Marriage and Motherhood in the Awakening by Cate Chopin

Her wishes rubbed her family and friends the wrong way since they were infringing the dominant societal values of her generation. She is depicted as a self-declared independent woman who lives her life according to her own beliefs and self-satisfactions. Edna encounters Robert during one of her regular visits at Mademoiselle Reisz’s residence. Despite being a family lady, Edna confesses her love to Robert claiming that she doesn’t see anything wrong with that. She would later decide to kill herself after realizing that Robert is not interested in sustaining their relationship while she is not ready to resettle with her husband Leonce. From this perspective, it is evident that Edna’s main priority in life was not her marriage or family, but exploring on the ways to fulfill her personal objectives.

The first crack which weakened Edna’s marriage emerged when she realized that she was unhappy and she needed to explore on how to make peace with her mind (Rooks 122). While in pursuit for the much needed reprieve, she meets a gentleman called Robert and falls in love with him instantly. Since Robert appears to be a conservative, he declines Edna’s advances claiming that he respects her marriage. Edna urged him to ignore her marital status alleging that she is an independent woman. Edna’s emotions were rather irrational since she let her feelings to rule destiny. Abandoning a critical social institution such as marriage is reckless and not justifiable whatsoever. There is no case of mistreatment against Edna which is reported in the book.

It is reasonable to walk out of an abusive marriage but unreasonable to keep some irrational standards that can rock a relationship. Although Edna might appear as one of the few women of Victorian generation who defied the gender roles, her actions to overlook her marriage are plainly unjustifiable. In a nutshell, marriage and motherhood are important aspects of Victorian society. Mademoiselle Reisz Mademoiselle Reisz is a less popular woman who is in her advanced age. She is the one whom Edna draws her inspirations from (Rooks 130). She is an independent single woman and she has lived this way for the better part of her life. She has defied all the societal expectations and that’s why she is a role model to Edna.

She expects women to adhere to the society’s expectations and avoid indulging in ways that can lead to a breakup. When Adele suspected that Edna is having an affair with Alcee Robin, she advises her to deviate from such immoral acts. She urges her to pay much attention to her motherhood and care for her marriage. Adel is categorical that women should be good excellent mothers and good wives. She has just given birth to another child and she dreams of settling down and giving her kids the best care and the support they need from their mother. He seems to be a family man though his accounts is not extensively covered in the story. He does not know why his wife is unhappy with their marriage.