Kate Chopins The Awakening †In Defense of Edna Pontellier :: Chopin Awakening Essays

The Awakening In Defense of EdnaDoes everyone have the right to happiness? It is give tongue to in theConstitution that we as Americans have the right to invigoration, liberty, and thePURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin the mainCharacter Edna has a satisfied life. A sweet loving husband, cutechildren, enormous amounts of money and an exceedingly large house. Yet with eitherof this Edna is not fulfilled. Edna neer took time to read her life to seewhat she wanted out of it. After marriage, Edna wanted the liberty toexplore her mind, find her self and find what this person liked. In thefollowing I will defend the actions Edna took to find her happiness asirrational as they may seem.This story took place in the late 1800s when womens liberation was never heardof. In this era women were supposed to find happiness in serving their husbandsand taking care of the children. There were no other options deep down therestrictive boundaries of marriage, and divorce was never an alternative.Womens lives were austere and self enrichment or self gratification were oftentimes cast aside relative to the more than mundane tasks of daily life. Most womenaccepted this but Edna did not. She figured that life was more than constantlydoing for someone else. She wanted time for herself in put together to figure out whoshe was. Some may see this as narcissistic but everyone is entitled to me time andspace. Although I admit she did not go about it in the best way at times Edna equable was in going in the right direction.Ednas marriage to Leonce Pontellier was to spite her start out the Colonel becauseLeonce was of a different religious faith. Also, Leonce was unceasingly devotedto Edna which was something that had never occurred in any other relationship.Edna, who had not experienced many male relationships in the first place this was naive whenit came to men. This naivet affected her in such a way that she incomplete knewlove and its limitati ons nor the experience it took to make it through arelationship. This showed Ednas immaturity which was a big issue in this story. This shown as the woman inside who had been fast asleep(predicate) all those years. Herrelationship with Leonce was what she sought to find happiness in.After hexad years of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in herlife. She gave up all of her responsibilities such as taking care of herchildren when they were sick and she never pass time playing with them.