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 stated in theConstitution that we as Americans have the right to life, liberty, and thePURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin the mainCharacter Edna has a comfortable life. A sweet loving husband, cutechildren, enormous amounts of money and an extremely puffy house. Yet with allof this Edna is not fulfilled. Edna never took time to examine her life to seewhat she wanted out of it. After marriage, Edna wanted the freedom toexplore her mind, go up herself 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 key 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. in that respect were no other options within therestrictive boundaries of marriage, and divorce was nev er an alternative.Womens lives were austere and self enrichment or self gratification were oftentimes cast away relative to the more 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 order to figure out whoshe was. Some may see this as selfish but everyone is entitled to me time andspace. Although I admit she did not go about it in the best way at times Ednastill was in going in the right direction.Ednas marriage to Leonce Pontellier was to spite her father 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 before this was naive whenit came to men. This naivet impact her in such a way that she neither knewlove and its limitations nor the experience it took to make it through arelations hip. This showed Ednas immaturity which was a big issue in this story. This shown as the woman inside who had been asleep all those years. Herrelationship with Leonce was what she sought to find happiness in.After six years of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing avert in herlife. She gave up all of her responsibilities such as taking care of herchildren when they were sick and she never spent time playing with them.