The Awakening

Jacqueline Procter
Journal 14
February 29, 2008
Kate Chopin

Quote:
“Her marriage…was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of fate.”

“ As the devoted wife, a man who worshipped her, she felt she would take her place with a certain dignity in the world of reality, closing the portals, forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams.”

Summary:
Edna reflects on how she came to marry Leonce – It was accidental, and so she, like many, put on a happy face and forgets about notions of romance.

Response:
When this story was written, women had only one option in life -- to marry -- and marry well -- to afford the lifestyle a husband could provide. It was only through a husband could a woman have any hope of advancement, and in Edna’s case she married the first, best thing. She was inexperienced with men and she had not married Leonce out of love. Because of her marriage to him she thought that the door to love was forever shut.

By all appearance, Edna leads a luxurious life and she has a man who adores her and which causes much envy among the other women. She has two great boys who are looked after by a nurse/nanny. She’s living a charmed life and she doesn’t have too many responsibilities (other than social) – there’s no reason for her to be unhappy but this tiny seed of discontent spreads and causes her to question her life.

When this story was published – 1899 – Women didn’t have the right to vote and yet Kate Chopin consented for the story to be published knowing the damage it would do to her yet her moral convictions out weighed the risk of ruin.