Edna Pontellier's Awakening

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, mother and wife Edna Pontellier

experiences a life-changing awakening in late 1800s New Orleans, Louisiana. Edna and

her husband Léonce are prominent figures in the Creole society, though Edna has no love

for her spouse. While it is unacceptable to have an affair in this time and culture, Edna falls

in love with a younger man, Robert Lebrun, while on summer holiday in Grande Isle.

Here, she begins her awakening. When the two part ways, the known womanizer, Alcée

Arobin, enters her life. She has a physical relationship with him while still married, yet in

love with Robert. Edna battles with her emotions to find what she wants in life. Edna finds

the outcome to be that she will never be able to have what she wants; it is unattainable.

Chopin illustrates the struggles and pleasures associated with awakening through the main

character, Edna Pontellier.

Chopin depicts the awakening of Edna Pontellier in the emotional and mental

changes she undergoes throughout the novel. This idea first reveals itself when Edna is

speaking with Madame Ratignolle on the beach in Grande Isle. She recognizes and states

for the first time that she would not give up her desires for the happiness of her family.

Edna told Madamae Ratignolle that she would never sacrifice herself for her children, or

for anyone in saying, “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would

give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself” (47). The way in which Edna

finally puts her thoughts into words signifies a pivotal point in the way she views herself

and her role in society. When she speaks what she has been thinking for so long, her

thoughts solidify and become legitimate. Never before has Edna allowed herself to truly

believe she has the right to remain true to herself, so her conversation with Madame

Ratignolle opens her mind to all new possibilities of individuality. Now she can do more

than just go through the motions and, instead, can live up to her true potential. Edna can
now move forward with open eyes, putting herself above all else. Her changing continues

when she will not allow others to see her as a possession of Mr. Pontellier. Edna and

Robert rekindle their summer romance that Robert so desperately tried to stifle due to the

fact Edna was a married woman. In this conversation with Robert, Edna remarks that “I am

no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I

choose” (108). Edna is confident in herself and her position as an individual in the world.

She explains to Robert that his reasoning for avoiding their connection was silly since she

was not, and never will be, the property of Mr. Pontellier. This interaction is symbolic of

the self-pride Edna has nurtured over the time Robert and she were last together. Edna has

found who she is meant to be in the world and is ready to openly share this fact. Her

awakening is furthered through sharing with others her newfound self-esteem and

mentality of self-love. Furthermore, Edna finally realizes she cannot have the life she

desires. As Edna arrives in Grande Isle, “She thought of Léonce and the children. They

were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, mind,

body, and soul” (116). This leads her to swim far out and she ends up dying because she

must be her true self and cannot be tied down to a certain lifestyle. Her drastic measures

shine light on the fact that she has awakened and irreversibly recognizes she cannot have a

life with the man she loves in the society she lives in. Her mind can wrap itself around the

fact that her wants are too idealistic, detached from reality. She has grown to be able to

understand she will never have what she wishes for herself.

Ultimately, Edna experiences significant changes and is able to see her life from a

new prospective. As the novel concludes, Edna sees how impractical her hopes are for life.

She accepts that Robert and she will never be together and that she is not willing to

continue living a life she is unfit for. She leaves on her own to go back to the start of all

awakening: Grande Isle. Upon her arrival she goes to swim and finds herself far out.
Similar to her lack of energy to continue with life, her energy to swim back to shore has

disappeared. Though the ending is left ambiguous, it is likely that Edna drowns out in the

water where she will never have to be someone she is not. This climactic end helps

illustrate the developed changes in Edna that had shown her the unhappiness she had been

feeling. She is thinking realistically and believes death is her only way out. The feelings of

loneliness and failure to have what one desires is present even this day, all over the world.

College students are constantly trying to plan out their lives and discover what occupation

they should pursue, though more often than not, there are obstacles. Grades do not support

the dream, or finances cannot manage the education needed. Feelings of disappointment

and an attitude of giving up follow soon after, just as Edna experiences. Struggling to live

the life one desires is one of the greatest hardships faced and is felt all around. Whether it

is Edna or anyone else, change is difficult and can be devastating to life as one knows it.

Sacrifice in the Awakening

In The Awakening the main character Edna is going through a life changing event.

Edna unfortunately is living in an era where women are supposed to be dependent and

devoted to their husbands and a full time mother. Edna doesn’t want to play that role

anymore and she wants to become independent. Edna’s want for independence and

becoming her own person is finally achieved when she sacrifices her life and kills herself.

Edna sacrificing her life shows how her values begin to change from only caring about her

family’s needs to now caring about her own needs/wants. This sacrifice also portrays the

meaning of the work as a whole which is finding freedom from the constraints that society

not only puts on Edna but on women in general.

Edna has a husband and two children that she loved and took care of all the time.

As Edna begins to notice her own wants and needs she doesn’t see her family as a blessing.

Instead of her family bringing her joy and peace in Edna’s mind they weigh her down and
make her a slave. Edna wants to be free from her family and she finds moments of freedom

when she swims at Grand Isle and hangs out with her lover Robert. As the book continues

Edna pushes herself away from her family more and more to a point where Edna only does

what she wants to do. Edna seems to start to only value her thoughts and her feelings not

thinking about her family and focusing on her relationship with Robert. But when Robert

leaves her that hurts Edna in a very dramatic way since he was one of the ways she was

free from her unbearable life that only consists of her taking care of her family. Now that

all Edna has is the ocean and swimming to be free from all her obligations the only way

she could become totally free was to kill herself. Edna could not be a wife or a mother

anymore because that’s not the role she wanted to play anymore. She sacrificed herself by

swimming until she drowned. This sacrifice shows how Edna started to value herself and

her own thoughts. She didn’t value her family and wanted to just be free and independent.

Edna sacrificing herself reveals a deeper meaning of the work as a whole being that

Edna was longing for freedom from the constraints that society put on women. For a long

time Edna was living a life full of rules and obligations that she didn’t want to be a part of.

Society expected Edna to be a full time house mother and wait on her husband hand and

foot. Most women loved playing this role and loved the fact that their family is the center

of their life but not Edna. She was very unhappy and all the things that made her happy

were looked down upon such as swimming and having an affair. Edna killing herself

finally gave her the freedom that she wanted and let her become independent. Edna was

finally free from the life that she didn’t want anymore and although the sacrifice had to be

her life it’s what finally made her happy and feel free.

In conclusion, Edna sacrifices her own life because she starts to value herself and

her own wants/needs not just the wants and needs of her family. Sadly, the only way for

her to have that freedom and independence she was longing for was to commit suicide. The
whole book is surrounded by the idea that Edna just wants to be free and be her own

person so she didn’t have to be dependent on her husband. Edna wants to break free from

the constraints society has put on her and finally is free when she takes that last swim out

into Grand Isle.

Edna Pontellier's Sacrifice in the Awakening

In the book The Awakening Edna Pontellier sacrifices who she is to try to be a

mother-woman. In her society and life, she is expected to be the caring wife who takes care

of the children and her husband. However, Edna sacrifices her character, dreams, and

freedom because she is trying to fit in.

Edna Pontellier is a mother of two in the south during a time period in which

women are expected to be obedient, lady-like and caretakers. Edna is married to Leoncé

Pontellier, who she married to get away from her family and be free. She states, at one

point in the novel, that she likes how Leoncé is obsessed with her but that she doesn't

really love him the way she should and the way Leoncé loves her. Furthermore, Leoncé

cares about his reputation and about what society says and thinks. He demands that Edna

act in a certain way. In doing so he is asking Edna to give up who she is, her character to

attempt to be this mother-woman and be who society expects her to be. In the text Leoncé

compares Edna to Adele, society’s image of the perfect mother-woman, saying that Edna

should be more like her and less like herself. He thinks that Edna is careless and selfish.

Furthermore, there is a point in the book when Leoncé tells Edna that their son is sick and

she needs to go check on him. Edna tells him there is no way that it is possible because he

was fine the last time, she checked on them. Leoncé continues to bug her about it,

demanding that she go and check on him. When Edna finally does she sees that he is fine

and that Leoncé was lying in order to point out that she is a bad mother and that she is
selfish. This reveals how Edna sacrifices her character to comply with not only her

husband but also society’s expectations of a mother-women.

Another thing that Edna sacrifices in order to fit in with her dreams. Edna dreams

of being an artist. In the text, we see how Edna admires art and how she wishes she could

be an artist. However, she cannot because she is expected to be a mother-woman. Edna

also dreams of being with Robert Lebrun. Robert is a young man who visits Grand Isle in

the summer to help his mom out. Edna is able to talk to him and get along because of their

similarities. She also falls in love with him and even gets jealous at times. However, Edna

cannot be with him because she is married and has kids with Leoncé. Edna once again

sacrifices these dreams, Leoncé and being an artist, to comply with society's expectations.

This reveals just how much pressure she had from her husband and people in town, like

Adele, to fit in.

Lastly, Edna sacrifices her freedom to do what is expected of her. We know that

Edna wants to be free, she even marries Leoncé to try to be free. Her freedom is something

that Edna struggled with and longed for. She was always looking for ways to be free and

self-expressive. For example, her art and Robert were forms in which she tried to express

herself. She always felt free with those two methods. In the text, Edna talks about going to

the beach with Robert and feeling free. In her final act, after losing Robert she returns to

the Grand Isle and the sea because those are places where she felt free.

The things Edna sacrifices, her character, dreams, and freedom all reveal that she is

not fit to be a mother-woman because she doesn't really care for her children, husband, or

reputation.

What Is Edna Pontellier Sacrifice in the Awakening?

In “The Awakening”, Robert Lebrun sacrifices his love and desire for Edna

Pontellier because he knows that he cannot be with her. This reveals that even though
Robert was in love with Edna he knew what was right and he understood why he could not

be with Edna. Robert sacrifices his love when he leaves for Mexico in search of business

and at the end of the novel when he decides that he cannot stay with Edna in her “pigeon-

house”.

When Robert leaves to Mexico in search of business and riches he does not tell

Edna that he was planning on leaving after spending all day with her. This showed that he

did not want Edna to know because it would of made it harder for him to stay. In addition,

when Robert sends Mademoiselle Reisz a letter from Mexico telling her about his plans to

return, Mademoiselle Reisz confesses to Edna that the only reason Robert left to Mexico

was because he was in love with Edna and knew he could not have her. Mademoiselle

Reisz tells Edna, “He loves you, you poor fool...”. This showed that Robert gave up his

love for Edna by leaving to Mexico because he knew that he wanted to be with her but it

was not right.

At the end of the novel, we see how Robert sacrifices his love and happiness for

Edna. After Edna goes to be with Adele Ratignolle during the birth of her child, Edna goes

back home to the “pigeon-house” and finds that Robert is gone but he left a note for her.

The note says, “Good-bye, because I love you…”. Robert leaves Edna this note saying that

he has to leave her because he loves her too much. He realizes what he has done and how

he feels about Edna but that Edna is married and has a family, therefore, he cannot be with

her.

Robert sacrifices his love for Edna many times during the novel, first when he

leaves for Mexico and then when he realizes that even though both him and Edna feel the

same way about each other and want to be with each other, that cannot happen because she

is already married to Lèonce Pontellier and has a family that needs her. Love is shown by

many characters throughout the novel the novel, Robert and Edna’s love for each other and
Lèonce love for Edna are examples that are seen in “The Awakening”. Robert’s sacrifice

showed how in love with Edna he was that he knew he had to leave before it got more

complicated.

La Traviata

La traviata’s subject and setting were novels for opera in the middle of the 19th

century. The scale is intimate and bourgeois, not heroic or noble. The heroine is a fallen

woman who earns redemption through sacrifice—a notion that was somewhat risqué at the

time—although not forbidden by censors. Verdi was adamant that the opera be set in the

present day (that is, the 1850s), with modern costumes. Opera companies would not

comply, insisting on setting the story in the early 18th century. (The first performance set

in the period Verdi specified took place in 1906, after Verdi’s death and well after the

setting could be called contemporary.)

More than other Italian opera composers of the time, Verdi unified the music and

underscored the drama through the use of techniques such as repeated phrases (Violetta’s

“Ah, fors’è lui” echoes Alfredo’s declaration of love and continues as a love theme),

instrumentation (high violins underscore Violetta’s character from the overture onward),

coloratura ornamentation that reflects Violetta’s agitation (thus justifying what otherwise

can seem empty virtuosity), and musical continuity (through blurring the line between

recitative and aria).

During Verdi’s lifetime La traviata was one of the most frequently performed of all

operas, and it has continued to be through to the present. The story feels immediate, and

the melodies are beautiful. Practically speaking, the demands on orchestra and singers do

not overburden the resources of even modest opera companies.

The Sacrifice Theme in La Traviata

 La Traviata is the story of a lively Parisian courtesan who gives up the man she

loves to save his family’s reputation. Perhaps this is the greatest theme of La Traviata; self-

sacrifice. The opera is a touching story, not just because it is a story people can believe in,

but because it is a story people want to believe in. It encourages the idea that it is possible

to experience the joy of pure, redemptive love. The story shows that it is possible – no

matter what hurt and offense has been caused – to right wrongs by sacrificing for the

greatest good.

The theme of sacrifice is exemplified when Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont,

demands that for the sake of his family, Violetta break off her relationship with his son.

Giorgio reveals that Violetta’s relationship with Alfredo has threatened his daughter’s

engagement (Giorgio: Pura siccome un angelo – "I have a daughter as pure as an angel")

because of her reputation as a courtesan. While she says that she cannot break off her

relationship with Alfredo because she loves him, Giorgio pleads with her. With mounting

sorrow and understanding, she finally agrees (Violetta, Giorgio: Dite alla giovine – "Say to

this child of thine") and bids him farewell. Giorgio kisses her forehead in a gesture of

gratitude for her kindness and sacrifice, before leaving her weeping alone.

Violetta’s sacrifice is completely misunderstood by Alfredo in Act Three, and

because of this, he behaves dishonorably in deliberately treating her as a whore before a

large assembly. However, at the end of the opera, as Vioetta passes away, Alfredo is

stricken with remorse at discovering all that she has given up for him and his family.

Looking at the sacrifice made by Violetta to distance herself from the person she

loved and whom she considered her salvation in order to reform herself, Giorgio Germont

comes and asks her to end her relationship with his son, for the sake of the family's

reputation not to be tainted by her presence among them. Then the opera moves to its end

in a scene of death Violetta, and with a scene full of drama, Violetta re-reads a letter from
Alfredo's father in which he says that he told his son the truth about Violetta's sacrifice and

that Alfredo was on his way to see her and ask her forgiveness. Violetta is sure it is too late

and she will die before he arrives. You hear the sounds of the carnival. Alfredo arrived and

asked Violetta's pardon. Ignoring Violetta's desperate situation, they reaffirm their love and

dream of leaving Paris for a new life. Germont arrived, regretting his earlier treatment of

Violetta. He asks for her mercy and declares that she is like a daughter to him. But it is too

late and then Violetta falls as a lifeless corpse.