When we started reading this book in class, I wasn’t really a fan of it but over time it really felt like a powerful and thought-provoking novel. Cate Chopin did a really good job in exploring and describing the social and psychological constraints placed upon women in the late 19th century. As I read the first few chapters, I did not really know how to think about Edna as the main character. Her character felt incomplete, maybe even like a child on it’s journey to grow up. Early in the book we can see how Edna becomes increasing disillusioned with her role in society and begins to question the traditional expectations placed upon her. The book raised a few questions for me such as, who Edna really is and what are her goals?
Right at the beginning of the novel we get involved in Ednas struggles to fit into her role as traditional woman in the 19th century. Throughout the book, Chopin skillfully explores themes of female sexuality, gender roles, marriage, and social class. She depicts Edna’s struggles to define her own identity, to break free from societal expectations, and to pursue her own desires and passions. One sentence I won’t forget and especially a sentence that shaped my opinion about Enda is as follows
“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. I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me.”
This sentence or statement feels to me like an expression for her growing sense of self awareness and desire for personal fulfillment and independence. Although I highly doubt that’s something a woman should be thinking and feeling about her role as a mother. For me it feels like Edna’s character is well developed but, doesn’t fit in a mother role. I have observed and feel that Edna’s personality is on par with a 25 year old. She has never had independence and other key experiences in her life and yet she is a mother, how can that be?
Overall, Chopin’s novel was groundbreaking in its time, and it remains a powerful statement on the importance of individual freedom and self-expression to this day. I really liked the beginning but got confused throughout the end and I am not happy with the ending. The way the book described Ednas journey and her growing sense of awareness (her awakening) is really well portrayed. I can emphatize with all the stages she goes through on her journey to get a fully grown adult, as she physically is.