The Internal Story of Edna in The Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, shows the internal story of Edna Pontellier; a married woman with children who is on vacation with her family through realizations and determinations. We first meet Edna through her outer shell. She is portrayed as a devoted wife, a loving mother, a fantastic friend, and a woman who is very content with her life as it’s passing by.

However, when Edna meets Robert Lebrun, who is a younger and charming man, it seems like it is her first time experiencing how it feels to be a woman.

Robert’s attention to Edna are also very real while they discover how much they have in common. This feeling is rather new to Edna because she has always viewed her life as what is expected of a typical woman. She is hiding her true emotions under the facade of her “perfect life”. Meeting this man is the break in her natural routine and where her awakening begins.

The internal journey of Edna becomes intense when she realizes that she in love with a man who is not her husband which sounds unbelievable to her. On top of that, she realizes how empty and lifeless her current marriage is. Her husband never listens or consider Edna’s true needs in life. He just sees her as a wife and mother; nothing more, not a woman.

Subsequently, Edna grows as a women extremely. This is shown by her taking up painting, meeting with Bohemians, and she even begins to realize how much she doesn’t enjoy motherhood and all the responsibilities that come along with it.

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Furthermore, she moves out of her house while her family is away to a place she calls “the pigeon hole” to live without her daily burdens. Her love for Robert becomes even more passionate, making her realize she hasn’t had much pleasure in her 28 years leading her to want a life with more. Edna starts to eat as much as she pleases, takes longer dips in the ocean, has sex with another man (Arobin) just because she wants to. She continues to rebel against her already embarrassed husband.

Consequently, her tragedy comes. Robert refuses to consummate his romantic affair with Edna and leaves her for good as he is a true Creole. In his final letter, he says he leaves because he loves her and this is when Edna realizes that she was awoken too late. She couldn’t catch up with the life she never lived. Edna gives up her life in a final swim, giving herself back to nature as she prefers no life than a life that does not suit her. Her suicide is the final step in her journey. That is how this novel shows the story of Edna Pontellier through her realizations and determinations of her life.