Louisiana to tell her story utilizing a woman, Edna Pontellier, as her subject. The story

was written in the late eighteen hundreds and drew wide criticism from critics and the

public. The novel was banished for many years due to it’s suicide and alienation basis. Today the novel is viewed with admiration, although many critic’s don’t know if Edna’s

suicide is a triumph, failure or tragedy in life. Chopin does an excellent job in describing

Pontellier’s marital situation, while giving some insight into how women are viewed as

subordinates to men during these times. The author also goes into detail describing the

characters in the book and how they all tie into the change in Edna Montpellier’s personality. Although Chopin adds a life-altering event to Edna’s life such as her surprise swim, she also includes tragedy by allowing the principal to meet an unpredictable fate. Edna Pontellier somewhat represents several people today, not just

women, who are searching within themselves to determine if their lives have any merit,

This story was able to help me visualize the troubled mind of young woman who was desperately seeking to find herself. The author went into great detail to describe each scene to help me visualize what was going on. Although Chopin gave Edna an inner strength that eventually came forth as she was trying to stand up for herself, Chopin

I don’t think Edna was originally contemplating committing suicide. I think factors of Nurture, like behavioral, cognitive and humanistic, and not Nature , compiled to make her not want to live anymore rather than face dealing with them. She loved her children very much, but the author made it clear several times in the book that Edna was not willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of them. Mrs. Ratignolle reminded Edna of her motherly obligation by during the birth of her fourth child. She loved her husband, but could not bare the idea of ever going back to him because of his intense need to maintain a certain social position and his driving desire to acquire unnecessary items. Lastly, I think depression really came out when she could not come to terms with the idea that the man she had fallen in love with was not willing to be with her because she was a married woman.

Mrs. Ratignolle is also living in similar circumstances as Edna, but she is not opposed to her life of being a mother and wife. She could see that Robert had more than a casual interest in Edna, and had sternly warned him to stay his distance because Edna was a married woman. I feel that Mrs. Ratignolle may have inadvertently been a factor in Edna’s suicide because she repeatedly advised her to remember her children during the time when she was giving birth to her fourth child.

important to her husband. Edna feels that she has potential to be a very good artist who could possibly make a living at it. I believe that she is suffering from a suppressed mental condition that has heightened her own need for self-preservation that occurred after she realized she could swim. Mentally, she allows her mind to transport her to happier places when life gets a littl

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