Awakening by Kate Chopin Term Paper

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Awakening

Kate Chopin's the Awakening is a tale of rebellion against social norms and the danger of venturing too far away from traditional conventions.

The protagonist, Edna, is married to Leonce Pontellier, a businessman from New Orleans. They have a beautiful house on Esplanade Street and are as one would say, respectable society. The novel opens on Grand Isle, just outside New Orleans, where the Pontelliers and their small children are renting a summer cottage from Madame Lebrun. Edna is a young and spirited woman from Kentucky who finds the life she is living a little too stifling for comfort. While Leonce, is quite the opposite. He apparently thrives on routine and formality, and finds little time away from his business dealings for pleasure.

Edna and Madame Lebrun's son Robert return from an afternoon of swimming and join Leonce on the porch. They try to recount a funny incident from the day, but Leonce fails to find the humor in the story and therefore is unable to share in the laughter. This first chapter sets the tone for the rest of the novel, in that it is obvious that Edna and Leonce are not particularly compatible companions. Edna appears to enjoy the beach, while Leonce seems irritated and out of his element. He prefers business to pleasure, and would rather play billiards at the hotel than spend the evening in the company of his wife and the other guests.

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He gives the impression that he could not care less what his wife does or with whom. When Edna retires for the night, Leonce still has not returned from the hotel. However, when he does return, he wakes her up to relate his evening to her, and when she shows little interest, he becomes angry and goes to check on their sons and then returns to the room to scold her for not being a good mother. Edna sits in the rocker outside and weeps, "She could not have told why she was crying. Such experiences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her married life" (Chopin pp).

"In short," Chopin writes, "Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman" (Chopin pp). Her children did not come running to her for protection or comfort. She was as uneasy and dissatisfied in her role as a mother as she was as Leonce's wife. As she spent more time with Madame Lebrun, Robert and the other Creoles on Grand Isle, she observed how casual they were about discussing personal issues, even sexual issues. "A certain light was begging to dawn dimly within her, the….....

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