| In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Edna Pontellier searches for her own sense of identity. Through an employment of the feminist theory of literary criticism, this thesis analyzes Edna's struggle, confined by a patriarchal society and limited by a world view of duality and opposition. Edna seeks personal autonomy, yet, by definition of her time, is not a feminist. The two most prominent characters in Edna's social circle, Adele Ratignole and Mademoiselle Reisz, represent a combination of Susan Cruea's four stages of womanhood. Due to Edna's focus on duality and opposition, their importance, as well as the importance of other minor female characters---particularly the example provided by Madame Lebrun---is undervalued by Edna. Unable to assimilate a viable identity from the examples of womanhood at her disposal, Edna, at last, sacrifices her life to achieve freedom. |
