Social Restraints and the Effects Upon Leonce Pontellier, Madame Reisz, and Adele Ratignolle in the Awakening

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Peterson, Nicole

Period 3B Rayl

English 11IB

March 9, 2009

Social Restraints and the Effects Upon Leonce Pontellier, Madame Reisz, and Adele Ratignolle in the Awakening

        “She has tossed off the garments of false selves; she has learned to swim, to master the waves and move away from the shore to freedom”  (Lant). Although the strict confines of proper behavior certainly trap Edna and force her suicide as she “awakens”, the same social restraints affect every character in the novel, albeit in different ways. Léonce Pontellier, Edna’s husband, clearly suffers little under societal rules, being a man, until his wife starts breaking said rules. Madame Reisz has completely escaped the constraints of polite society, but pays the price in her near ostracism. Adéle Ratignolle, on the other hand, has sacrificed her self in order to conform to society and thrives due to her lack of self-awareness.  These three characters, who assist and hinder Edna’s “awakening”, are all caught in the web of social expectations.

        Mr. Pontellier is the epitome of a successful man: he is wealthy, kind and generous to his wife and children, and utterly conventional.  He is lauded to the sky for sending a box of bonbons back to Edna: “All declared that Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the world. Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew of none better” (Chopin 10).  However, Mr. Pontellier does not consider his wife the “best… in the world”, as he is vaguely dissatisfied with his wife for not conforming to the female standard in mothering, sending her to go check on the children and questioning her on their well-being.  He expects Edna to obey him in all things; he is to be the ultimate authority in her life.  Mr. Pontellier even calls

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upon a doctor friend of his, Doctor Mandelet, to explain his wife’s changing attitude.  When Edna starts making moves towards her own independence while he is in New York for business, his first concern is not what prompted her to this move, but what society would think of it. He quickly does damage control, spreading the news that the house is being remodeled and bringing artisans in. This effectively covers for Mrs. Pontellier’s previously inexplicable move to the “pigeonhouse” and enhances their status in a display of wealth.  In short, Mr. Pontellier is only hampered by societal constraints when ...

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