Untitled Essay, Research Paper

By: Alan Eugene Sims, Jr.

Awakening by Kate Chopin- How Marriage Can/Should Work

Marriages in the 1990’s have become uncommon, or they become unstable as

the

relationship between the individuals progresses. The book Awakening, written

by Kate

Chopin, that was written about a woman named Edna Pontellier’s sexual awakening

shows repeated examples of how a marriage should and should not work. Her

marriage

to Leonce Pontellier shows that marriage needs understanding of feelings

between

husband and wife, mutual effort from the individuals, and sexual connection.

The

Pontellier’s marriage shows that without these key aspects, a marriage will

not work.

They especially show that by not understanding one another’s emotions, prosperous

matrimony does not exist.

In the Awakening, Leonce and Edna Pontellier often fight, or Leonce feels

one

way about a situation while Edna looks at it differently. In an early instance

in the book,

Mr. Pontellier makes Edna cry when he says that their son Raoul is running

a fever.

Leonce reprimands her, saying that she does not take care of the kids. He

feels he should

not have to stay at home and take care of the kids while attending to his

business too.

Mrs. Pontellier was brought up in Bluegrass Country in Kentucky, a society

that is

radically different from the Creol community. When her kids are sick or when

they fall,

they do not come running to their mother. Adele Ratignolle is the perfect

mother-woman,

or the mother that gives all and everything to her kids. Edna does not try

to be the perfect

mother-woman that her husband expects her to be. Mr. Pontellier also shows

that he does

not understand his wife’s feelings when he goes to Dr. Mandelet. He asks

the doctor for

advice, but Leonce cannot even explain the problem that he sees in Edna.

Due to Leonce

and Edna Pontellier’s constant confusion of feelings, their marriage does

not work.

In marriage, there should be a sexual connection between husband and wife.

When Edna moves out of her house in New Orleans, she moves into a place called

known

as the Pigeon House. She encounters an affair with Alcee Arobin, which makes

her

happy. Her affair with Alcee was a very delicate subject in the book, but

she finally gave

herself to Arobin. Edna spent endless nights with Leonce, but the book quotes

that she

would not go to sleep until she encountered Arobin’s warm embrace. Edna also

shows

that a marriage needs sexual relations by her love of Robert. Even though

she was not

married to him, she was still in love with him. Robert left her because he

knew he would

make a mistake by staying at Grand Isle, the summer resort. Edna committed

suicide

because she could not have Robert to hold and to love. This shows that bad

things can

happen if there is no intimate connection between lovers.

Even more important than a relationship having an intimate connection is

the

mutual effort of both individuals. Edna has violent feelings that Leonce

Pontellier does

not understand. He goes to see Dr. Mandelet, and asks him for his advice.

This

incidence shows that Leonce is very willing to change his relationship, but

he needs help.

Leonce also shows that he wants his marriage to work, when he sits outside

one night

while Edna lies on the hammock. Edna locks up her feelings and never tells

Leonce what

she is thinking about. If Edna showed that she cared about her kids more,

that would

make a major difference. The Pontellier’s marriage goes on with many

misunderstandings.

Leonce and Edna Pontellier’s marriage goes on with many mishaps. They try

to

make things work by having different aspects that a marriage should have.

Without

understanding one another’s feelings, mutual effort from both individuals

and a sexual

connect they could not make things work. The Awakening displays how a marriage

should not work; by reading this book, marriages in the 1990’s might work

more often.

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