Character Analysis of Edna Pontellier from The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Character Analysis of Edna Pontellier

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April 5 , 2006

Kate Chopin 's novel The Awakening is complex and subtle , and readers can argue endlessly about which scenes and features and characters are most important . The ending of the story also provides rich pabulum for reflections : is it positive ? is it negative ? is it over ? We wonder whether we are supposed to like Edna , understand her , or loathe everything about her . From one point of view The Awakening 's Edna

br Pontellier is a selfish wife and mother who not only does not appreciate her good husband , but she also rebels in the worst possible way - by taking a lover or two . She is not sympathetic she is wicked , foolish or both . But that was not the way Kate Chopin bore in mind her character . The character of Edna is build not only upon the plot there is also something about the imagery -- the birds , the water -- and about the surrounding : the natural wonders of Grand Isle , friends , family

The image of the caged bird with which the novel opens has often been commented upon (Beer , 2004 , Hoder-Salmon , 1992 ) References to flight and entrapment recur throughout the text resonating symbolically with the predicament of Edna Pontellier for instance , as she walks to her death at the end of the novel a bird with a broken wing circles down to the water before her : All along the white beach , up and down , there was no living thing in sight . A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above , reeling , fluttering , circling disabled down , down to the water (Chopin , 127 ) Also introduced is the language of possession Mr Pontellier is said to look at his sun-burnt wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage (Chopin , 4 ) As Edna returns from the sea she puts her wedding ring back on , taking it from her husband silently . This is the first in a series of removals and restorations of the clothes and jewellery which signify her position as a married woman . Lyonce Pontellier is here delineated , as he will be throughout the novel , as a man absorbed by the world of business , the company of men , financial autonomy and the pursuit of familial pleasures . The image of cold husband prognosticates the feeling of estrangement experienced by Edna . Indeed we do notice that Edna is far more candid and intelligent in her conversations with women friends than with any of the men in the book . She is more at ease with Robert than with any other man , but even their chattering is mostly little jokes and flirtations : he is the rehearsal for the adult sexual relationship with Alcye Arobin (Beer , 108 ) Edna 's friends Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz are the ones who take her art and her life seriously . They want to know about her past , her family , her dreams and her plans . They...