... at the time, women merely went to such gambling place. And she became more independent. And she was enjoying her independence and freedom. Moreover, she moved to the new house called the pigeon house and sent her children to her mother in law. While she was enjoying her freedom and independence, she knew she was alone. In chapter XXXV, Edna reaches her full "awakening" by hopelessness for several nights waiting for Robert ... , by committing suicide, she believes she can be free from the world which imprisoned her. Edna's seeking for her identity, her independence, and her freedom caused...

• Word Count: 1070
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. "If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?" (Chopin637). Edna, instead of telling her husband that she had taken care of her children, began to cry like a baby after her husband reprimand her. "She began to cry a little she thrust her face, steaming and wet, into the bend of her arm, and she went on ... crying there, not caring any longer to dry her face, her eyes, and her arms. She ... person not the one that society made up for her So Edna takes a swim to clear her mind...

• Word Count: 1027
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... independence also changes through the novel while experiences many perceptions based on her psychological attitudes. At first Edna's views seem mainly one sided and regarding what is considered the standard of society. Though we see what she actually thinks about a women's place as a mother in the social order. She reflects, "The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy ... are so different from what she's been told most of her life and now she has the willpower to challenge those saying so that she can actually be independent. We see that Edna's relationships...

• Word Count: 1575
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... birds contribute to this novel as a whole. The first line in "The Awakening," states "a green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage..."" (5). Protagonist Edna Pontellier is this parrot for she is imprisoned and cannot fly away. She is expected to be nothing other than a wife and mother to her children and live the same retinues as other women do during this time period. Being that the parrot ... away from the society which she is living in. With the move, Madame Reisz educates Edna that in order for her to find what she wants and needs in life; she must have the courage and strength t...

• Word Count: 1075
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... desires, but she acts upon them. This shows her strength, courage and ability to be one with the human society. Through her actions she portrays the "outsider" in society with her growing independence, acts of rebellion and need to satisfy herself rather than others. Edna begins to see things differently and completely disregards the ideas and customs of how a woman, mother, and wife should be portrayed, thinking nothing of such ... lost in a world of fantasy rather than reality. Edna's search for independence soon becomes a finding of selfishness. She does not love her children and thi...

• Word Count: 745
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... worth as they are defined within the system to which she subscribes" (63). She could either return to live with her husband and children, or she could live alone. Edna found neither of these options to be satisfying, or reasonably sufficient. There was a higher price to pay for Edna, even if she didn't view ... a man who she felt no passion for, and was either content and emotionally unattached or restless and unhappy. But unlike other women, Edna had the courage, and the strength, to change that. By her life coming to an end, she took her life and made it her own. In essence, she took...

• Word Count: 1686
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to St. Louis with their six young children. A year later, Kate's mother also died and Kate, emotionally burnt out from the losses in her life, got comfort from a family physician, Frederick Kolbenheyer. He suggested that she start writing as a way of expressing her anger and disappointment with life. She needed to turn her writing into a way to support herself and her six children. She never actually was able to live ... , who was infamous in the French quarter. The story is told of a young woman who struggles to realize herself and her artistic ability. The same is true of Kate who cont...

• Word Count: 1124
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in her life. She gave up all of her responsibilities such as taking care of her children when they were sick and she never spent time playing with them. This shows a contrast between her inner self which was "awakening- and her outer self as a mother and a wife. At first, her character is portrayed as accepting of the "outer role- in which ... these being either to live her whole life in misery and hide her spirit and soul, or to sacrifice herself, that is her outer being and keep her dignity and essence. Edna chose the latter as she...

• Word Count: 833
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in her life. She gave up all of her responsibilities such as taking care of her children when they were sick and she never spent time playing with them. This shows a contrast between her inner self which was "awakening- and her outer self as a mother and a wife. At first, her character is portrayed as accepting of the "outer role- in which ... these being either to live her whole life in misery and hide her spirit and soul, or to sacrifice herself, that is her outer being and keep her dignity and essence. Edna chose the latter as she...

• Word Count: 838
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School