Motherhood In The Awakening

Words: 522
Pages: 3
Open Document
Motherhood and the presence of children affects both the heroine’s actions in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in similar, yet vastly different ways. They suggest that children can help in the attainment of identity, but in the sense of identifying as a mother. Both Linda and Edna do things for the benefit of their children, but in two completely different scenarios. They search for their fulfillment, but for Linda, it’s more about protecting her children and her search for freedom while Edna’s is more focused on her wants. For Linda, the presence of her children is a driving force for her to keep going; it’s one of the pushing factors for her to want to become free. She figures that without …show more content…
Her journey is her own self-fulfillment. She mentions being fond of her sons and enjoys when she visits them when they’re at her mother-in-laws, but for the most part, she doesn’t spend the novel being a mother. While she’s having her awakening and moving into her own place, her children are separate from her and she’s okay with that. She wants to become her own person, as opposed to being just a mother. Edna says that she would give up anything for her children, except for her life. The presence of her children, or lack thereof, shows that Edna wasn’t a motherly type. She’s not exactly a good mother, per say, but she does realize the implications that her children would go through should she just up and disappear. Edna didn’t belong in that period, or that society, and she knew that. She figures that one of the best ways to disappear (and have her ending rebirth in the process) is to do so by committing suicide in the ocean. Both women portray different sides of motherhood and what the presence of children can have on a woman. While Linda sacrificed a great deal for her children and herself to one day be free, Edna was slowly becoming unshackled from society’s
Show More

Related Documents: Motherhood In The Awakening

The Role Of Feminism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

During the turn of the century, Kate Chopin, a rising author, published one of her most controversial novels, titled The Awakening. The Awakening, almost immediately after it was published, was mired in heavy backlash against its non-conformist, feminist ideals. Although venerated by realist writers throughout the 20th century, the novel, and Chopin herself, was ostracized from communities across the south. It portrayed feminist ideals that would appear in 1920s feminist movements and would be held…

Words 1259 - Pages 6

Essay On Edna Pontellier's Inner Conflict In The Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the protagonist Edna Pontellier experiences internal conflict throughout her journey towards self-discovery. The juxtaposition of the two settings in which Edna finds herself makes her more aware of society’s flaws, causing her to distance herself from it in solitude, as a fruitless attempt to avoid suppression. Along with the setting itself, there is constant repetition of various symbols and imagery, such as that of the sea and birds, which serve to represent…

Words 1071 - Pages 5

Edna Pontellier's Sacrifice In 'The Awakening'

The Awakening, Kate Chopin explores a woman’s spiritual revolution through the character Edna Pontellier. Edna deliberately sacrifices, surrenders, or forfeits many things that are important to her, and in doing so highlights her values. Throughout her journey, she discovers herself through powerful experiences and influential characters. By the end of the dramatic novel, Edna is able to figure out who she is, but that she is unfortunately incapable of handling her true self. In The Awakening, self-discovery…

Words 1330 - Pages 6

Story Of An Hour Vs. Mamzelle's The Awakening

In The Awakening and Story of an Hour both protagonists escape the world that has them trapped by committing suicide, whereas Mamzelle’s liberation consisted of a moment of regret after her house was left empty of the effusiveness brought by her neighbor’s children…

Words 1704 - Pages 7

Honors Regents In US History And Government

revelation. 6. The First Great Awakening The First Great Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made Christianity intensely personal…

Words 1212 - Pages 5

Bird Imagery In Kate's The Awakening

There is articulation necessary because it can be helpful to her in identifying the position that she should be in. The bird imagery has figurative convention with relevance to the opening lines of Kate’s The Awakening as a parrot that is trained has been defined with articulating words that it can’t understand. Edna is moving from her position that is like a parrot as a woman that is acculturated when control and awareness regarding the conditions she is in unfold. She has been figured in terms…

Words 643 - Pages 3

Second Great Awakening Dbq Essay

husband’s consent or name. (Doc A) This way of life continued for women before three major events occurred, creating a change in the female community. Through the events of the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Second Great Awakening, the lives of Northern middle-class women changed significantly between 1776 and 1848, but their status only changed…

Words 833 - Pages 4

American Revolution and north America Essay

III. Colonial North America, 1690–1754 Population growth and immigration Transatlantic trade and the growth of seaports The eighteenth century back country Growth of plantation economies and slave societies The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening Colonial governments and imperial policy in British North America IV. The American Revolutionary Era, 1754–1789 The French and Indian War The Imperial Crisis and resistance to Britain The War for Independence State constitutions and the Articles…

Words 516 - Pages 3

Gender Dichotomy: Thesis For Future Gender And Inequality

19th century orthodox conservative female novelist was drawn in the image of the angel-perfect, sacrificing and self-disciplined housewife who is implicitly or explicitly a contrast to the implicit whore-figure. The woman in Hunt's painting, "The Awakening Conscience” is poised between these two possibilities for female subjectivity. Such a situation prevailed upon a lot many female novelists and urged them to question aspects of domestic ideology, a portrayal and exploration of which makes Madwoman…

Words 1669 - Pages 7

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Comparative Essay

In the novels, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kessey, and “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the theme of power pervades the narratives, driving characters to confront oppressive societal forces. No matter the differing settings and characters, both “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “The Awakening” examine power dynamics, showing the struggle for self-determination against oppressive societal forces. To compare and contrast the two novels, there are a few things that will be focused on…

Words 1208 - Pages 5