beliefs
about how she felt women should live their lives. As she began to live the life that made her
happy, the societal influences were too much for her to handle on her own. Without the support
and encouragement of a group of like-minded women, she felt the only way to be free was to die.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate, and Sandra M. Gilbert. The Awakening, and Selected Stories. New York: Penguin,
1984. Print.