Constraint Vs. Freedom, The Awakening PR

All night I sat there, glued to the pages. I could not find a place to stop, needing, yearning to finish the book which had me drawn in like a moth to a flame. The end I had anticipated, the gentle ebb and flow of the that immense void which was the start and soon to be the end of Edna Pontellier’s awakening. This is how I felt when reading the last few chapters of The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The complicated emotions that this book sparked in me have been difficult both for me understand and then articulate. In ways that uncomforted and surprised me I could find myself empathizing with the heroine, Edna.

Similar to Edna, I have frequently felt constrained by social pressures and the need to fit in. I could relate to her ongoing desire for independence and a sense of self on a deeply personal level. In an effort to escape the limitations of her life, Edna seeks out fresh encounters and connections throughout the course of the book. She faces opposition and criticism from others around her when she starts to express her independence. Trapped, unable to express yourself and longing for more are somethings that I believe a lot of people can relate to. I couldn’t help but compare Edna’s tribulations to my own endeavours to discover my position in the world.

I could also relate to Edna’s battle with self-identification and goals. I believe a lot of us have trouble figuring out who we are and what we really want from life. Like Edna, I frequently felt as though I was living someone else’s life rather than my own. The novel, in my opinion, serves as a potent reminder that we must be true to ourselves, even if doing so requires making unpopular decisions and defying social expectations.

I had to face some unpleasant facts about myself and the world because of the Awakening. Even though Edna’s suicide in the book made me feel uneasy, I felt empowered by her self-discovery journey. It made me think about society’s expectations of women and how they are expected to sacrifice their own desires in order to satisfy those of others. Edna’s journey serves as a reminder that anyone can be who they want to be and pursue their own goals, even if doing so means going against conventional norms.

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