Ivanov 1

The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future

For centuries, people and groups have come to realizations leading to revolutions,

marches, and uprisings to resist the oppressive systems that they have been placed under. These

“awakenings” almost always strive to achieve true rights and freedoms for people, no matter the

amount of sacrifice and effort it takes. In her story, The Awakening, Kate Chopin explores the

glorious, but detrimental consequences of Edna Pontellier’s growing awareness of the society

that immures her to patriarchal roles, her “awakening”, and the yearning for true freedom that

comes with it, one that can lead to a personal downfall.

Edna Pontellier lived in a patriarchal society. The late 19th-century Victorian era in New

Orleans, Louisiana, was not a time or place of true freedom for anyone but a man. Women were

expected to fulfill what Chopin described as a “mother-woman” role: cooking, cleaning, and

taking care of their children they were destined to birth (Collman 29). Along with this restrictive

role, women were perceived as another piece of property owned by men, illustrated primarily by

Leonce Pontillier’s, Edna’s husband, attitude toward Edna as she returned from the beach at their

summer vacation place, The Grand Isle. Leonce scolds Edna for going to the beach in the high

heat of the day and observes her burnt hands looking at her like a person looking at his property

that has been damaged (Chopin 2; ch. 1). Leonce represents the patriarchal oppression Edna

eventually becomes aware of in her awakening. This patriarchy dehumanizes women so they can

be claimed as property by their husbands intentionally in the institution of marriage and later as

property of their children unintentionally through motherhood and childbirth.

Though Edna fulfills this “mother-woman” role for so long because of her background of

growing up within a strict Presbyterian community aligned with patriarchal society, The

Awakening is her journey of becoming aware of how she is confined as a woman, not allowed
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independence or autonomy in the society she is in. It starts small as Edna and her family spend

their summer on the Grand Isle, a coastal vacation place for the higher class. Surrounded by

Creole people, Edna is exposed to a culture that allows open talk regarding sexual matters and

beauty (Gray 57) as Adele Ratignolle, a mother and Creole vacationing that summer, talks about

her pregnancy openly, and Robert Lebrun, the Creole son of the resort’s owner, jokingly flirts

with Edna, staying around her for the majority of summer.

It turns out, being exposed to the somewhat relaxed Creole culture and free of daily New

Orleans womanly duties on the Grand Isle is all that Edna needs to have her “awakening”. Edna

becomes aware of herself and her freedoms through swimming in the ocean, having a

breakthrough one night deciding to swim out alone and feeling the power “...to control the

working of her body and her soul” (Chopin 29; ch. 10). This is the first true instance of freedom

Edna has as she is disconnected from oppressive forces of society; it is just her and the sea, so

she is able to connect to her body and mind, becoming aware of what she really wants, not what

society wants from her. She gains independence as she swims effectively alone, not with the

guidance of others on Grand Isle who had been teaching her (Jones 110). Edna uses this power

later after her swim as she refuses the commanding orders of her husband when he wants her to

come to bed with him, but she doesn’t want to, so she resists, staying out in a hammock alone for

the night (Chopin 33-34; ch. 11). Edna uses her newfound ownership of her sexuality to resist

her husband’s calls (Gray 61).

It is not the act of being promiscuous outside of her marriage that gives Edna sexual

liberation, rather it is the choice of when she wants to have sex, instead of her husband deciding

for her, that gives her autonomy of her body and sexual liberation. Chopin uses this instance

between Edna and her husband to signify how Edna’s awakening starts, with awareness of her
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body and sexuality, which is powerful as sex is seen sociologically as a “biological drive” that

can be disruptive to societal ways to control it if people realize the power they wield using their

sexuality (Marsiglio and Scanzoni 1754). Edna starts disrupting society when she uses her

sexuality to resist the ways she was being controlled through family and marriage. Sexual

liberation is Edna’s first step in her true awakening and journey to true freedom.

Even though Creole culture looks like an avenue of sexual liberation for women like

Edna on paper, it still upholds strict chastity practices that confine women to sex in marriage

only, for the purpose of childbirth and motherhood, and nothing else. Edna realizes how she has

“[undergone a] greater value change than [her] husband” (qtd in Ihinger-Tallman 1184). In a

sociological sense, Edna, through marriage, has become limited to the role of wife and mother,

which is her sexuality’s only value. Society sees her with no other value past raising children and

benefitting her husband, so they keep her in those roles. As Edna deviates from the roles her

sexuality should fulfill and she starts to have relationships outside of her marriage, not for the

goal of reproduction, but for personal enjoyment, she loses her value to society, becoming

isolated from it.

As Edna gains control of her body and choice in sexual matters, she makes her own

choices in other spheres of life using her newly discovered confidence and autonomy.

Economically, Edna buys her own small home using money from selling her sketches and

winning horse races (Chopin 86; ch. 26). Along with ownership of her sexuality, Edna now owns

property and is dependent on her own income, not her husband’s income. In this house, Edna

continues to own her sexuality as she has relations with Alcee Arobin (Chopin 90; ch. 27), while

also exploring her art, which she is actually passionate about. Edna’s awakening that allows her

to have personal income and property challenges the patriarchy of the 19th century but aligns
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with the feminist change occurring in the time period with “The Married Woman’s Property

Acts” (Gray 68) giving property rights to women, another economic avenue for true freedom and

autonomy. Edna’s journey to autonomy is the focus of The Awakening, but Chopin explores the

freedom or lack of it in other characters surrounding Edna.

Chopin uses two characters to show two roles in 19th-century Victorian society, Adele

Ratignolle, a “mother-woman”, and Mademoiselle Reisz, an “‘artist woman’” (Gray 62). Adele

is described by Chopin as a “Madonna”, a term usually used to describe images of the Virgin

Mary, the mother of Jesus. Along with this metaphor used to characterize Adele as a perfect

mother figure, Chopin uses Adele's children running and clinging to her skirts (Chopin 13; ch. 5)

to show how Adele has achieved the motherhood that Edna could not. Edna filled the motherly

role for a while, but once she awakened and realized how restrictive it was, she rejected her

husband and children, sending the children to be taken care of by their grandma and moving out

of the house where her husband lives (Chopin 101; ch. 32). In this way, Edna rejects the

“mother-woman” role itself. Even so, Edna doesn’t reject Adele as a friend or example of

womanly identity as Adele is the first person to expose Edna to the openness of Creole culture

allowing Edna to express her feelings, listening to Edna’s true thoughts and voice (Chopin 16-18;

ch. 7). Even though Edna sees Adele as confined to marriage and motherhood, Adele still has

power in her voice, finishing her husband's sentences and telling Edna something different than

what her husband wanted Edna to hear when Edna moved to her small house (Streater). Adele

creates enough freedom for herself within her role as a mother and wife.

Edna doesn’t understand how she can achieve any freedom within a marriage, even a

healthy one like Adeles, and looks for a different example of freedom, the “artist woman” role in

Mademoiselle Reisz. As a pianist, Mademoiselle Reisz identifies herself in her music, rather than
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identifying with the role of the “mother-woman”. This gives her freedom from having to care for

others or give herself to a husband or children, which is what Edna strives to have. Edna

emulates Mademoiselle Reisz as she starts to create sketches of the people, places, and things

around her. On one occasion when Edna’s father comes to see her, Edna immediately starts to

sketch him (Chopin 73; ch. 23). Edna is employing her new “artist woman” role to gain some

control over the patriarchy, particularly her father, a reinforcer of patriarchal ideals. As Edna

sketches, she is the one who determines what her father, the colonel, looks like in her art, rather

than her father determining how she should appear as he did for her childhood (Gray 65). This is

one of the reasons Edna falls into the “artist woman” role more than the “mother-woman” role; it

allows her to actively gain power over those who have controlled her, giving her true freedom

and independence. Even with the independence of the “artist-woman” role comes loneliness and

isolation.

Unfortunately, as an “artist woman”, Mademoiselle Reisz is only identified and

appreciated by society for her musical talent, not as a person. Mademoiselle is described by

Chopin as homely, disagreeable, and unstylish (Chopin 27; ch. 9), basically unattractive as a

woman, which results in her lacking any sort of romantic relationship. To have her selfhood,

Mademoiselle Reisz is ostracized from the rest of society, only to exist with her music (Gray 63).

So, as Edna takes inspiration from Madamoiselle Reisz and spends time with her throughout her

awakening, Edna doesn’t want the loneliness, but only the selfhood of the “artist woman”. Edna

wants it all, the independence of the “artist woman” and relationships of the “mother-woman”, a

combination of Madameoiselle Reisze’s and Adele’s roles. As Edna journeys to true freedom

outside of the society she is confined in, she struggles to fulfill the role she really wants to have.
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Edna’s “awakening” drives her to ultimately want to be free, having independence over

her life but also having relationships with others outside of institutions like marriage. This is why

she buys her own house, starts sketching, and has sexual relations with Alcee Arobin. Even as

she does all these things, experiencing small moments of autonomy and independence, she

yearns for more. She wants society to understand and give her the freedom she truly desires, but

society won’t let her have a lasting relationship that exists outside of marriage and a mother role.

This is seen as Robert Lebrun, the man who was instrumental in her “awakening” as he

flirted with her on Grand Isle the previous summer and who she truly wants to be with, is still

part of the patriarchal society Edna is resisting. Even though Robert loves her, he won’t step

outside of society to break the institution of marriage, rejecting Edna’s ideas of a relationship

where she isn’t a wife and leaving Edna alone without a true love (Chopin 116-117; ch. 36 &

121; ch. 38). Robert doesn’t understand Edna and still sees her as an object under the patriarchy,

one that should be transferred out of marriage with Leonce to another marriage with Robert

(Gray 71). Edna can’t have what she wants in the society she is in because even in a relationship

of love with someone like Robert, she will end up in a motherly role; her sexual freedom can

ultimately result in pregnancy, where she loses all the freedom she worked hard to gain, having

to take care of children. Edna, even with all of her resistance, can’t find a solution to be the truly

autonomous woman she wants to be, so she looks to another option, one outside of the mortal

world and society entirely.

Edna has victories in her fight for true freedom, but the strain that comes with pushing

back against the burdens of societal roles ultimately leads to her mental health deteriorating

drastically. Edna’s mental state is explained by later findings on women’s mental health that state

as “...women experience more stressful events [they] are more psychologically reactive to them
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than men” (Ortega 1266). As one woman trying to overthrow ingrained patriarchal ideals for

independence and autonomy, Edna experiences setbacks and a lack of support. Her quest for

freedom as a whole is a compilation of enormous highs and deep strife, and the strife wins over

the victories. Edna reacts to her stress with a profound decision. Ending up at the same location

of her awakening at the end of the novel, the sea of the Grand Isle, Edna tries to reconnect to the

euphoric first feelings of freedom she had swimming on her own, independent from society

(Eichelberger 614).

Edna has arrived at the end of her journey, in the place where it started, a woman with a

new and opened mind. She is racked by Robert not understanding her, the graphic scene of

Adele’s childbirth, and the realization that her children, just like her husband can “...drag her into

soul’s slavery for the rest of her days” (Chopin 123; ch. 39). Edna realizes she cannot fully gain

true freedom within the society she is in as she will always end up in either a motherly or wife

role. Edna sees her only way to be truly free is in her suicide, drowning in the sea as she loses the

strength to swim. Edna’s continuous fight for true freedom seemed like one that she could have

won as she gained independence economically and sexually, finding herself outside of the

expectations of society, but coming to the realization that no one will understand her or accept

her life on her terms, leads her to distress, an overload of thoughts and uncontrollable negative

emotions she feels she can only escape through leaving the world that is causing her so much

hurt. Edna comes to the conclusion that the only way to gain her true freedom can be “...to

embrace death rather than submit to a world in which her ideal of self-definition can never be

achieved” (“The Awakening”).

As Kate Chopin explores the idea of true freedom with the awakening of Edna Pontiller,

she questions the ability of people to gain true freedom within oppressive societies and
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institutions. It seems as though Chopin arrives at a conclusion just like Edna’s, as much as one

can push back against society, the socialization and norms of society will always win, leading to

people still being oppressed. Even now Chopin’s conclusion reigns true as groups continue to

fight for freedom from historically oppressive institutions. Women fight for sexual liberation and

bodily autonomy to gain true freedom outside of the roles of mother and wife, just like Edna, but

as small victories are achieved, true freedom has not been achieved and women still succumb to

the oppressive patriarchy of society. Whatever kind of “awakening” it is, one of an individual or

a group, it will come with both gains in freedom and rights, but also struggle and strife.

Works Cited

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25ff. Accessed 1 Feb. 2022.

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening and Selected Short Stories. New American Library, 1976
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Collman, Elise M., "The Discourse of Female Mental Illness in Kate Chopin's The Awakening"

(2016). ETD Archive. 892.

Eichelberger, Clayton L. The Awakening. Novel by Kate Chopin, Reference Guide to American

Literature 2nd Edition, St. James Press, 1987, Chicago, pp. 613-614

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Journal, vol. 37, no. 1, Fall 2004, pp. 53–73. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1353/slj.2005.0006.

Ihinger-Tallman, Marilyn. “Marriage.” Encyclopedia of Sociology, 3, Macmillan Publishing

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25, no. 2 (1987), The University of Southern Mississippi, 1987, pp. 108-19

Los Campesinos! “The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future” Romance is Boring

(Remastered), John Goodmanson, 2020,

https://loscampesinos.bandcamp.com/album/romance-is-boring-remastered

Marsiglio, William and John Scanzoni. “Sexual Behavior and Marriage.” Encyclopedia of

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Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992, New York, pp. 1265-1267

Streater, Kathleen M. “Adele Ratignolle: Kate Chopin’s Feminist at Home in ‘The Awakening.’”

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