The Awakening 5

The Awakening In the book The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier is an unhappy, married, mother who finds an outlet from her life through a welcoming ocean. "A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her."(p.27) Edna is frightened by the ocean and very overwhelmed by its massive strength. Then she learns to swim and becomes fascinated by what …

…children and her 'other life.' She only desires freedom, a chance to be herself and live her life and not someone else's ideal life for her. Edna, feeling that her marriage and the rest of her life is going downhill, realizes that there is not another established role for women to play. Upon her discovery of this, she decides to let her love take her and is then engulfed into a sea of dreams.