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Kayla Elizabeth Moore

Professor Rieke
ENGL 3000: Introduction to English Studies
4/28/2015
Edna Pontellier: Paradox of 20th Century Womanhood
Through multiple generations of readers and critics, various questions have arisen in
terms of what type of woman Edna Pontellier truly is. As the primary character of The
Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna has been criticized both in the realm of the novel and in the
world of readers alike as a childish, promiscuous and selfish woman, who was never truly
awake in her own life. Many side with this position, but others say that Ednas awakening is
one of herself as an independent woman, not one of conforming to gender roles set forth by
society.
As the story develops, Ednas character is revealed as one of utmost independence from
the roles that define her; woman, wife, and mother. These roles pigeonhole her as being confined
to the life a woman should lead, having a dependency upon men, and as the heart of a household.
What can be seen in Edna is that she desires to break free from the confines of these clichd roles
set forth by society, and yearns to be the artist and independent woman she has always wanted to
be.
While this is certainly an admirable trait in all women from a modern perspective, it was
not looked well upon in the late twentieth century. People in this society never deviated from set
gender conventions, almost always setting forth females as mother-women, which Edna does

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not identify very well with. As Leonce notes in the novel, Edna is not one of these women as she
does not idolize her children as most other women often do in this era.
Alongside of her lack of motherly instinct, Edna is also not the type of woman who
functions well as a wife. Her marriage, even from the beginning of the text, is not the epitome of
a normal marriage. The relationship between Edna and Leonce is strained, and through this strain
of personality difference and frustration with one another, their marriage slowly dwindles and
Ednas sexual awakening is born.
As one critic of the text states, [Ednas] awakening is a realization of her sensual nature,
not of her equality or independence as an individual. (Walker, 252). This critique can definitely
be seen as true in the sense of Ednas sexual awakening throughout the bulk of the text. In terms
of her marriage especially, it can be seen that she is not sexually awakened by the relationship
she holds with Leonce, and is much more interested in extramarital affairs, which are frowned
upon in an even heftier sense at the time in which the novel is set.
With this life Edna leads in promiscuity outside of her marriage, the part which could
point to her being the most awakened is that she is unabashedly leading these affairs and is
very open about them. Multiple people inside and outside of her social circles discuss her actions
involving her promiscuity, but she lacks the awareness to care. This lack of awareness leads back
to the idea that Edna is a childish woman, serving as the paradox of her character traits and the
primary reason for which she is unawakened as a whole.
Being so perpetually unaware of how her actions affect others is another trait which is
commonly discussed about Mrs. Pontellier. For multiple reasons, many critics and readers alike
state that Edna is very childlike in her nature and actions. Multiple instances of this behavior

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arise throughout the novel, especially in terms of her personal endeavors in art, her children, her
marriage, and her affairs.
Her endeavors in art are definitely actions which define her as the independent woman
that Edna is classified to be, but they are also the actions which characterize her as childish and
selfish. She is childish in the sense that she does not thoroughly think through situations at hand,
including that of self-support, independence, and intensive amounts of new responsibility for
herself. Alongside of this new responsibility in supporting herself, Edna is forced to come to
terms with the fact that being an artist may not be the best choice for her.
With this choice of independence also comes the choice to move on from her marriage to
Leonce. As her extramarital affairs are publicized, she does not realize that she is making a
certain image for herself or that she is forcing a certain image upon her husband and children.
Her actions in this situation are overall immature, and being unaware of the effects it places on
those surrounding her, they support the idea that Edna is an infantile woman.
As she is portrayed as a childish and unawake woman throughout the text, another
situation supports this idea: the neglect of Ednas children. When she makes the choice to do as
she pleases for herself, she leaves her children behind her in all senses of the term. She neglects
their care slightly at the beginning of the text with her sons fever, and it slowly escalates to the
eventual fate of her leaving completely to pursue herself. While this may not seem as intense as
the extramarital affairs, it certainly holds an immense impact on her sons and leaves them feeling
abandoned thus being an extremely foolish and selfish action on Ednas part.

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Moving away from the childish nature of her actions, it can definitely be seen that Edna
is really trying to be awakened in multiple senses. Going along with the ideas of sensual
awakening, which definitely follow suit with Ednas actions, the idea of a feminist awakening
can also arise in the readers mind.
In reading this novel multiple instances lead to the idea of Ednas feminist awakening,
and it all begins with her marriage to Leonce. At the beginning, seemingly being a normal wife
of her time, Edna exhibits the following of stereotypical female lifestyles in the late 20th century.
Not shortly after this initial inkling of normalcy comes her evident unhappiness in her marriage
and the symbolic breaking of it with Edna jumping on her wedding ring. This symbolic breaking
could definitely signify the breaking of her traditional gender roles, and her feminist awakening
in realizing that she is unhappy following suit with what functions as a womans lifestyle in her
time.
Though she does symbolically break these roles in this moment, and does eventually
remove herself from situations in which she was not content, it can be seen that in some of these
moments Edna is not truly awake. Her ignorance in multiple situations, though she is
independent in them, confines Edna to being exactly who she is and restricts her from awakening
herself to be the magnificent person she yearns to become.
While this idea contradicts the initial idea of Edna being an independent, her lack of
awakening in multiple partitions of her life needs to be addressed because it lies behind all of the
actions which unfold throughout the text. Though she is this independent, and openly sensual
woman which is to be admired, she is also often ignorant in times of responsibility and
seriousness, which is where she needs to be consistently awakened.

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In looking at Ednas character overall, her multi-faceted personality makes it easy to see
how she functions as a feminist icon and as a childish figure. Her actions and their repercussions
follow the ideas of breaking free from stereotypes, but also eventually lead to her personal
demise both mentally and physically. Being such a complex character, and being so dually
minded in terms of childishness and independence, it can be seen that Edna Pontellier truly is the
paradox of what a woman can be and is certainly a small token in the scheme of feminist
literature.

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Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York, NY. W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., 1994.
Walker, Nancy. Feminist or Naturalist? The Awakening. Ed. Margo Culley. New York, NY.
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1994. 252-256.