There are many important paths that we must follow on our journey through life.
We follow the path without questioning its intent. The path informs us when we
should learn to talk, to walk, to marry, and to have children. We are told that
we should never stray from it, because if we do, society will make it certain
that we are bound for damnation. In the novel The Awakening the main character,
Edna Pontellier, has followed this path without so much as a fuss. All that
changes when Edna is awakened from a life long slumber­a slumber, which she
found repetitious, monotonous, and futile. She discovers that she is incomplete
being just a wife and a mother. She needs to fill the void that has been empty
for so long. She finds herself looking aimlessly beyond the path toward a
destination of new feelings, adventures, and awakenings her quest for true love.
Edna stands under this symbol of love, she is faced with a dilemma. Should she
kiss, (or in this case, marry), whether or not it is love? Or should she pass by
the opportunity and prepare herself for the hurricane winds of a disappointed
and disapproving society? Edna chose to do what society wanted her to do­she
got married and left her fantasies and dreams in the depths of the shadows.
"The acme of bliss, which would have been a marriage with the tragedian,
was not for her in this world. As the devoted wife of a man who worshiped her,
she felt she would take her place with a certain dignity in the world of
reality, closing the portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and
dreams." (P. 24) After marriage, hidden around the curvatures of the path,
were the expectations of motherhood and being a devoted mother, after all
"if it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was
it?" (P. 7) The appearance of Edna's life looked perfect­she was the envy
of many women who declared, "Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the
world. Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit she knew of none better." (P. 9)
The cover of her life had that of a fairy tale, but inside, the pages were
filled with the emptiness and the loneliness she was feeling. During that summer
at Grand Isle, the pages were finally read, and slowly Edna became less and less
concerned for the welfare of her family. "He [Mr. Pontellier] thought it
very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence
evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little
his conversation." (P. 6) In Mr. Pontellier's eyes his wife was not a
mother-woman, because "it was easy to know them, fluttering about with
extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their
precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their
husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals
and grow wings as ministering angels." (P. 10) His wife seemed more
interested in using her "protective" wings to fly about in search of
the independent soul she once threw away at the altar. In the meantime, "if
one of the little Pontellier boys took a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt
to rush crying to his mother's arms for comfort; he would more likely pick
himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes, and the sand out of his mouth, and
go on playing." (P. 9) The love between Edna and her children existed, but
it resembled more of the love between the members of an extended family in the
1990s. "Sometimes [she'd] gather them passionately in her heart; she would
sometimes forget them, and their absence was a sort of relief." (P. 24)
Around her, Edna could see the devoted Creole mothers flocking about their
precious children. These women frowned upon Edna's laissez faire attitude toward
her children. None of the other women could relate to Edna's declaration,
"I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my
life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself." (P. 25) Edna made the
decision to have a family when she was young, naive, and unaware of what she
truly wanted. That summer, she awakened from her slumber and frantically began
to search for the gateway to her dreams. As for her children, "they need
not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul." (P. 152)
Raising a family prevailed in the nineteenth century and women who tried to
pursue a career or a hobby were shunned by society. Edna throughout her life
listened to everyone else but herself. She accepted her assigned role in society
and stashed away her passions, dreams, and desires to the deepest part of her
soul. For many years she lived hidden beneath a facade, but the Edna who craved
independence and romance began to emerge that summer. "In short, Mrs.
Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human
being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and
about her." (P. 17) Edna was no longer "devotedly" walking down
the typical woman's path, but rather, she was exploring the opportunities around
her. "Sometimes I feel this summer as if I were walking through the green
meadow again; idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided." (P. 22) She
awakened to a whole new world­a world in which she had the courage and the
independence to stray from her structural life. Painting used to be a mindless
activity for her, but the hobby and the talent began to flourish before her very
eyes. She was doing something she loved something she could express her
innermost feelings with, something that fulfilled her much more than being a
mother ever did. It began to consume her soul. “Edna cried a little that night
after Arobin left her. It was only on phase of the multitudinous emotions, which
had assailed her. There was with her an overwhelming feeling of
irresponsibility. There was her husband’s reproach looking at her from the
external thing around her, which he had provided for her external existence.
There Robert’s reproach making itself felt by a quicker, fiercer, more over
powering love, which had awakened within her toward him… There was a dull pang
of regret because it was not the kiss of love which inflamed her, because it was
not love which had held this cup of life to her lips.” (140) According to Jen
Thompson, Edna was changing, she thought of her marriage to Leonce as a safe
haven, there was not excitement or passion. She feels trapped and needs to
escape. Months passed and Edna became more and more enthralled in finding her
identity­she neglected her duties as a housewife and those as a mother. She
fought her way off of the path and found herself in the cruel, yet sometimes
fulfilling wilderness. The only woman who understood the battle that Edna was
about to endure was Mademoiselle Reisz. “Edna truly admires Mademoiselle Reisz.
Edna appreciates her talent for playing the piano, while the other people on the
Grand Isle don’t appreciate her, because she does not fit their idea of what a
proper woman should be, she is eccentric and bold. Her music touches Edna, it
stirs something up inside her. (Thompson) Perhaps every woman awakens at one
point in her life. Some choose to chase after a dream while others are more apt
to cope with reality. Edna awakened to find herself next to a man she did not
love and a life that did not compensate her emotional and sexual urges. The sea
began to touch her as it never did before, "The voice of the sea speaks to
the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft,
close embrace." (P. 17) Edna found herself touched by piano piece, which
she ironically entitled "Solitude," that her friend Madame Ratignolle
played. "When she heard it there came before her imagination the figure of
a man standing beside a desolate rock on the sea shore. He was naked. His
attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird
winging its flight away from him." (P. 35) Edna never dared to think of the
significance the image had for her­most likely out of fear of what it could be.
Yet, she longed to be that bird. She longed to fly gracefully away from her
passion and away from her need for the naked man, who stands on the brink of a
sexual symbol for Her­the Sea. To be that bird, she had to gather the courage
to be independent from men, and to find the courage to be happy with herself as
an individual. Edna began to realize that she enjoyed the company of other men,
particularly Robert, "just as one misses the sun on a cloudy day without
having thought much about the sun when it was shining." (P. 33) "As
Edna walked along the street she was thinking of Robert. She was still under the
spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility
of remembering. But the thought of him was like an obsession, ever pressing
itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt upon details of their acquaintance,
or recalled in any special or peculiar way his personality; it was his being,
his existence, which dominated her thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt
into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity which filled
her with an incomprehensible longing." (P. 71) Edna explained why she chose
to "love" Robert, "Why do you suppose a woman knows why she
loves? Does she select? Does she say to herself: 'Go to! Here is a distinguished
statesman with presidential possibilities; I shall proceed to fall in love with
him.'" (P. 107) There is irony in her explanation­she was the person she
was mocking­she had thought exactly that when she married Lйonce. Edna
had given up herself while waiting for Robert to return from Mexico. She had the
power to be free, to soar high, but she chose to hang on to the fantasy of what
could never be. Sadly, a fantasy is always much sweeter than reality, because
when Robert returned, Edna found herself admitting, "he had seemed nearer
to her off there in Mexico." (P. 136) The man returned to his post on the
rock. The bird, infatuated with his return, remained by his feet and with great
devotion and admiration looked up at this creature and said, "It was you
who awoke me last summer out of a life-long stupid dream." (P. 143) Edna
associated her awakening with Robert and unawarely lost the independence she had
sought after by being so superficially dependent on a man. Throughout her life,
Edna had always witnessed women with a man slung on their arms and had only
encountered a few who were absent of one. Society deemed the latter as outcasts
and told Edna that their days were deficient of happiness, comfort, and
compassion. Edna was not strong enough to gain an independent soul and an
independent arm. She could barely continue fighting the battle for the
possession of her soul, and so, it was necessary that she found her support
through Robert. When the man saw the bird perched at his feet­reality struck
him. He could not proceed with this "love" any longer, because his
conscience repeatedly scolded him, "She is a married woman with
children." To resolve a guilty conscience, he kicked the bird from the
ledge, in which they both once stood and justified his action by saying, "I
love you. Good-by--because I love you." (P. 148) With his farewell, her
aspirations and her hopes quickly faded away. She believed that without him she
would go back to being a prisoner. Time after time, another Robert would come
by. With sweetness and gracefulness, he would unlock her cage and expose her
once again to the marvels of freedom. Soon enough though, that Robert would
leave her just as abrupt and cruel as the original one had. Once again, Edna
would view life behind bars and would be unable to experience the utter beauty
of life. Without a key, Edna was unable to escape from her cage. She did not
have the strength to bend the bars and give herself the freedom she had been
longing for. Perhaps, she knew the truth­she would have never been entirely as
free as she wanted. She would never be so in love forever like the couple at
Grande Isle, because fantasies must always come to an end. It was more likely
that she would become the woman dressed in black, wallow in her own pity, and
count what little she had. Edna's only escape was the sea that once awakened her
to the possibilities of beauty, love, lust, and independence. Once Robert had
struck her with that tremendous blow, the wings that once held such
possibilities for her were shattered and "a bird with a broken wing was
beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling, disabled down, down to the
water." (P. 152)