Conflicting Directions of the
Conflicting Directions of theOften in novels, a character faces conflicting directions of ambitions, desires, and influences. In such a novel, like �The Awakening,� the main character, Edna Pontellier, faces these types of conflicting ideas. In a controversial era for women, Edna faces the conflict of living in oppression but desiring freedom. The patriarchal time period has influenced women to live only under the husband�s thumb but at the same time, break away from such repression. These opposing conflicts illuminated the meaning of �social awakening� in the novel.
In the first direction, the reader witnesses the era when women only existed to make the male happy. The main character Edna finds that she has nothing to do other than stay in the house bored, since even her children are raised and cared for by servants. Day after day, all Edna is permitted to do is care for her husband and be there whenever he needs help or entertainment. Woman at that time could not vote, could not go out without a male escort, were not allowed to smoke in public, and were not allowed in the work place. These ideals set by the male driven society caused Edna to face her second trend of free will, conflicting with her other direction of...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.