Transgression and Individual Rebellion: Edna Pontellier s Life of Apprenticeshipin Kate Chopin s the Awakening

In The Awakening , Kate Chopin denounces the culture that infan tilizes and degrades wome n, defies traditional proprieties, challenges patriarchal ideologies of male ness and femaleness, and pion eers new roles for women. Chopin’s Edna Pontellier questions the traditional ideologi es of female subjugation, confronts the limitations the New Orleans Creole society imposes upon her because of her gender, and commits suicide at the end. To have an identity in Creole society, Edna must choose from the operative categories open to her within it- the dependent role of wife/mother or the independent role of artist/s pinster. Neither role satisfies the sexual and spiritual aspects of her fictional character that make up the core of her identity, which she seeks to establish and preserve at all costs. The traditional role does not mean for Edna the promise of a free, meaningful life but rather negation, chaos, and death. Convinced that she ca nnot coexist with a societ y that would condemn her transgressions, Edna drowns herself in th e waters of the gulf. She does not take her life because of or for the sake of others; she does so out of concern for the preservation of her individual and particul ar interests. Her suicide stands as final proof of her independence, self-determination, and self-preservation.