Choosing between Family and Individuality in Kate Chopins The Awakenin

Choosing between Family and Individuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening 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 hear anything other than attending to their children and husbands needs. Therefore, she is seen as an outcast and must turn inward as well as outward towards nature for satisfaction and approval. At the pedigree of The Awakening, Mr. Pontellier poses the question, If it was not a mothers place to look after children, whose on earth was it? (Chopin 7). He reflects the general belief of his time that women should be mothers who give up themselves for the to a greater extent important needs of their children. He believes that women should be self-sacrif icing beings who never take and always give. He thinks, just as other men believed during this time period, that she should be the angel of the house, catering to his every need. Mr. Pontellier wants her to be one of the ministering angels (Chopin 9) who idolized their children (Chopin 9) and worshipped their husbands (Chopin 9). Mrs. Pontellier shows little interest in taking care of her husband and children, hinting that she seeks more than a life lived for others. She begins to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Chopin 14) which inevitably becomes a curse in disguise. It creates a complicated familiar conflict. Mrs. Pontellier ponders whether she should be defined as a mother and ... ...nature for acceptance and to her soothing childhood memories for forgotten innocence. Works Cited and Consulted Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. The Complete Works of Kate Chopin. Ed. Per Seyersted. Baton Rouge atomic number 57 State UP, 1989. Culley, Margo, ed. A Norton Critical Edition Kate Chopin The Awakening. recent York W.W. Norton, 1994. Edwards, Lee. Sexuality, Maternity, and Selfhood. A Norton Critical Edition Kate Chopin The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York W.W. Norton, 1994. 282-285. Walker, Nancy. Feminist or Naturalist. A Norton Critical Edition Kate Chopin The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York W.W. Norton, 1994. 252-257. Wolff, Cynthia. Thanatos and Eros. A Norton Critical Edition Kate Chopin The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York W.W. Norton, 1994. 231-241.