Journal #18 Chopin

Liana Laskin

English 48B

"The Awakening" (Chapters 24-39) by Kate Chopin

March 5, 2009

"Kate was neither a feminist nor a suffragist, she said so. She was nonetheless a woman who took women extremely seriously. She never doubted women's ability to be strong" (David Chopin, Kate's grandson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Chopin)

Summary:

Edna moves into the Pigeon House, calling herself independent. She begins having an affair with Alcée Arobin, just having a physical relationship, not a romantic one and not losing her freedom. Edna and Reisz become close and Reisz tells her that being an artist requires courage. Edna visits Reisz piano often, enjoying her piano playing and reading the letters from Robert sent to Reisz. She is the only one who knows about the love between Robert and Edna, encouraging Edna to tell Robert feelings. Robert, who finds being so far away hard, comes back from Mexico and finally tells Edna how he feels. He also reminds her that because she is married, they cannot be together. Edna tells Robert that she is now free of her husband and says they can have a life together. Although the feelings are mutual, he will not have an affair with her. When told Adèle is in labor, Edna leaves Robert to go to her friend, begging him to wait for her to come back. Adèle can tell that Edna is becoming distant and sees her relationship with Robert has gotten more passionate. She tells Edna to remember her children. Doctor Mandelet begs Edna to see him, saying he will blame her if she does not come. Edna comes home and finds a note from Robert in his place, telling her he loves her. Feeling abandoned, she returns to Grand Isle. When Edna gets to the water, she strips, starts swimming, and eventually lets go. She supposedly drowns, her last thoughts settling on her youth.

Response:

Although I did not see it coming from a mile away, it really did not surprise me when Edna went into the water and "drowned" considering the formula most stories of the time follow (the woman does something unladylike, she dies). At the beginning I felt bad for Edna and did not like Léonce that much, but by the end of the story, it was Léonce that I felt sorry for because all he wants is a stable marriage and a nice wife. It is implied that Edna has an affair with Alcée and has feelings for Robert, which does not help her situation. I felt that Edna was just a little bit too annoying with the whole "I want my independence" idea; it reminded me of Samuel Richardson's Pamela, in which the main character (Pamela) goes on and on about being virtuous (after a while, it does get a little old). I found it interesting that for Edna to become more independent, she had to almost become masculine. She goes to horse races and knows more about what is going on than some of the men, she prefers brandy to hot chocolate at Reisz’s house, she moves into her own house, and she stops caring about what other people think of her behavior. Basically, to be free like a man, she has to become a man and abandon everything she has grown up learning. I personally liked her more before she had her “awakening” because I felt that she was not as annoying and was definitely better off without the knowledge she got from getting independence (I know her life was not as nice as it was after she started seeking freedom, but her character was better, in my opinion).