The Awakening- Emily Armstrong

Edna Pontellier is a woman who is on the journey to discovering herself. Much like many women in the time period of 1895-1915 Pontellier began early on in “The Awakening” to question what her place was in the world. Kate Chopin describes this moment as “Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her”. This again fits in with the idea that a New Woman is independent in her thoughts & actions as we discussed in class and is aware of the impact they can have. Chopin describes this feeling of unrest often and it almost seems to align with Mrs. Pontellier’s feelings on her marriage, “an indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It was like a shadow, like a mist passing across her soul’s summer day”. Chopin’s vivid, dark and descriptive image towards what it was like for Edna to be married is one that greatly supports the idea that the New Woman did not favor marriage. Edna seems to be a New Woman trapped within this institution.