Journal #30 Kate Chopin: Being A Mother Requires Some Responsibility!

QUOTE:

“She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul…Exhaustion was pressing upon and over-powering her” (Chopin 625).


SUMMARY:

Edna ends up committing suicide as a conclusion to Chopin’s, The Awakening. This ending is disturbing, but more due to the oppression felt by Edna that causes her to abandon her life.


RESPONSE:

I had to reread the last few paragraphs over and over again because I was hoping that Edna wouldn’t go as far as killing herself. I think I lost a little respect for her character because I thought that Edna knew how to keep her family from taking over her body and soul, while still alive. I know this had to do with Chopin wanting to represent how Edna’s (or any 19th century woman’s) quest for freedom was futile, but maybe I just don’t agree with how much power Chopin gives to Robert. I think Edna could have been stronger after losing Robert since she had already lost him once, and I can’t help but view Edna as being very selfish.

I may seem very harsh on Chopin’s character, but it’s no one’s fault but Edna’s for how she doesn’t even seem to find any joy from her own children. It makes me think of mothers who have a children that remind them of the deadbeat biological fathers, so they take out their anger towards the fathers on the kids. I think if Chopin wanted to emphasize how little freedom a woman like Edna has, she could have made it harder for Edna to get away from her husband. After Edna was supposedly going to be forced to travel abroad with Mr. Pontellier, she ends up back at Grand Isle alone? Maybe I’m looking too much into what I consider plot holes though, because I actually really enjoyed reading Chopin’s work.