Edma Pontellier in Chopin's The Awakening

The suicide which ends the book and the life of Edna fits perfectly into the pattern of acts which makes up Edna's life. She shows throughout the book that she is capable of whining and protesting at the smallest inconvenience in her spoiled life, but she is not capable of anything resembling a true feminist rebellion from a place of strength and self=esteem. The novel's title suggests that Edna experiences an "awakening," but that awakening consists of, first, little more than a childish foot-stamping against the traditional role of the woman in relation to the dominant male, against the social standard for the husband-wife relationship:

Edna could not help but think that it was very foolish, very childish, to have stamped upon her wedding ring and smashed the crystal vase. . . . She began to do as she liked and to feel as she liked. . . . Mr. Pontellier had been a rather courteous husband so long as he met

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h and indolence, and now she dies a death fit for a woman whose "awakening" has focused entirely on herself, her needs, her inconveniences, her irritations. She does think of others, but only in terms of how they have failed her, how they have tried to "possess her, body and soul" (Chopin 190). Of course, now she is going to teach them a lesson by having them find her bloated, naked body when it washes up on the shore. Another of Edna's last thoughts reveals the depth of her self-delusion. She recalls Mademoiselle Reisz's admonition to her to be more free in her thoughts and actions. The fair assumption of the reader is that Edna's suicide is somehow supposed to be an act of artistic courage, daring and defiance. Instead, it is the final act of a completely self-centered woman. To be fair, it must be stated that Edna does offer resistance to the traditional female roles in her society and her era. Chopin might argue that she resisted far more than many if not most other women of her station if life, the majority of which women happily lazed about spending their husband's money and being the obedient wife and good "mother-woman." However, Edna's pouty resistance and ultimate suicide hardly add up to any sort of "awakening." Her f
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Approximate Word count = 1602
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)